Greek Speakers Research Articles

Apples, tomatoes, and health: comparison of structural characteristics of the L1 and L2 mental lexicons

Abstract The present study delves into the structure and lexical organization of L1 and L2 mental lexicons. Indirect access to the mental lexicon is provided by semantic fluency tasks, which inform researchers about how the words are organized in the mental lexicon and retrieved when necessary. Here, two groups of participants were asked to retrieve as many words of the category fruits and vegetables as possible in two minutes. The first group is made up of native speakers of Spanish who responded in Spanish L1, whereas the second group is made up of native speakers of Greek who are learning Spanish foreign language (SFL) who responded first in Spanish FL and later in Greek L1. The three sets of responses were scrutinized and compared for similarities and differences. Results point to a retrieval mechanism based on L1-mediated access for SFL learners and slightly different structures of the mental lexicon. Even in very advanced learners, lexical organization and word retrieval in the FL resembles L1 organization.

Assessing the Linguistic Capacity Across Alzheimer's Disease and Its Preclinical Stages: Evidence from Narrative Macrostructure in Elderly Speakers of Greek.

The assessment of language deficits can be valuable in the early clinical diagnosis of neurodegenerative disorders, including Alzheimer's disease (AD). The present study aims to explore whether language markers at the macrostructural level could assist with the placement of an individual across the dementia continuum employing production data from structured narratives. We administered a Picture Sequence Narrative Discourse Task to 170 speakers of Greek: young healthy controls (yHC), cognitively intact healthy elders (eHC), elder participants with subjective cognitive impairment (SCI), with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and with AD dementia at the mild/moderate stages. Structural MRIs, medical history, neurological examination, and neuropsychological/cognitive screening determined the status of each speaker to appropriately groupthem. The data analysis revealed that the Macrostructure Index, Irrelevant Info, and Narration Density markers can track cognitive decline and AD (p < 0.001; Macrostructural Index: eHC versus AD Sensitivity 93.8%, Specificity 74.4%, MCI versus AD Sensitivity 93.8%, Specificity 66.7%; Narration Density: eHC versus AD Sensitivity 90.6%, Specificity 71.8%, MCI versus AD Sensitivity 93.8%, Specificity 66.7%). Moreover, Narrative Complexity was significantly affected for subjects with AD, Irrelevant Info increased in the narrations of speakers with MCI and AD, while Narration Length did not appear to indubitably differentiate between the cognitively intact groups and the clinical ones. Narrative Macrostructure Indices provide valuable information on the language profile of speakers with(out) intact cognition revealing subtle early signs of cognitive decline and AD suggesting that the inclusion of language-based assessment tools would facilitate the clinical process.

Bridging Linguistic Gaps: Developing a Greek Text Simplification Dataset

Text simplification is crucial in bridging the comprehension gap in today’s information-rich environment. Despite advancements in English text simplification, languages with intricate grammatical structures, such as Greek, often remain under-explored. The complexity of Greek grammar, characterized by its flexible syntactic ordering, presents unique challenges that hinder comprehension for native speakers, learners, tourists, and international students. This paper introduces a comprehensive dataset for Greek text simplification, containing over 7500 sentences across diverse topics such as history, science, and culture, tailored to address these challenges. We outline the methodology for compiling this dataset, including a collection of texts from Greek Wikipedia, their annotation with simplified versions, and the establishment of robust evaluation metrics. Additionally, the paper details the implementation of quality control measures and the application of machine learning techniques to analyze text complexity. Our experimental results demonstrate the dataset’s initial effectiveness and potential in reducing linguistic barriers and enhancing communication, with initial machine learning models showing promising directions for future improvements in classifying text complexity. The development of this dataset marks a significant step toward improving accessibility and comprehension for a broad audience of Greek speakers and learners, fostering a more inclusive society.

