The selection of closed-class words in noun phrase production: The case of Dutch determiners

Abstract

In three experiments we tested the predictions of two models of determiner selection in the production of Dutch noun phrases (NPs). In Experiment 1, participants named pictures using plural and unmarked determiner + noun NPs. In Experiment 2, participants named pictures using diminutive and unmarked determiner + noun NPs. In both experiments, we found that production latencies for plural and diminutive NPs relative to their unmarked baselines were affected by the gender of the base noun even though this feature of nouns is logically unnecessary in the selection of determiners in these types of NPs. In Experiment 3, we replicated the findings of Experiments 1, and generalized the observed pattern of results to a new condition: plural-diminutive NPs. This pattern of results, showing that the gender of the base noun is visible to the determiner selection process even when this information is logically superfluous, finds a ready explanation in frame-based models of determiner selection and is inconsistent with hierarchical models of determiner selection.