Dative Structure Research Articles

Syntactic priming as implicit learning in German child language.

We investigated syntactic priming in German children to explore crosslinguistic evidence for implicit learning accounts of language production and acquisition. Adult descriptions confirmed that German speakers (N=27) preferred to spontaneously produce active versus passive transitive and DO versus PO dative forms. We tested whether German-speaking children (N=29, M age =5.3, 15 girls/14 boys) could be primed to produce these dispreferred forms and whether such priming effects would persist across a target phase. Children first heard a block of priming sentences and then described a block of target pictures. They demonstrated significant priming effects for passive and PO dative structures, and these priming effects did not differ between the first and second halves of the block of target trials. These patterns of German child language production are consistent with implicit learning accounts of syntactic priming.

Is Syntactic Priming from Multiple Speakers Stronger?

Syntactic priming in dialogue occurs when exposure to a particular syntactic structure implicitly induces a speaker’s subsequent preference for the same syntactic structures in their own speech. Here, we asked whether this priming effect is boosted when individuals are primed by several different speakers as opposed to one. In an initial baseline session involving a picture description task, we assessed adult participants’ production of double object/DO (vs. prepositional/PO) dative and passive (vs. active) transitive structures. Subsequently, participants played a picture description and verification game, in turns, with six other players (confederates). During verification turns, confederates primed participants by using DO and passive utterances. Crucially, participants were primed either by a single confederate (single-speaker priming condition, SSP) or by five confederates (multi-speaker priming condition, MSP). Across conditions, the same priming stimuli were presented in the same order, leaving speaker source/variation as the only different feature. The degree to which participants were primed for the target structures compared to baseline was measured. Results indicated a robust priming effect in both conditions. Nevertheless, the increase in the target structures’ use did not differ significantly between the SSP and MSP conditions, suggesting that speaker variation did not promote stronger priming.

Integration of input and expectations influences syntactic parses, not just sentence interpretation.

Interpreting a sentence can be characterized as a rational process in which comprehenders integrate linguistic input with top-down knowledge (e.g., plausibility). One type of evidence for this is that comprehenders sometimes reinterpret sentences to arrive at interpretations that conflict with the original language input. Does this reflect a reinterpretation of only the message, or also of earlier stages of linguistic representation such as the syntactic parse? The present study relies both on comprehension questions as a measure of the eventual interpretation (as in past work) and on syntactic priming as an implicit measure of the eventual parse of a sentence. Plausible dative sentences yielded a classic syntactic priming effect. Implausible dative sentences, for which a plausible alternative version corresponded to the alternate dative structure, not only tended to be interpreted as the plausible alternative, but also showed no priming effect from the perceived syntactic structure. These results suggest that the plausibility of a message can not only impact the interpretation of a perceived sentence, but also its underlying syntactic representation. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Dative possessor variation in Romance: a formal feature account with special reference to Portuguese

In this paper we address possessor dative structures (PDSs) in European Portuguese (EP) and in the Mozambican variety of Portuguese spoken in Maputo, which is mainly in contact with the Bantu language Changana. Focusing primarily on data from EP, we argue that PDSs show microvariation across Romance. We account for this microvariation by extending to Romance languages the distinction between nuclear and non-nuclear external possession structures originally proposed for Bantu languages, and propose that the value of the formal nominal feature [ipart] is the source of the observed variation. We argue that the derivation of PDSs in EP involves movement of the possessor from the specifier position of a small clause for formal feature valuation, which accounts for the common properties of give-type verbs and possessor dative structures, as well as for the incompatibility of both constructions. We further adopt a corpus-based approach and an exploratory elicitation task for the discussion of possessor datives in urban MozP. The findings support the role of the formal feature [ipart] in the acceptability of sentences which do not converge with EP, arguably as a consequence of contact with Changana, but also show that Mozambican Portuguese exhibits convergence with the VP structure of EP.

