Reanalysis Processes Research Articles

German Sentence Processing (review)

Reviewed by: German sentence processing ed. by Barbara Hemforth, Lars Konieczny Susanne Gahl German sentence processing. Ed. By Barbara Hemforth and Lars Konieczny. (Studies in theoretical psycholinguistics 24.) Dordrecht: Kluwer, 2000. Pp. 319, $138.00. The papers in this volume represent papers from research groups with a focus on sentence processing that have formed in Germany in recent years. After a brief preface by Lyn Frazier, the introduction by the editors provides an overview of some features of German syntax, such as word order flexibility and case marking, that figure heavily in the rest of the volume. The editors also preview the theoretical orientation of the research presented in this volume, asserting that preferences in human parsing are purely structure-based and cannot be explained based on frequency, thematic roles, or any other exposure-based or semantically-based factors. Despite these assertions, several papers in the volume do appeal to frequency and to semantic factors at crucial points. Several papers are devoted to the subject-before-object preference, i.e. the tendency for speakers to interpret certain types of ambiguous sentences in German as containing a subject preceding an object, rather than the other way around. Paul Gorrell, in ‘The subject-before-object preference in German clauses’, argues that this preference arises due to a principle of ‘simplicity’ which favors minimal structure and minimal deviation from base-generated structure. Matthias Schlesewsky et al. in ‘The subject preference in the processing of locally ambiguous wh-questions in German’, argue that the preference for base-generated structure follows from constraints on memory load, coupled with certain assumptions about parsing mechanisms. Schlesewsky et al. also report frequency data for a variety of wh- and other structures from a small corpus, acknowledging [End Page 205] that corpus data are consistent with frequency-based approaches to subject-before-object preferences in declarative sentences. In wh-questions, Schlesewsky et al. argue that frequency alone is not a sufficient explanation of parsing preferences because NP-initial wh-questions turn out to be equally frequent for subject and object-initial in their corpus. Christoph Scheepers et al., in ‘Linking syntactic functions with thematic roles: Psych-verbs and the resolution of subject-object ambiguity’, experimentally explore the place of item-independent parsing preferences and verb-specific information, following up on an earlier observation that the subject-before-object preference does not hold uniformly for all verbs. The role of verb-specific information, specifically thematic structure, is also the focus of the chapter on ‘Referential biases in syntactic attachment’ by Lars Konieczny and Nicole Völker. This chapter and the next—‘Modifier attachment: Relative clauses and coordinations’ by Barbara Hemforth et al.—focus on the resolution of attachment ambiguities. The next two contributions—‘On reanalysis: Evidence from German’ by Markus Bader and ‘Head position and clause boundary effects in reanalysis’ by Lars Konieczny et al.—discuss the process of reanalysis, i.e. recovery from syntactic misanalysis in serial parsing models. Finally, ‘Subject-verb agreement in German: Evidence from production and comprehension experiments’ by Christoph Hölscher and Barbara Hemforth discusses the processing of structures that elicit high rates of agreement errors (of the type ‘One of the examples were ungrammatical’). An author index and a subject index complete the volume. The rather high number of editorial errors (including errors in the translations of German examples) is annoying, especially given the forbiddingly high price of the volume. Yet, it is a handy collection of papers from these research groups. Susanne Gahl Harvard University Copyright © 2002 Linguistic Society of America

The P600 as an index of syntactic integration difficulty

The P600 component in Event Related Potential research has been hypothesised to be associated with syntactic reanalysis processes. We, however, propose that the P600 is not restricted to reanalysis processes, but reflects difficulty with syntactic integration processes in general. First we discuss this integration hypothesis in terms of a sentence processing model proposed elsewhere. Next, in Experiment 1, we show that the P600 is elicited in grammatical, non-garden path sentences in which integration is more difficult (i.e., ''who'' questions) relative to a control sentence (''whether'' questions). This effect is replicated in Experiment 2. Furthermore, we directly compare the effect of difficult integration in grammatical sentences to the effect of agreement violations. The results suggest that the positivity elicited in ''who'' questions and the P600-effect elicited by agreement violations have partly overlapping neural generators. This supports the hypothesis that similar cognitive processes, i.e., integration, are involved in both first pass analysis of ''who'' questions and dealing with ungrammaticalities (reanalysis).

