Research

We present a theoretical framework for tone that builds on the Headed Spans theory of assimilation. We propose that spans have two important properties, which we term binarity and minimal overlap. Cilungu (Bantu, Zambia) exhibits a process of binary H tone spreading onto the following mora, and then onto the following syllable, unless an Obligatory Contour Principle (OCP) violation would result. We propose two binary constraints on spans to explain this pattern. Further, Cilungu binary spreading obtains regardless of the length of the sequence of H-toned tone-bearing units (TBUs) in the input, which creates arbitrarily long output sequences of H-toned TBUs. We show that the binarity analysis can nonetheless account for this generalisation if spans are permitted to minimally overlap. A welcome consequence of permitting minimal overlap is that the No Crossing Condition can be derived (for tone) from factorial typology: candidates with supraminimal overlap are harmonically bounded in our theory. Finally, the formal and typological pathologies of non-overlapping alternative analyses are discussed.

Real-time interpretation of pronouns is sometimes sensitive to the presence of grammatically-illicit antecedents and sometimes not. This occasional sensitivity has been taken as evidence that structural constraints do not immediately impact the initial antecedent retrieval for pronoun interpretation. We argue that it is important to separate effects that reflect the initial antecedent retrieval process from those that reflect later processes. We present results from five reading comprehension experiments. Both the current results and previous evidence support the hypothesis that agreement features and structural constraints immediately constrain the antecedent retrieval process for pronoun interpretation. Occasional sensitivity to grammatically-illicit antecedents may be due to repair processes triggered when the initial retrieval fails to return a grammatical antecedent.

Wager‐class and assure‐class verbs exhibit a peculiarly defective paradigm where they allow ECM if the element undergoing ECM is an A′‐trace but not if the element is fully lexical. This article offers new data that reveal parallelism of these verbs with regular ECM verbs. Specifically, it is shown (i) that in wager ‐class verbs the ECM subject can remain in the embedded subject position and optionally raises to the Agreement projection of the embedding verb and (ii) that this raising to object is not possible with assure ‐class verbs due to Minimality. Based on these observations, it is suggested that the defective paradigm exhibited by wager /assure ‐class verbs stems from a PF constraint rather than a syntactic Case‐theoretic mechanism.

Previous research has shown that neural responses to words during sentence comprehension are sensitive to both lexical repetition and a word’s predictability in context. While previous research has often contrasted the effects of these variables (e.g. by looking at cases in which word repetition violates sentence-level constraints), little is known about how they work in tandem. In the current study we examine how recent exposure to a word and its predictability in context combine to impact lexical semantic processing. We devise a novel paradigm that combines reading comprehension with a recognition memory task, allowing for an orthogonal manipulation of a word’s predictability and its repetition status. Using event-related brain potentials (ERPs), we show that word repetition and predictability have qualitatively similar and additive effects on the N400 amplitude. We propose that prior exposure to a word and predictability impact lexical semantic processing in an additive and independent fashion.

Traditionally, acquisition of syntactic knowledge and the development of sentence comprehension behaviors have been treated as separate disciplines. This paper reviews a growing body of work on the development of incremental sentence comprehension mechanisms, and discusses how a better understanding of the developing parser can shed light on two linking problems that plague language acquisition research. The first linking problem is that children’s behavioral data that are observable to researchers do not provide a transparent window into the developing grammar, as children’s immature linguistic behaviors may reflect the immature parser. The second linking problem is that the input data that researchers investigate may not correspond veridically to the intake data that feed the language acquisition mechanisms, as the developing parser may misanalyze and incorrectly represent the input. Based on reviews of child language comprehension studies that shed light on these two linking problems, it is argued that further research is necessary to closely integrate parser development and acquisition of syntactic knowledge.

Does native knowledge introduce a perceptual bias against allophones that mismatch their context? In German, [x] only occurs after back vowels, while [ç] occurs elsewhere. German and English listeners heard “allophonic” ([ç-x]) and “non-allophonic” ([ç-f], [x-f]) continua after front and back vowels. Vowel affected German responses to [ç-x] and [ç-f], but not [x-f]. Vowel affected English responses to all continua. The asymmetric effect on German responses is explained as a perceptual expectation of [ç] after [y]. The effect on English responses is explained by acoustic misparsing, which causes some of the vowel's spectrum to cue a spectrally similar fricative.

Masha Polinsky and Omer Preminger on the notion of Abstract Case.

Many verbal predicates in Mandarin, called VVs, have two parts that can be separated by at most the markers of the positive and negative potential form, de and bu. This chapter surveys the interpretation and syntax of causal VVs, which imply a causal relation between the events of the first and second verb.

Three experiments are reported that collectively show that listeners perceive speech sounds as contrasting auditorily with neighboring sounds. Experiment 1 replicates the well-established finding that listeners categorize more of a [d–g] continuum as [g] after [l] than after [r]. Experiments 2 and 3 show that listeners discriminate stimuli in which the energy concentrations differ in frequency between the spectra of neighboring sounds better than those in which they do not differ. In Experiment 2, [alga–arda] pairs, in which the energy concentrations in the liquid-stop sequences are H(igh) L(ow)–LH, were more discriminable than [alda–arga] pairs, in which they are HH–LL. In Experiment 3, [da] and [ga] syllables were more easily discriminated when they were preceded by lower and higher pure tones, respectively—that is, tones that differed from the stops’ higher and lower F3 onset frequencies—than when they were preceded by H and L pure tones with similar frequencies. These discrimination results show that contrast with the target’s context exaggerates its perceived value when energy concentrations differ in frequency between the target’s spectrum and its context’s spectrum. Because contrast with its context does more that merely shift the criterion for categorizing the target, it cannot be produced by neural adaptation. The finding that nonspeech contexts exaggerate the perceived values of speech targets also rules out compensation for coarticulation by showing that their values depend on the proximal auditory qualities evoked by the stimuli’s acoustic properties, rather than the distal articulatory gestures.

There is substantial neural evidence for the role of morphology (word-internal structure) in visual word recognition. We extend this work to auditory word recognition, drawing on recent evidence that phoneme prediction is central to this process. In a magnetoencephalography (MEG) study, we crossed morphological complexity (bruis-er vs. bourbon) with the predictability of the word ending (bourbon vs. burble). High prediction error (surprisal) led to increased auditory cortex activity. This effect was enhanced for morphologically complex words. Additionally, we calculated for each timepoint the surprisal corresponding to the phoneme perceived at that timepoint, as well as the cohort entropy, which quantifies the competition among words compatible with the string prefix up to that timepoint. Higher surprisal increased neural activity at the end of the word, and higher entropy decreased neural activity shortly after word onset. These results reinforce the role of morphology and phoneme prediction in spoken word recognition.