Interaction between syntactic and information structure in the second language processing of Korean dative sentences

It remains an open question whether second language (L2) learners can process linguistic properties at the syntax–discourse interface. This study examines this issue in the context of the L2 processing of Korean dative sentences under different information structure requirements. Given that discourse constraints associated with information structure tend to manifest more strongly in noncanonical than in canonical structures, we tested whether L2 learners of Korean show sensitivity to such constraints during online processing. In a story-continuation task, both native and nonnative speaker groups showed a strong preference for producing canonical dative patterns, indicating their comparable knowledge of the canonical status of Korean dative sentences. In a self-paced reading task, both groups spent longer reading times when the word order of dative sentences did not follow given–new information structure, but only for the noncanonical and not the canonical structure. These results suggest that L2 processing of dative structures at the syntax–discourse interface relies on the same parsing architecture that guides native-speaker processing.

영어학습자들의 관계절 수식 구문처리 프라이밍 효과의 시선추적분석

The current study aims to investigate when ESL university students process dative structure in primed and unprimed condition based on eye-tracking data. Since eye-tracking approach enables us to collect and analyze data by measuring eye-movements and connect these to investigate language processing, researchers can have insight of learners’ language processing (Conklin et al., 2018). The results from eye-tracking data showed that the primed and unprimed eye-tracking conditions were similar in sentence level, but different in NP1, NP2, and verb areas showing priming effects. The eye-tracking approach used in this research gave more in-depth explanations of how sentences were processed while reading challenging relative clauses that alter noun phrases.

Dative Microvariation in African Varieties of Portuguese

In this paper we compare dative ditransitive structures in nativized and nativizing urban varieties of Portuguese spoken in Angola, Mozambique, and São Tomé and Príncipe, using a corpus-based approach. It is shown that the expression of the Recipient exhibits considerable variation within and across these varieties, as well as at intraspeaker level. Despite the use of non-canonical patterns, namely prepositional structures with em and para and double object constructions, the canonical European Portuguese pattern with Case marker a is predominant in our data. Moreover, the pronominalized counterparts of these different realizations show much less variation and strong convergence toward dative clitic lhe(s). To account for the data, we propose a Larsonian VP-shell in which Recipients as extended DPs occur internally to a K(ase) projection whose functional head can be spelled out as a, em or para. Recipients in double object constructions, on the other hand, are treated as plain DPs which may pronominalize as dative clitics or, less commonly, as strong pronouns. Overall, our hypothesis weakens the role of language contact, which has often been assumed as a critical factor in the literature, but still allows for (individual) grammars that show evidence of being substrate-induced.

ЗАМЕНИЧКЕ ПРИСВОЈНЕ КОНСТРУКЦИЈЕ У СРПСКОМ ЈЕЗИКУ: ПРАГМАТИЧКИ И СОЦИОЛИНГВИСТИЧКИ ФАКТОРИ УПОТРЕБЕ

The object of this paper are two types of pronominal possessive constructions in Serbian language, out of which one is expressed using possessive adjectival pronoun, while the other is expressed using personal pronoun in dative (Moja drugarica je diplomirala / Drugarica mi je diplomirala). The aim of the paper was to determine the contextual influences on the speaker’s preference for one of these two constructions. Our hypothesis was that the thematization of the possessor represents one of the factors, considering the same form of dative logical subject, and that social distance / proximity represents the other factor, considering the same form of the ethical dative. A preliminary quantitative research was conducted, with Likert scale acceptability judgements, as well as a qualitative research, with a focus-group interview. The results of the quantitative questionnaire didn’t confirm the hypothesis, given that the possessive adjectival pronoun had higher rates in all of the conditions, although the rates of dative constructions were notably lower in the conditions without thematization of the possessor. The results of the focus-group interview, on the other hand, showed the speakers’ intuitions of the influence of thematization of the possessor, as well as social closeness of the possessor (when thematized) and the possessed. In addition, the interviewees mentioned the social closeness of the speaker and the listener as one of the factors, which could represent one of the reasons for the lack of the influence of forementioned factors in the quantitative section of the research. Further implications of this research apply to the interconnectedness of the case meanings, which led to the expressiveness of the dative structure, as well as to the influence of information structure on the additional meanings that can be conveyed by choosing dative possessive construction.