Demonstratives in heritage Greek, Russian, and Turkish in Germany and the United States

Aims and Objectives: This study investigates the use of definite noun phrases involving demonstratives in adolescent and adult monolingually raised and heritage speakers of Greek, Russian, and Turkish with the following research questions: (1) Do heritage speakers of Greek, Russian, and Turkish align with monolingually raised speakers regarding the production of demonstratives? and (2) Do mode and register affect the use of demonstratives? Methodology: We conducted a corpus study on production data of heritage speakers of Greek, Russian, and Turkish residing in the United States and Germany and the respective monolingually raised speakers in Greece, Russia, and Turkey. The majority languages of the heritage speakers were German or English, respectively. Data were elicited in two distinct registers (formal vs informal) and in two distinct modes (spoken vs written). Participants were asked to narrate what happened in a short video showing a fictional minor car accident. Analysis: Oral and written narrations were annotated and analyzed using generalized linear mixed-effects regression modeling on the use of demonstratives by heritage and monolingually raised speakers accounting for individual variation, country of elicitation, mode, and register. Findings: The results show that heritage and monolingually raised speakers of Greek, Russian, and Turkish converge in their use of demonstratives. Also, mode and/or register significantly affect the production of definite noun phrases with demonstratives across all speaker groups. Originality: This is the first cross-linguistically comparable large-scale corpus study with ecologically valid production data of definite noun phrases with demonstratives in bilinguals. Significance: The study contributes to understanding the use of demonstratives in heritage and monolingual Greek, Russian, and Turkish. It provides insights into the use of demonstratives in languages with different determiner systems and the impact of mode and/or register, which seems to be pronounced roughly similarly across these languages.

Subject position in Greek and Spanish monolingual and bilingual production: Exploring the influence of verb type and definiteness

ABSTRACT This research study aims to capture linguistic variation in subject distribution in monolingual and bilingual speakers of an understudied language combination of two null subject languages, following the premises of the Interface Hypothesis (IH). Greek and Chilean Spanish are examined with a focus on subject-verb (SV) inversion in neutral contexts as influenced by two factors: verb type and subject definiteness. Oral semi-structured narratives were elicited from 116 participants: Greek and Spanish monolinguals (N = 40) and Greek-Spanish bilinguals (N = 86), namely immigrants, heritage speakers (HS), and L2 speakers of Greek. The findings show crosslinguistic differences between Greek and Spanish regarding verb-subject(-object) [VS(O)] orders, which are allowed more liberally in Greek than in Spanish. The bilingual groups behaved similarly on subject placement regarding verb type. The effect of definiteness, which was statistically significant in all the other groups, was not obtained in the HS data, indicating a relaxed distinction between definite and indefinite subjects in the heritage grammar. The findings are discussed in the light of the Interface Hypothesis (IH) and provide valuable insights into bilingual language production in relation to vulnerability in heritage and bilingual grammars, involving an insufficiently researched linguistic phenomenon.

A comparative analysis of the usage of Greek and Russian proverbs in everyday communication

The purpose of the research is to determine the linguistic status of proverbs and sayings in everyday speech of Greek and Russian native speakers. The results highlighted that both Greek and Russian speakers are well acquainted with a large number of proverbs and sayings (more than 50), but rarely use them in everyday life. Everyday paremiology is passed down from generation to generation and plays a key role in preserving cultural heritage and shaping the spiritual and moral image of society. The research also underlines the purpose behind the usage proverbs and sayings in everyday communication. It was concluded that most Greek speakers use proverbs and sayings to make information more understandable and convincing. At the same time, most Russian speakers use proverbs and sayings to express irony and relieve tension in communication. Thus, the purposes of using proverbs and sayings in everyday speech among these two nations are different. To conduct the study, the methods of sociological survey and comparative analysis were used. The scientific novelty of the research lies in the fact that the frequency of use of proverbs and sayings was determined, which reflects the characteristics of the speakers’ national identity. The practical results the research help to better understand the cultural characteristics of Greek and Russian native speakers, which helps improve the quality of intercultural communication. The above pilot data helped us to recognize the fact that the understanding and interpretation of proverbs indicate the way metaphor is used in everyday communication. Proverbs and sayings exemplify how humans use language to convey complex ideas and values through metaphorical structures. They help not only to communicate, but also to understand the world through the prism of culture and language, which is an important aspect of human thinking and cognitive abilities.

