ERIC Number: EJ1098518
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2016-Jun
Pages: 28
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0090-6905
EISSN: N/A
Phrase Length and Prosody in On-Line Ambiguity Resolution
Webman-Shafran, Ronit; Fodor, Janet Dean
Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, v45 n3 p447-474 Jun 2016
We investigated the processing of ambiguous double-PP constructions in Hebrew. Selection restrictions forced the first prepositional phrase (PP1) to attach low, but PP2 could attach maximally high to VP or maximally low to the NP inside PP1. A length contrast in PP2 was also examined. This construction affords more potential locations for prosodic boundaries, and has a sharper structural contrast between the two attachment sites, than the single-PP construction which has yielded mixed results in previous work. A combined production-comprehension task showed more productions of pre-PP2 prosodic boundaries for long-PP2 than short-PP2. In comprehension, high PP2-attachment was favored by a prosodic boundary before PP2, regardless of PP2 length. This study provides performance data supporting the interplay of phrase lengths with structure-sensitivity as posited in the linguistics literature on the syntax-prosody interface, and supports the claim that readers are sensitive to the structural implications of the prosody they project onto sentences.
Descriptors: Phrase Structure, Suprasegmentals, Ambiguity (Semantics), Semitic Languages, Reading Comprehension, Task Analysis, Syntax, Sentences, Reading Aloud to Others
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
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