Abstract Recent research in psycholinguistics supports the hypothesis that retrieval from working memory is a key component of establishing syntactic dependencies in comprehension. This can result in so‐called grammatical illusions. These illusions have been modeled as the result of a content‐addressable retrieval process in sentence comprehension that allows grammatically inaccessible licensing elements to be reactivated, creating a spurious perception of acceptability. This article reports five studies that establish the existence of a new grammatical illusion involving quantification at a distance and the licensing of so‐called de NPs in French. Our results suggest that this grammatical illusion is interestingly constrained by syntactic properties of the licensors. Specifically, quantifiers that independently participate in quantification‐at‐a‐distance constructions were seen to create grammatical illusions to a greater extent than quantifiers that do not participate in that construction. Consistent with previous work on the nature of cues in memory retrieval, we suggest that this is the result of fairly specific abstract syntactic cues that guide retrieval of a licensing element. This article thus brings further evidence that syntax is crucially used to structure working memory over the course of a parse.
{"title":"Quantification at a distance and grammatical illusions in French","authors":"Jérémy Pasquereau, Brian Dillon, Lyn Frazier","doi":"10.1111/synt.12260","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/synt.12260","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Recent research in psycholinguistics supports the hypothesis that retrieval from working memory is a key component of establishing syntactic dependencies in comprehension. This can result in so‐called grammatical illusions. These illusions have been modeled as the result of a content‐addressable retrieval process in sentence comprehension that allows grammatically inaccessible licensing elements to be reactivated, creating a spurious perception of acceptability. This article reports five studies that establish the existence of a new grammatical illusion involving quantification at a distance and the licensing of so‐called de NPs in French. Our results suggest that this grammatical illusion is interestingly constrained by syntactic properties of the licensors. Specifically, quantifiers that independently participate in quantification‐at‐a‐distance constructions were seen to create grammatical illusions to a greater extent than quantifiers that do not participate in that construction. Consistent with previous work on the nature of cues in memory retrieval, we suggest that this is the result of fairly specific abstract syntactic cues that guide retrieval of a licensing element. This article thus brings further evidence that syntax is crucially used to structure working memory over the course of a parse.","PeriodicalId":45823,"journal":{"name":"Syntax-A Journal of Theoretical Experimental and Interdisciplinary Research","volume":"36 3","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135461370","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract This remark offers arguments against recent challenges to analyses that postulate verb‐stranding VP ellipsis (Idan Landau, “On the nonexistence of verb‐stranding VP‐ellipsis,” 2020, Linguistic Inquiry 51.2.341–365; Satoshi Oku, “A note on ellipsis‐resistant constituents,” 2016, Nanzan Linguistics 11.56–70). The article defends the verb‐stranding‐VP‐ellipsis hypothesis, arguing that it remains the strongest hypothesis available to account for many instances of ellipsis with null objects in languages such as Hindi, Bangla, and Japanese.
这一评论为最近对假设动词-搁浅VP省略的分析提出了挑战(Idan Landau，“On the nonexistence of动词-搁浅VP省略”，2020,Linguistic Inquiry 51.2.341-365;Satoshi Oku，“关于省略号抵抗成分的注释”，2016,Nanzan语言学11.56-70)。这篇文章为动词-滞留- VP -省略假设进行了辩护，认为它仍然是解释诸如印地语、孟加拉语和日语等语言中许多带有空对象的省略实例的最有力假设。
{"title":"In defense of verb‐stranding <scp>VP</scp> ellipsis","authors":"Andrew Simpson","doi":"10.1111/synt.12261","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/synt.12261","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This remark offers arguments against recent challenges to analyses that postulate verb‐stranding VP ellipsis (Idan Landau, “On the nonexistence of verb‐stranding VP‐ellipsis,” 2020, Linguistic Inquiry 51.2.341–365; Satoshi Oku, “A note on ellipsis‐resistant constituents,” 2016, Nanzan Linguistics 11.56–70). The article defends the verb‐stranding‐VP‐ellipsis hypothesis, arguing that it remains the strongest hypothesis available to account for many instances of ellipsis with null objects in languages such as Hindi, Bangla, and Japanese.","PeriodicalId":45823,"journal":{"name":"Syntax-A Journal of Theoretical Experimental and Interdisciplinary Research","volume":"21 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136057484","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract Advocating a verb‐stranding‐VP‐ellipsis analysis for object‐gap sentences, Andrew Simpson (“In defense of verb‐stranding VP ellipsis”) argues that under negation the “adjunct reading” is missing because it depends on focal stress, which cannot be realized on unpronounced material. No such condition holds, I maintain, and the absence of the adjunct reading reflects a syntactic absence: argument‐ellipsis sites contain no VP adjuncts. The adjunct reading emerges in some languages when the antecedent sentence is negative too, an inexplicable contingency for the verb‐stranding‐VP‐ellipsis analysis; in fact, these constructions involve polarity ellipsis (of TP), in which VP adjuncts are included. However, this derivation is not available to all languages, explaining some crosslinguistic differences in adjunct readings under negation. Finally, an optional adjunct reading may emerge in affirmative object‐gap sentences due to pragmatic enrichment , a process sensitive to context in ways that go beyond the predictions of the syntactic analysis advocated by Simpson.