Insider Views and Practices of Translanguaging Classrooms in Early Childhood Education

This study, situated within the domain of language education, delves into the intricate dynamics of translanguaging practices and their profound influence on learning and teaching procedures in a linguistically and culturally enriched early childhood education environment. Focused on the context of Greece, the research aims to uncover the nuanced ways in which translanguaging shapes the language communication and interaction of four-year-old children, considering both native Greek speakers and their peers from migrant or refugee backgrounds. The study cohort consists of 50 children aged four, comprising both native Greek and migrant-background children attending early childhood education. Employing a comprehensive research approach, the study includes in-depth, semi-structured interview sessions with young children and specific observational protocols designed to capture authentic interactions and communications. These methods are employed to trace the development of intercultural awareness and sensitivity within an environment conducive to translanguaging. The findings highlight that the incorporation of translanguaging practices in early education settings not only refines communication and intercultural skills among young children but also significantly influences cultural awareness. Moreover, translanguaging fosters active engagement in learning activities and provides educators with valuable insights and support in implementing innovative language teaching techniques. This research contributes to the advancement of language education practices, particularly within linguistically and culturally diverse early childhood education contexts, emphasizing the transformative impact of translanguaging on crucial aspects of language learning and teaching.

Family Language Policy in the minority and migration contexts of Cyprus

This article investigates the Family Language Policy (FLP) of minority and immigrant families in Cyprus. The participants in our study were 30 immigrant and minority families in Cyprus with various first language (L1) backgrounds, namely, Russian, Georgian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian, Romanian, English, and Arabic and minority speakers of Armenian, Lebanese, and Pontic Greek. The data were collected via written questionnaires and oral, in-depth, semi-structured interviews with a focus on the FLP, cultural and linguistic identities, heritage language (HL) (incomplete) acquisition, attrition, use maintenance and transmission, linguistic interaction patterns and the material culture at home. The analysis of the data revealed that minority and immigrant speakers in Cyprus had hybrid language and cultural identities, different perceptions regarding citizenship, inclusion, and belonging, as well as the attrition, use, maintenance, and transmission of the HL, which reflected their FLPs, agency, practices, and negotiations. They attempted to assimilate into the target society but also had strong links to the community of residence, to their L1 country, and to their heritage or home language. The participants also employed hybrid language practices, as they used mixed/multiple languages both in the home and outside it. Overall, they had a positive attitude towards multilingualism in Cyprus.

Acoustic Characteristics of Greek Vowels Produced by Adult Heritage Speakers of Albanian

Investigating heritage language (HL)-contact effects on the dominant language has received limited attention despite its importance in understanding the dynamic interplay between linguistic systems in situations of bilingualism. This study compares the acoustic characteristics of Greek vowels produced by heritage speakers (HSs) of Albanian and monolingual Greek speakers, aiming to identify potential differences and explain them. The participants were adult second-generation HSs of Albanian with Greek as their dominant language, born and raised in Greece. A control group of age-matched monolingual Greek speakers was included for comparison purposes. All participants engaged in a controlled speech production task, with the data segmented to extract acoustic values pertaining to the first three formants and the duration of Greek vowels. Bayesian regression models were employed for the subsequent statistical analysis. The results demonstrated differences in the first three formants of certain vowels and the duration of all vowels. These differences can be attributed to the crosslinguistic effect of HL on the dominant language, as well as the interplay between the dynamic and internalized language system of the speakers and the complex effect of the sociophonetic context. These outcomes contribute to the hypothesis positing the emergence of deflected phonetic categories among a distinctive group of bilinguals, namely HSs. Furthermore, this study underscores the significance of a comprehensive exploration of the sociophonetic context of HSs for a nuanced understanding of their phonetic patterns.