Syntactic Representation of Dative and Double Object Structures

The aim of this study is to present a unified analysis of the dative structures. The study relies on data from English and Arabic that support “the single meaning approach”. According to this approach, both prepositional dative construction (PDC) and double object construction (DOC) are related semantically and syntactically. We propose a dative phrase “DATP” as a complement of the dative verb in both PDC and DOC. Our proposed analysis deals with the restrictions that scope and c-command bring on the order of the direct and indirect objects in PDC and DOC. We follow Bruening (2014, 2018) in his argument against c-command and show that “precede-and-command” (precede and phase command) that he proposes as a replacement for c-command fits neatly in our analysis.

Ditransitive and Dative Constructions in English and Thai Languages

This article presents predominant views of the English and Thai ditransitive and dative sentence structures that take verbs to have two major meanings based on schemata: a caused possession and a caused motion. The main purpose of the study was to investigate the associations between verbs and their event schemata, the syntactic and semantic realizations available to the ditransitive and dative sentence structures, and the associations between the parallel structures of the sentences across the languages. The participants of the study were pre-service teachers majoring in English at a university in Thailand. The study was conducted in the 2020 academic year. The analyses demonstrated inference patterns and verb arguments in the double object construction across English and Thai. The results of the study also identified the syntactic and semantic similarities and differences with an account of variant choices that provided insightful explanations of the data in the crosslinguistic realm. Implications for educators revolve around individual differences and other related variables that might yield various results. The findings also suggest the multidimensionality of research into the crosslinguistic analyses of double object construction and linguistic devices. Keywords: ditransitive; dative; sentence structure; English; Thai

Reverse Double Objects in Hakka Ditransitive*

AbstractThis paper deals with the ‘reverse’ double object construction in Hakka, where the theme NP precedes the goal NP without being mediated by an adpositional goal marker. I show that the reverse V‐theme‐goal order is sensitive to verb types and argue that this construction takes an underlying dative structure with a non‐thematic null prepositional goal marker. This formal syntactic account is shown to capture the word order alternations and grammatical properties observed in Hakka ditransitives.

The Effects of Cross-linguistic Influence on the Use of English Dative Constructions in Second Language Written Production

This paper attempted to analyze the effectiveness of cross-linguistic influence on the EFL learners’ production of English dative constructions by using a written corpus. Dative constructions – double object (DO, e.g., Tom gave Mary the book) and prepositional dative (PD, e.g., Tom gave the book to Mary) construction – have attracted much attention in the domain of SLA and cross-linguistic influence due to their distinctions across many languages (Whong-Barr & Schwartz, 2002). In particular, Chinese, Korean, and Japanese EFL learners’ corpus were chosen in the present research because the syntactic and semantic perspectives on the dative structures of their L1s are varied. To reach the aims of this study, the frequency of English DO and PD structures in EFL learners’ and English native speakers’ written corpus (ICNALE) was compared. The results indicated that (ⅰ) Chinese group used significantly more DO constructions than Korean and Japanese groups; (ⅱ) Korean and Japanese groups showed no significant difference in using English dative structures, addressing their infrequent use of DO construction in L1s; (ⅲ) only Chinese group showed native-like use of English dative constructions. These findings suggested that cross-linguistic influence affects the acquisition and production of English dative structures of EFL learners and they involved the pedagogical implication.

Do children learn from their prediction mistakes? A registered report evaluating error-based theories of language acquisition.