{"title":"More doubts on verb‐stranding <scp>VP</scp> ellipsis: Reply to Simpson 2023","authors":"Idan Landau","doi":"10.1111/synt.12263","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/synt.12263","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Advocating a verb‐stranding‐VP‐ellipsis analysis for object‐gap sentences, Andrew Simpson (“In defense of verb‐stranding VP ellipsis”) argues that under negation the “adjunct reading” is missing because it depends on focal stress, which cannot be realized on unpronounced material. No such condition holds, I maintain, and the absence of the adjunct reading reflects a syntactic absence: argument‐ellipsis sites contain no VP adjuncts. The adjunct reading emerges in some languages when the antecedent sentence is negative too, an inexplicable contingency for the verb‐stranding‐VP‐ellipsis analysis; in fact, these constructions involve polarity ellipsis (of TP), in which VP adjuncts are included. However, this derivation is not available to all languages, explaining some crosslinguistic differences in adjunct readings under negation. Finally, an optional adjunct reading may emerge in affirmative object‐gap sentences due to pragmatic enrichment , a process sensitive to context in ways that go beyond the predictions of the syntactic analysis advocated by Simpson.","PeriodicalId":45823,"journal":{"name":"Syntax-A Journal of Theoretical Experimental and Interdisciplinary Research","volume":"65 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136212989","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The ungrammaticality of prepositional gapping has remained a challenge to the theory of ellipsis since the inception of gapping studies. Given that Russian ambivalent adpositions can be deleted under gapping, the issue becomes even more complicated. In this article, I propose a solution to these issues by analyzing adpositional gapping as head sharing, derived by Parallel Merge. I argue that only heads hosting unvalued uninterpretable features and edge features can be shared. Using this hypothesis, I correctly predict the properties of adpositional gapping.
{"title":"Adpositions and gapping","authors":"A. Kalinin","doi":"10.1111/synt.12259","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/synt.12259","url":null,"abstract":"The ungrammaticality of prepositional gapping has remained a challenge to the theory of ellipsis since the inception of gapping studies. Given that Russian ambivalent adpositions can be deleted under gapping, the issue becomes even more complicated. In this article, I propose a solution to these issues by analyzing adpositional gapping as head sharing, derived by Parallel Merge. I argue that only heads hosting unvalued uninterpretable features and edge features can be shared. Using this hypothesis, I correctly predict the properties of adpositional gapping.","PeriodicalId":45823,"journal":{"name":"Syntax-A Journal of Theoretical Experimental and Interdisciplinary Research","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2023-08-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43720847","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
On the basis of original data from Moksha Mordvin (Finno‐Ugric), I argue that some languages have nominal concord even though modifiers of the noun generally do not show inflection. Evidence for the presence of concord comes from nominal ellipsis, under which inflection is phonologically realized and restricted in the same way as regular nominal concord. To account for the distribution of concord exponents, I develop a model that allows features to be present in syntax but avoid realization. In particular, I propose that (i) Spellout applies to a node as soon as its Merge and Agree features are satisfied and (ii) Agree features are by default illegible at PF and need to undergo an operation called Probe Conversion in order to become accessible to PF processes. The distribution of features then follows from the relative timing of Spellout and Probe Conversion.