Classification of English vowels in terms of Cypriot Greek categories: The role of acoustic similarity between L1 and L2 sounds

Abstract Previous evidence has suggested that acoustic similarity between first language (L1) and second language (L2) sounds is an accurate indicator of the speakers’ L2 classification patterns. This study investigates this assumption by examining how speakers of an under-researched language, namely Cypriot Greek, classify L2 English vowels in terms of their L1 categories. The experimental protocol relied on a perception and a production study. For the purpose of the production study, two linear discriminant analysis (LDA) models, one with both formants and duration (FD) and one with only formants (F) as input, were used to predict this classification; the models included data from both English and Cypriot Greek speakers. The perception study consisted of a classification task performed by adult Cypriot Greek advanced speakers of English who permanently resided in Cyprus. The results demonstrated that acoustic similarity was a relatively good predictor of speakers’ classification patterns as the majority of L2 vowels classified with the highest proportion were predicted with success by the LDA models. In addition, the F model was better than the FD model in predicting the full range of responses. This shows that duration features were less important than formant features for the prediction of L2 vowel classification.

Discrimination of Second Language Vowel Contrasts and the Role of Phonological Short-Term Memory and Nonverbal Intelligence

Although extensive research has focused on the perceptual abilities of second language (L2) learners, a significant gap persists in understanding how cognitive functions like phonological short-term memory (PSTM) and nonverbal intelligence (IQ) impact L2 speech perception. This study sets out to investigate the discrimination of L2 English monophthongal vowel contrasts and to assess the effect of PSTM and nonverbal IQ on L2 speech perception. The participants consisted of adult monolingually-raised Greek speakers, who completed an AX discrimination test, a digit span test, and a nonverbal intelligence test. A control group of English speakers also completed the AX test. Data were analyzed using Bayesian regression models. The results revealed that Greek speakers exhibited below chance discrimination for the majority of L2 vowel contrasts, consistently underperforming in comparison to the control group. Intriguingly, the study did not provide substantial evidence in favor of more accurate discrimination of L2 contrasts by Greek participants with high PSTM compared to those with low PSTM. However, the study yielded compelling evidence indicating that Greek participants with higher IQ demonstrated superior accuracy in discriminating most L2 contrasts compared to their lower IQ counterparts. The limited influence of PSTM on speech perception suggests the need for further exploration, considering the potential impact of test methodologies and the intricate interplay of other confounding factors. Furthermore, the study uncovers a noteworthy relationship between nonverbal IQ and L2 speech perception, likely linked with the association of high IQ with enhanced attentional capacities, information processing abilities, and learning skills—all of which are pivotal for accurate speech perception.

The Processing of Lexical Ambiguity: Evidence from Child and Adult Greek

The aim of the study is to examine the effect of sentential context on lexical ambiguity resolution in Greek adults and typically developing children. Context and word frequency are factors that can affect lexical processing, however, the role of them has not been thoroughly examined in Greek. To this aim, we assessed sentence context effects in homonym meaning activation in monolingual speakers of Greek, children and adults, using a cross-modal priming paradigm. Additionally, all participants conducted a verbal working memory task and an inhibition task so as to examine whether the use of sentential context for lexical ambiguity resolution relates to age and/or cognitive processing capacity. The data analysis showed (a) major processing differences between adults and children due to ambiguity and sentential context, (b) children’s processing times affected by cognitive skills while adults’ processing unaffected, and (c) visual word recognition intact for all participants.

Language Markers of Dementia and Their Role in Early Diagnosis of Alzheimer's Disease: Exploring Grammatical and Syntactic Competence via Sentence Repetition.

