Abstract
Scontras et al. (2017) present experimental evidence demonstrating that the best predictor of adjective ordering preferences in the English noun phrase is the subjectivity of the property named by any given adjective: less subjective adjectives are preferred linearly closer to the nouns they modify. The current work builds on this empirical finding by proposing that the reason subjectivity predicts adjective ordering preferences has to do with the hierarchical structure of nominal modification. Adjectives that are linearly closer to the modified noun are often structurally closer, composing with the noun before adjectives that are farther away. Pressures from successful reference resolution dictate that less subjective, more useful adjectives contribute their meaning to the resulting nominal earlier, in an attempt to more effectively limit the reference search space. EARLY ACCESS
Highlights
Adjective ordering preferences determine the relative order of adjectives in multiadjective strings
For each potential referent an adjective classifies, we introduce the potential for misclassification εad j, On the grammatical source of adjective ordering preferences which stands proxy for the adjective’s subjectivity
The early uptake of semantic information evidenced by predictive looking in eye-tracking studies does not rule out that the semantic composition of nominal phrases proceeds outward from the noun; it is this semantic composition process that stands to explain the role of subjectivity in adjective ordering preferences
Summary
Adjective ordering preferences determine the relative order of adjectives in multiadjective strings. In post-nominal languages where adjectives follow modified nouns, the preferences are the mirror image of what are found in pre-nominal languages like English; at issue is the relative distance of an adjective from the noun it modifies. Given their stability within and across languages, a glaring question presents itself: what factors determine these robust preferences? Degen, Goodman stand to inform the preferences, and the psychological and grammatical systems from which these preferences emerge For this reason, adjective ordering preferences have been the subject of targeted inquiry since Sweet (1898) wrote about them over a century ago.
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