Abstract
In a self-paced reading study, we investigated how effects of biasing contexts in idiom processing interact with effects of idiom literality. Specifically, we tested if idioms with a high potential for literal interpretation (e.g., break the ice) are processed differently in figuratively and literally biasing contexts than idioms with a low potential (e.g., lose one’s cool). Participants read sentences that biased towards a figurative or literal reading of idioms and continued with resolutions that were congruent or incongruent with these biases (e.g., [The new schoolboy/the chilly Eskimo] just wanted to break the ice [with his peers/on the lake]…). While interpretations of high-literality idioms were strengthened by supporting contexts and showed costs for incongruent resolutions, low-literality idioms did not show this effect. Rather, interpreting low-literality idioms in a literal manner showed a cost regardless of context. We conclude that biasing contexts are used in a flexible process of real-time idiom processing and meaning constitution, but this effect is mediated by idiom literality.
Highlights
Idioms challenge standard notions of meaning composition as they are, by definition, multi-word strings with a figurative meaning that differs from the sum of its parts
A number of studies have shown that the availability of these two meanings can be influenced by linguistic context, and while there is a general consensus that context can facilitate access to the figurative meaning of an idiom (e.g., Fanari et al 2010), there is less agreement on the impact of context on the availability of the literal interpretation (e.g., Rommers et al 2013; Holsinger and Kaiser 2013)
Following up on the methods used in a self-paced reading study conducted on phrasal verbs (Holsinger and Kaiser 2013), our study examined idioms which were embedded into sentences containing literally- or figuratively-biasing contexts and followed by resolutions that were congruent or incongruent with the bias (e.g., [The new schoolboy/the chilly Eskimo] just wanted to break the ice [with his peers/on the lake]...)
Summary
Idioms challenge standard notions of meaning composition as they are, by definition, multi-word strings with a figurative meaning that differs from the sum of its parts. While to take the bull by the horns can be used figuratively just as well as literally (i.e. has high literality), an idiom like to be on cloud nine has a low potential for literal interpretation in the absence of any contextual information (i.e. has low literality). It means to be very happy, and literally, a context is needed in order to create a situation in which a person might find themselves “on” a cloud called “nine.” This variance in literality could mediate contextual effects on literal and figurative interpretations and help to explain the varying effects of context on literal interpretations in previous studies. For low-literality idioms, supporting contexts could still strengthen the figurative interpretation, but fail to affect the literal interpretation
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