Earlier research focuses primarily on the cognitive changes due to Alzheimer's disease (AD); however, little is known with regard to changes in language competence across the lifespan. The present study aims to investigate the decline of language skills at the grammatical and syntactic levels due to changes in cognitive function. We administered the Litmus Sentence Repetition Task (SRT) to 150 native speakers of Greek who fall into five groups: 1) young healthy speakers, 2) cognitively intact elder healthy speakers, 3) speakers with subjective cognitive impairment (SCI), 4) speakers with mild cognitive impairment (MCI); and 5) speakers with AD dementia at the mild/moderate stages. All participants underwent a physical and neurological examination and cognitive screening with a standardized neuropsychological battery to assess cognitive status comprehensively and evaluate aspects like working memory, executive function, attention and memory to appropriately classify them. The data analysis revealed that the SRT had high discriminatory value in the development of AD; specifically, both accuracy and grammaticality indices were related to cognitive decline. Additionally, syntax significantly affected the performance of speakers with structures such as clitics being particularly challenging and in most structures the performance of speakers with MCI drops significantly compared to speakers with SCI. Linguistic indices revealed subtle early signs of cognitive decline that can be helpful in the early detection of AD, thus facilitating the clinical process offering support to language-based assessment tools such as sentence repetition, a non-invasive type of assessment to evaluate symptoms of AD.

The effect of real word stimuli versus non-word stimuli on oral diadochokinetic rates across the life span: An item discrimination analysis.

Diadochokinetic (DDK) rate tasks are extensively used in the evaluation of speech disorders; however, it is unclear how the different types of speech stimuli affect DDK rate performance. To investigate the effect of age, gender and type of stimuli (non-words versus real words) on the DDK rates in individuals across the lifespan and to provide normative data for Greek. Also to examine the discrimination ability of the speech DDK stimuli administered (non-words and real words) based on a dual DDK assessment protocol using a polytomous item response theory (IRT) model. The participants were 1747 monolingual Greek speakers (376 children, aged 4-17 years; and 1371 adults, aged 18-90+ years). All participants had normal hearing acuity which allowed them to understand and follow instructions. Participants with a medical condition or a language disorder which would affect DDK rate performance were excluded from the study. The time-by-count method was used, and all participants had to repeat as accurately and fast as possible: (1) four disyllabic non-words (/'gaba/, /'taka/, /'kata/, /'baga/), (2) four disyllabic real words (/'kapa/, /'tapa/, /ka'la/, /'paka/) and (3) two trisyllabic non-words (/'pataka/, /'badaga/). All responses were recorded and the speech samples that did not include at least 5 s of correct repetitions were excluded from the analysis. Age affected significantly DDK rates with performance increasing gradually until approximately the age of 40 and then gradually decreasing. Gender had no effect. Overall, there was a significant advantage of disyllabic real word stimuli over disyllabic non-word stimuli and of trisyllabic non-word stimuli over disyllabic non-word stimuli on DDK rates performance. IRT analysis suggested that the data fit the polytomous model reasonably well and all DDK stimuli (real words and non-words) showed a strong relationship (loadings > 0.50) with the latent trait. The current study complements prior research which supports that age and type of stimuli significantly affect DDK rates performance. It is the first study, that testifies to the benefit of real-word stimuli over non-word stimuli on DDK rates across the lifespan in a large representative sample. The implementation of IRT analysis provides empirical evidence about the discrimination ability of the DDK stimuli administered and confirms the reliability of this dual DDK assessment protocol. These findings are valuable for clinicians who work with motor speech disorders. What is already known on this subject Age, type of stimuli (real words versus non-words) and language significantly affect DDK rates performance. Current research strongly suggests the administration of language-specific norms since language-dependent features seem to have a noteworthy effect on the DDK rates, but scarce evidence exists about the discriminatory ability of the DDK speech stimuli commonly administered. What this study adds to the existing knowledge Conflicting findings have been reported about the effect of different types of DDK speech stimuli (real words and non-words) but no study to date has evaluated their discriminatory abilities. The current study is the first to implement a polytomous IRT model to examine this issue. This is also the first study to attempt an investigation of the effect of types of stimuli (real words versus non-words) on a large representative sample across the lifespan (4-90+ years) and to provide normative data for Greek. What are the practical and clinical implications of this work? The present study offers concrete evidence about the advantage of real-word stimuli over non-word stimuli in Greek, as well as normative data for the Greek-speaking populations. Moreover, the IRT analysis testifies to the discriminatory ability of real-word and non-word stimuli affirming the reliability of the present dual DDK assessment protocol as a psychometrically sound measure of DDK ability. The above has significant value for clinicians who work with individuals with motor speech disorders as the protocol can help them with the diagnosis and differential diagnosis of motor speech disorders.