Error-based theories of language acquisition suggest that children, like adults, continuously make and evaluate predictions in order to reach an adult-like state of language use. However, while these theories have become extremely influential, their central claim—that unpredictable input leads to higher rates of lasting change in linguistic representations—has scarcely been tested. We designed a prime surprisal-based intervention study to assess this claim. As predicted, both 5- to 6-year-old children (n = 72) and adults (n = 72) showed a pre- to post-test shift towards producing the dative syntactic structure they were exposed to in surprising sentences. The effect was significant in both age groups together, and in the child group separately when participants with ceiling performance in the pre-test were excluded. Secondary predictions were not upheld: we found no verb-based learning effects and there was only reliable evidence for immediate prime surprisal effects in the adult, but not in the child group. To our knowledge, this is the first published study demonstrating enhanced learning rates for the same syntactic structure when it appeared in surprising as opposed to predictable contexts, thus providing crucial support for error-based theories of language acquisition.

Cross-linguistic syntactic priming in Korean learners of English

AbstractThis study investigates whether L2 learners develop and share an abstract syntactic representation between an L1 and L2 with different word orders and, if so, whether one language’s unique syntactic features affect the shared representation. Korean (SOV) and English (SVO) have equivalent dative alternations; however, because Korean allows word-order scrambling, several dative structures are available in Korean that do not have English counterparts. In this study’s cross-linguistic syntactic priming experiment, intermediate and advanced Korean learners of English described pictures in English after reading various types of Korean dative sentences. The study found evidence of cross-linguistic syntactic priming between Korean and English, regardless of L2 proficiency, but only when prime and target structures shared identical functional assignments, information structures, and order of thematic roles. These results suggest that, within limits created by language-specific features, L2 learners can develop and share abstract representations between two languages with different word orders.

The syntactic status of English dative alternation structures in bilingual and in monolingual acquisition data

Abstract This study deals with the syntactic (non-)derivational relationship of English dative alternation (DA) –double object constructions (DOCs) and to/for-datives–, as seen in the spontaneous production of English-Spanish bilinguals when compared to English monolinguals. While a chronological progression and a difference in use between the two English DA constructions could suggest a syntactic-derivational relationship between DOCs and to/for-datives, a fairly similar emergence and a possibly similar rate of use could point to the two constructions not displaying a syntactic-derivational status. We also explore whether English-Spanish bilinguals show divergent developmental paths when compared to English monolinguals. To address these issues, we analyze data from nine English-Spanish bilingual children and twelve English monolingual children, along with the adults interacting with them. The analysis shows that both DA structures emerge at a similar age, which suggests they are not syntactically derived from one another. Despite these differences, the later onset and the lower incidence of to/for-datives could be associated with the case and theta role mediated properties of prepositions as well as with the frequency of exposure to DA in the adults’ speech. As no differences appear between bilinguals and monolinguals, transfer from Spanish does not seem to be an issue.

Bilingual and monolingual children's acquisition of Spanish dative alternation structures: order of acquisition and adult input effects

ABSTRACTThis work investigates the acquisition of Spanish dative alternation (DA) in the production of English-Spanish bilingual and Spanish monolingual children. We explore whether a/para-datives and dative clitic doubled (DCLD) structures are syntactically derived from one another or, whether they are different structures. We also examine whether bilinguals follow similar developmental paths to monolinguals in the acquisition of Spanish DA or whether they differ from their peers given the influence from the syntactic status of English DA in their other language. We conduct an analysis of the spontaneous data from nine English-Spanish bilingual and nine Spanish monolingual children, along with the adults that interact with them, as available in CHILDES database (MacWhinney, B. 2000. The CHILDES Project: Tools for Analyzing Talk. 3rd ed. Hillsdale: Erlbaum. Accessed December 10, 2018. http://childes.talkbank.org). Our results reveal that bilinguals begin to produce DCLDs and a/para-datives at an approximately similar age. This suggests a syntactic underived relationship between the two DA structures, akin to that in monolinguals’ data. Nevertheless significant, the bilinguals and the monolinguals show a delay in the onset and a lower incidence in the production of a/para-datives when compared to DCLDs, which seems to be in line with adult input factors. The monolingual-like patterns in the bilinguals’ data point to a lack of crosslinguistic influence from English DA.

