ERIC Number: EJ1284023
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2021-Jan
Pages: 22
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0922-4777
EISSN: N/A
Parsing Written Language with Non-Standard Grammar: An Eye-Tracking Study of Case Marking in Arabic
Hallberg, Andreas; Niehorster, Diederick C.
Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal, v34 n1 p27-48 Jan 2021
Morphologically marked case is in Arabic a feature exclusive to the variety of Standard Arabic, with no parallel in the spoken varieties, and it is orthographically marked only on some word classes in specific grammatical situations. In this study we test the hypothesis that readers of Arabic do not parse sentences for case and that orthographically marked case can therefore be removed with no effect on reading. Twenty-nine participants read sentences in which one of the two most frequent types of orthographically marked case was either retained or omitted, while their eye-movements were monitored. The removal of case marking from subjects in the sound masculine plural declension (changing the suffix -un [characters omitted] to -in [characters omitted]) had no negative effect on gaze duration, regressions out, or go-past time. The removal of case marking form direct objects in the triptote declension (omitting the suffix -an [characters omitted]) did however resulted in an increase in these measures. These results indicate that only some forms of case marking are required in the grammar used by readers for parsing written text.
Descriptors: Written Language, Grammar, Semitic Languages, Language Variation, Morphology (Languages), Morphemes, Language Processing, Speech Communication, Reading Processes, Eye Movements, Form Classes (Languages)
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A

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