ERIC Number: EJ977977
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2012-Oct
Pages: 23
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0090-6905
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Available Date: N/A
Effects of Verbal Event Structure on Online Thematic Role Assignment
Malaia, Evie; Wilbur, Ronnie B.; Weber-Fox, Christine
Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, v41 n5 p323-345 Oct 2012
Event structure describes the relationships between general semantics ("Aktionsart") of the verb and its syntactic properties, separating verbs into two classes: telic verbs, which denote change of state events with an inherent end-point or boundary ("catch, rescue"), and atelic, which refer to homogenous activities ("tease, host"). As telic verbs describe events, in which the internal argument (Patient) is affected, we hypothesized that processing of telic verb template would activate syntactic position of the Patient during sentence comprehension. Event-related brain potentials (ERPs) were recorded from 20 English speakers, who read sentences with reduced Object relative clauses, in which the verb was either telic or atelic. ERPs in relative clauses diverged on the definite article preceding the Agent: the atelic condition was characterized by larger amplitude negativity at the N100. Such processing differences are explained by activation of the syntactic position for the Patient by the event structure template of telic verbs.
Descriptors: Language Patterns, Sentences, Semantics, Verbs, Correlation, Phrase Structure, Language Processing, Brain Hemisphere Functions, Diagnostic Tests, English, Psycholinguistics, Reading Processes
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
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