Processing of syntactic information monitored by brain surface current density mapping based on MEG.

The cortical network subserving language processing is likely to exhibit a high spatial and temporal complexity. Studies using brain imaging methods, like fMRI or PET, succeeded in identifying a number of brain structures that seem to contribute to the processing of syntactic structures, while their dynamic interaction remains unclear due to the low temporal resolution of the methods. On the other hand, ERP studies have revealed a great deal of the temporal dimension of language processing without being able to provide more than very coarse information on the localisation of the underlying generators. MEG has a temporal resolution similar to EEG combined with a better spatial resolution. In this paper, Brain Surface Current Density (BSCD) mapping in a standard brain model was used to identify statistically significant differences between the activity of certain brain regions due to syntactically correct and incorrect auditory language input. The results show that the activity in the first 600 ms after violation onset is mainly concentrated in the temporal cortex and the adjacent frontal and parietal areas of both hemispheres. The statistical analysis reveals significantly different activity mainly in both frontal and temporal cortices. For longer latencies above 250 ms, the differential activity is more prominent in the right hemisphere. These findings confirm other recent results that suggest right hemisphere involvement in auditory language processing. One interpretation might be that right hemisphere regions play an important role in repair and re-analysis processes in order to free the specialised left hemisphere language areas for processing further input.

Optimum design of unbraced rigid frames

In this paper, an algorithm is presented for the optimum design of unbraced rigid frames which takes into account the non-linear response of the frame due to the effect of axial loads. It considers sway constraints and combined stress limitations in the design problem. While the optimality criteria approach is employed to handle sway limitations, the combined stress constraints are reduced to non-linear equations of the design variables. The algorithm initiates the design process by carrying out non-linear analysis of the frame. It checks the overall stability in every iteration of the analysis. When the non-linear response of the frame is obtained without loss of stability, the new values of design variables are computed from the recursive relationships. This process of re-analysis and re-sizing is repeated until the convergence is obtained. A number of tall steel frames are designed by the algorithm as examples.

First-Pass versus Second-Pass Parsing Processes in a Wernicke's and a Broca's Aphasic: Electrophysiological Evidence for a Double Dissociation

The present paper is a first attempt to integrate the classical brain lesion behavioral impairment approach of functional neuroanatomy and the electrophysiological brain mapping approach in the domain of syntactic processing. In a group of normal age-matched controls we identified three electrophysiological components previously observed in correlation with language comprehension processes: an early left anterior negativity normally seen in correlation with syntactic first-pass parsing processes (ELAN), a centroparietal negativity seen in correlation with processes of lexical-semantic integration (N400), and a late centroparietal positivity observed in correlation with secondary syntactic processes of reanalysis and repair (P600). The early left anterior negativity was absent in a patient with an extended lesion in the anterior part of the left hemisphere sparing the temporal lobe, although the late centroparietal positivity and the centroparietal N400 were present. In a patient with a left temporal-parietal lesion the early left anterior negativity was found to be present, whereas the N400 component was absent. These findings suggest that first-pass parsing and secondary processes are subserved by distinct brain systems.

The development of antipassive constructions in Australian languages*

Antipassive constructions occur in a small minority of Australian languages. The overwhelming majority of these antipassive constructions are marked by the same verbal morphology that each language uses to mark its reflexive construction. This paper compares the functional properties of antipassives and reflexives, in order to suggest a historical explanation for their shared morphology, and proposes that antipassive constructions in these languages developed from reflexive constructions through a diachronic process of functional extension and reanalysis. Further, a chain of extensions and reanalyses is proposed, whereby it is suggested that reflexives provided the source material for so‐called pragmatic antipassives, which in turn provided the source material for structural antipassives.