Telling Personal Narratives: Comparing Stories Told by 10-Year-Old Speakers of Cypriot Greek Dialect and of Standard Modern Greek

Introduction: Cypriot Greek is the variety of Greek language used for oral communication by the Greek Cypriot people, while Standard Modern Greek is the official language. Cypriot Greek differs from Standard Modern Greek in various aspects, including lexicon, phonetics, phonology, morphosyntax, and pragmatics. This study examines whether there are differences between children who are native speakers of the Cypriot Greek dialect and those who are native speakers of Standard Modern Greek in narrative measurements obtained in a personal narrative context. Methods: Thirty-nine ten-year-old children (19 Cypriot Greek speakers and 20 Standard Modern Greek speakers) participated in the study. The Global TALES protocol was used to elicit personal narratives across 6 emotion-based prompts. Measures of microstructure (mean length of utterance, number of different words) and macrostructure (plot elements) are examined. Results: Analysis showed no differences in macrostructure between Cypriots Greek speakers and Standard Modern Greek speakers in response to the prompts. In contrast, group differences were found in syntactic complexity, with the Standard Modern Greek speakers producing longer sentences. Conclusion: This is the first study to compare the characteristics of personal narratives spoken by 10-year-old children who are speakers of Cypriot Greek and Standard Modern Greek. The results from this initial comparison highlight that children who are speakers of two varieties of the same language share similar narrative elements. However, they may differ in their linguistic profiles, such as in syntax. Understanding these differences is important for researchers, educators, and speech therapists. A detailed understanding of developmental milestones and a clear understanding of each variety’s characteristics are crucial from a research, pedagogical, and speech therapy perspective.

Anaphora resolution and age effects in Greek-Spanish bilingualism: Evidence from first-generation immigrants, heritage speakers, and L2 speakers

The present study compares anaphora resolution (AR) data from Greek and Spanish monolinguals and Greek-Spanish bilinguals who live in Chile to identify differences in resolving third-person null subjects (NSs) and overt pronominal subjects (OSPs) in ambiguous non-focused linguistic contexts. Overextension of the scope of OSPs in contexts where NSs are discursively expected has been consistently observed in different language contact situations, including pairs of null subject languages. According to the Interface Hypothesis, this is a compensatory strategy that occurs on account of bilingualism itself (inefficiency in syntax-pragmatic mappings). The study evaluates the Interface Hypothesis, focusing on the understudied combination of Greek and Spanish, by comparing three types of bilinguals: first-generation immigrants, heritage speakers, and L2 speakers, together with monolingual baseline groups. In addition, the study examines the age effects on speakers’ performance. Five groups of speakers (N = 115; age range 16–87; mean: 50.13, SD = 19.33) performed a self-paced auditory AR task. No overextension of the scope of OSPs was found in any of the bilingual groups, against the predictions stemming from the Interface Hypothesis. Significant age effects were found in the interpretation of NSs by both monolingual and bilingual speakers of Greek.

The Consequentialist Scale: Translation and empirical investigation in a Greek sample

The Consequentialist Scale (Robinson, 2012) [89] assesses the endorsement of consequentialist and deontological moral beliefs. This study empirically investigated the application of the Greek translation of the Consequentialist Scale in a sample of native Greek speakers. Specifically, 415 native Greek speakers completed the questionnaire. To uncover the underlying structure of the 10 items in the Consequentialist Scale, an Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) was conducted. The results revealed a three-factor solution, where the deontology factor exhibited the same structure as the original work by Robinson (2012) [89], while the original consequentialism factor split into two separate factors. Significant Pearson's r correlations were observed between age and responses to the Consequentialist Scale. Separate EFAs were conducted for two age groups based on a medial split: younger (36 years old or less) and older (more than 36 years old). Interestingly, the younger group exhibited a two-factor solution with the same structure as the original work, while the older group showed a three-factor solution. A hierarchical k-means cluster analysis revealed that the cluster of participants who scored higher in deontology compared to consequentialism primarily consisted of older participants, whereas the two other clusters comprised of younger participants exhibited the reverse pattern. Neither gender nor previous experience with philosophy significantly affected scores on the Consequentialist Scale. Overall, our study provides evidence that the Consequentialist Scale is suitable for use in the Greek population.