A Bidirectional Study of the Earlier Acquisition of Dative Structures in English and Arabic

This article conducts a bidirectional investigation of the earlier acquisition of dative structures in English and Arabic by Second Language (L2) learners. It reports on two dative structures: the Prepositional Dative (PD) structure and the Double Object Dative (DOD) structure, rating experiments (grammaticality judgment task) to test which dative structure is preferred earlier by L2 learners and whether L2 learners transfer their preferences relating to the two dative structures in the First Language (L1) to their L2. A total of 50 Arab learners of English and 40 English learners of Arabic were tested for the purpose of this study. It was observed that Arab learners of English preferred the PD structure over the DOD structure, whereas English learners of Arabic showed a slight preference for the use of the DOD structure; however, this observation is statistically insignificant. These findings indicate a lack of L1 influence, as all L2 learners preferred a dative structure that does not correspond to the preferred structure in their L1. Such findings could be consistent with the idea of the language acquisition process, as proposed by the Processability Theory, which implies that constructions that are easiest to process will be learned earlier than those that are harder to process despite the convergences between L1 and L2.

Event Structures Drive Semantic Structural Priming, Not Thematic Roles: Evidence From Idioms and Light Verbs.

What are the semantic representations that underlie language production? We use structural priming to distinguish between two competing theories. Thematic roles define semantic structure in terms of atomic units that specify event participants and are ordered with respect to each other through a hierarchy of roles. Event structures instead instantiate semantic structure as embedded sub-predicates that impose an order on verbal arguments based on their relative positioning in these embeddings. Across two experiments, we found that priming for datives depended on the degree of overlap in event structures. Specifically, while all dative structures showed priming, due to common syntax, there was a boost for compositional datives priming other compositional datives. Here, the two syntactic forms have distinct event structures. In contrast, there was no boost in priming for dative light verbs, where the two forms map onto a single event representation. On the thematic roles hypothesis, we would have expected a similar degree of priming for the two cases. Thus, our results support event structural approaches to semantic representation and not thematic roles.

Syntactic chameleons: Are there individual differences in syntactic mimicry and its possible prosocial effects?

This study investigated whether syntactic mimicry leads to prosocial effects and whether any such effects are modulated by personality traits. Participants and a confederate of the experimenters took turns describing simple scenes. Target scenes could be described using either a prepositional object or a double object dative structure and we tested whether the participants mimicked the structure used by the confederate (Experiments 1A and 2A), whether mimicry of the participant's sentence structure (Experiments 1B and 2B) made the participant act in a more prosocial manner, and whether any such effects vary with Big Five traits. Participants displayed significant syntactic mimicry, which was additionally negatively related to levels of Extraversion. Syntactic mimicry did not lead to more prosocial behavior, as gauged by the time spent on an extra task (Experiment 1B). This conclusion was confirmed in Experiment 2B, which used a slight adaptation of the task that prevented a ceiling effect. However, a positive relation between prosocial behavior and levels of Conscientiousness was observed in the mimicry condition, which appeared to invert in the non-mimicry condition. We discuss several potential reasons for the absence of prosocial effects of syntactic mimicry and provide suggestions for future research.

The Acquisition of Arabic scrambling dative structures by English learners

This paper represents an empirical study to investigate the ability of L2 learners to acquire structures that are not allowed by their L1 grammar. An experiment was made with 40 native speakers of English majoring at two proficiency levels: pre-intermediate and upper-intermediate. These participants completed written judgment tasks, which included 24 scrambling dative sentences, to judge their grammaticality in Arabic. The collected data was discussed based on the Full-Transfer/ Full Access approach and the Feature Reassembly Hypothesis. The statistical analysis showed no significant disparities between native speakers and L2 learners in acquiring L2 structures, which can be indicated as a sign of the fact that L2 learners acquired the structures that are not allowed in their L1.