Areal Typology and Grammaticalization

Grammaticalization processes in East and mainland South East Asian languages show remarkable areal parallels within the domain of the verb and the noun. Since language contact increases processes of reanalysis it supports grammaticalization and its cross-linguistic similarity. Grammaticalization processes are governed by attractor positions (cf. 1.1.3.) and pathways of grammaticalization (cf. 1.1..4.). The former is a good parameter for making areal distinctions, the latter is of areal relevance only within the domain of the verb. Because of attractor positions, grammaticalization processes are not necessarily slow and gradual. The distribution of attractor positions relative to each other is governed by the principles of relevance and generality (Bybee 1985).

The Time Course of Syntactic Activation During Language Processing: A Model Based on Neuropsychological and Neurophysiological Data

This paper presents a model describing the temporal and neurotopological structure of syntactic processes during comprehension. It postulates three distinct phases of language comprehension, two of which are primarily syntactic in nature. During the first phase the parser assigns the initial syntactic structure on the basis of word category information. These early structural processes are assumed to be subserved by the anterior parts of the left hemisphere, as event-related brain potentials show this area to be maximally activated when phrase structure violations are processed and as circumscribed lesions in this area lead to an impairment of the on-line structural assignment. During the second phase lexical-semantic and verb-argument structure information is processed. This phase is neurophysiologically manifest in a negative component in the event-related brain potential around 400 ms after stimulus onset which is distributed over the left and right temporo-parietal areas when lexical-semantic information is processed and over left anterior areas when verb-argument structure information is processed. During the third phase the parser tries to map the initial syntactic structure onto the available lexical-semantic and verb-argument structure information. In case of an unsuccessful match between the two types of information reanalyses may become necessary. These processes of structural reanalysis are correlated with a centroparietally distributed late positive component in the event-related brain potential. The different temporal and topographical patterns of the event-related brain potential. as well as some aspects of aphasics′ comprehension behavior are taken to support the view that these different processing phases are distinct and that the left anterior cortex, in particular, is responsible for the on-line assignment of syntactic structure.

ON THE GENESIS OF THERE-CONSTRUCTIONS

The most conspicuous property of the existential sentence (abbreviated as ES) is that the particular lexical item there occurs as an expletive subject. In order to account for this property, we investigate how children learn various there constructions, including ES. We propose that there is introduced into English ES through a reanalysis process which reanalyzes the deictic adverb there as an expletive subject. The reanalysis hypothesis involves the proposal that ontological ES and locational ES with a locative adverbial in end position constitute a prototype (or central) ES, which occurs first in the sequence of acquisition of ES.

Reiconization

ABSTRACT: Reiconization refers to the process of reanalysis in which a meaningless or semantically opaque item is replaced by a new item with a transparent meaning. When the replaced (deiconized) item combines with other items to form a larger expression, the effect of reiconization is to maintain or restore the original meaning of the larger expression. This process is readily observable in the case of prepositions. For instance, the preposition of lacks a central meaning, and consequently, it is often replaced by the more iconic about or for, as in talk about rather than talk of. Similar examples can be found for other prepositions. Reiconization is not restricted to the replacement of prepositions, but operates at higher levels as well. The respecification of each in the reciprocal, each other, and the reanalysis evidenced by folk etymologies furnish examples of the operation of reiconization at different levels.

Complex Passives, Reanalysis, and Word Formation

This paper deals with the syntax of the so-called ‘complex passive’ and, more generally, with investigating the range, effects, and interaction of certain reanalysis processes that have been claimed to be operative in this and other syntactic constructions.

(f) Notes on the Emergence of New Semitic Roots in the Light of Compounding

Independently of the question as to whether bi- or triradical roots have historical preponderance in Semitic, there are clear cases of Semitic verbal and nominal roots that have emerged through a process of compounding or integration of additional elements (verbal or nominal affixes and even prepositions). In this paper, an attempt will be made to establish a hierarchical typology of such processes of morphophonological re-analysis, in both historical and modern times.Key words: affix, re-analysis, root, compounding