{"title":"Nominal ellipsis reveals concord in Moksha Mordvin","authors":"Mariia Privizentseva","doi":"10.1111/synt.12258","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/synt.12258","url":null,"abstract":"On the basis of original data from Moksha Mordvin (Finno‐Ugric), I argue that some languages have nominal concord even though modifiers of the noun generally do not show inflection. Evidence for the presence of concord comes from nominal ellipsis, under which inflection is phonologically realized and restricted in the same way as regular nominal concord. To account for the distribution of concord exponents, I develop a model that allows features to be present in syntax but avoid realization. In particular, I propose that (i) Spellout applies to a node as soon as its Merge and Agree features are satisfied and (ii) Agree features are by default illegible at PF and need to undergo an operation called Probe Conversion in order to become accessible to PF processes. The distribution of features then follows from the relative timing of Spellout and Probe Conversion.","PeriodicalId":45823,"journal":{"name":"Syntax-A Journal of Theoretical Experimental and Interdisciplinary Research","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2023-08-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44955890","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Charlotte Hauser, Valentina Aristodemo, Caterina Donati
Studies on sentence processing have shown that, as with all A-bar dependencies, content questions involving wh movement display a subject advantage. Very little is known, however, about wh-in-situ questions. The aim of this article is to fill this gap and explore whether a subject advantage can be found in wh-in-situ questions. We report the results of a sentence-to-picture matching task using in-situ wh questions in French Sign Language. Three adult populations with different ages of exposure to sign language were studied. Results show that comprehension of wh-in-situ questions in French Sign Language does display a subject advantage. We argue that this is relevant for the analysis of wh in situ, supporting a covert-movement analysis against alternatives involving some form of (unselective) binding. Moreover, comparison of our three populations shows that delayed exposure to language has an impact on the comprehension of wh questions, confirming that early language deprivation affects language competence in adulthood.
{"title":"A subject advantage in covert dependencies: The case of <i>wh</i>‐question comprehension in French Sign Language","authors":"Charlotte Hauser, Valentina Aristodemo, Caterina Donati","doi":"10.1111/synt.12257","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/synt.12257","url":null,"abstract":"Studies on sentence processing have shown that, as with all A-bar dependencies, content questions involving wh movement display a subject advantage. Very little is known, however, about wh-in-situ questions. The aim of this article is to fill this gap and explore whether a subject advantage can be found in wh-in-situ questions. We report the results of a sentence-to-picture matching task using in-situ wh questions in French Sign Language. Three adult populations with different ages of exposure to sign language were studied. Results show that comprehension of wh-in-situ questions in French Sign Language does display a subject advantage. We argue that this is relevant for the analysis of wh in situ, supporting a covert-movement analysis against alternatives involving some form of (unselective) binding. Moreover, comparison of our three populations shows that delayed exposure to language has an impact on the comprehension of wh questions, confirming that early language deprivation affects language competence in adulthood.","PeriodicalId":45823,"journal":{"name":"Syntax-A Journal of Theoretical Experimental and Interdisciplinary Research","volume":"49 3 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-06-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136295909","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Agree and the subjects of specificational clauses","authors":"S. Bejar, Arsalan Kahnemuyipour","doi":"10.1111/synt.12256","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/synt.12256","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":45823,"journal":{"name":"Syntax-A Journal of Theoretical Experimental and Interdisciplinary Research","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2023-06-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46077497","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A tale of two inverses","authors":"W. Oxford","doi":"10.1111/synt.12251","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/synt.12251","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":45823,"journal":{"name":"Syntax-A Journal of Theoretical Experimental and Interdisciplinary Research","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2023-05-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42442560","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Experiencer intervention in English\u0000 tough\u0000 movement: Evidence from extraction of the\u0000 tough\u0000 adjective against syntactic‐ and semantic‐intervention accounts","authors":"Martin Salzmann","doi":"10.1111/synt.12250","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/synt.12250","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":45823,"journal":{"name":"Syntax-A Journal of Theoretical Experimental and Interdisciplinary Research","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2023-03-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42941565","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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