Subject position and verb class in L2 Greek and L2 Spanish

Greek and Spanish are two languages that display a similar subject distribution with unergative/unaccusative verbs, but different word orders with focused subjects (SV in Greek and VS in Spanish). Here we consider subject–verb word order in second language (L2) Greek and L2 Spanish in order to test the Interface Hypothesis (IH). To this end, we report a word-order selection task, with a Greek and a Spanish version. The two versions of the task were administered to L2 intermediate and advanced learners and native speakers of Greek and Spanish. The results show that the first language (L1) Spanish learners of Greek approximated more closely native word orders than the L1 Greek learners of Spanish. For the Spanish learners of Greek, the advanced group performed at ceiling, while the intermediate group performed native-like only with unergatives in neutral and direct interrogative subject-focused contexts. On the other hand, for the Greek learners of Spanish, the intermediate group failed in all contexts, while the advanced group performed native-like with unaccusatives in neutral contexts. This asymmetry between L2 Greek and L2 Spanish reveals that the L1–L2 combination determines the learners’ performance, and this is unexpected under the IH.

On the distribution and interpretation of voice in Greek anticausatives.

This paper provides experimental evidence in support of the view that Greek does not have three productive morphological classes of anticausative verbs, but only two: the class of verbs that bear non-active voice morphology and the class of verbs that are morphologically active. Across two experiments, native Greek speakers are found to prefer for each anticausative verb either non-active or active voice morphological marking, in the presence or absence of explicit contextual information. It is also shown experimentally that native speakers prefer an interpretation that involves a specific cause for all anticausatives, especially when the existence of such a cause is favored by the contextual setting. Our empirical findings are consistent with the view that the Voice Phrase that is realized as non-active voice morphology in Greek anticausatives is expletive. From a theoretical perspective, we analyze the expletiveness of this Voice projection as the result of semantic redundancy: the Voice head of Greek anticausatives combines with a v head that encodes a redundant cause meaning component and is, therefore, interpreted merely as introducing an identity function.

Development and validation of a task battery for verbal and non-verbal first- and second-order theory of mind

This paper presents a new toolkit for assessing Theory of Mind (ToM) via performance in first and second-order false belief (FB) tasks. The toolkit includes verbal and non-verbal versions of first and second-order FB tasks; the verbal version is currently available in Greek and German. Scenarios in the toolkit are balanced for factors that may influence performance, like the reason for the FB (deception, change-of-location, unexpected content). To validate our toolkit, we tested the performance of neurotypical adults in the non-verbal and verbal versions in two studies: Study 1 with 50 native speakers of German and Study 2 with 50 native speakers of Greek. The data from both studies yield similar results. Participants performed well in all conditions, showing slightly more difficulties in the second- than first-order FB conditions, and in the non-verbal than the verbal version of the task. This suggests that the task is at the high end of the sensitive range for neurotypical adults, and is expected to be well inside the sensitive range for children and populations that have difficulties in ToM. Factors like deception and type of outcome in the video-scenarios did not influence the behavior of neurotypical adults, suggesting that the task does not have any confounds related to these factors. The order of presentation of the verbal and non-verbal version has an influence on performance; participants beginning with the verbal version performed slightly better than participants beginning with the non-verbal version. This suggests that neurotypical adults used language to mediate ToM performance and learn from a language-mediated task when performing a non-verbal ToM task. To conclude, our results show that the scenarios in the toolkit are of comparable difficulty and can be combined freely to match demands in future research with neurotypical children and autistic individuals, as well as other populations that have been shown to have difficulties in ToM. Differences between baseline and critical conditions can be assumed to reflect ToM abilities, rather than language and task-based confounding factors.