Semantic indeterminacy in object relative clauses
Semantic indeterminacy in object relative clauses
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DOI：
10.1016/j.jml.2007.07.004
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发表时间：
2008-02-01
影响因子：
4.3
通讯作者：
MacDonald, Maryellen C.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Gennari, Silvia P.;MacDonald, Maryellen C.
本文研究了语义不确定性是否在理解复杂结构（例如宾语关系从句）中发挥作用。研究 1 使用门控句子完成任务来评估当关系从句展开时哪种替代解释占主导地位；研究 2 将包含不同生命配置的宾语相关子句的阅读时间与明确的被动控制进行了比较；以及研究3相关的完成数据和阅读数据。结果表明，理解难度受到生命配置和声音（主动与被动）的调节。正如完成数据所揭示的那样，这些差异与相关子句展开时替代解释的可用性密切相关。与认为理解困难源于句法复杂性的方法相反，这些结果表明语义不确定性是宾语关系从句中理解困难的主要根源。结果与基于约束的歧义解决方法一致，并为先前确定的困难来源带来了新的见解。 (C) 2007 Elsevier Inc. 保留所有权利。
This article examined whether semantic indeterminacy plays a role in comprehension of complex structures such as object relative clauses. Study 1 used a gated sentence completion task to assess which alternative interpretations are dominant as the relative clause unfolds; Study 2 compared reading times in object relative clauses containing different animacy configurations to unambiguous passive controls; and Study 3 related completion data and reading data. The results showed that comprehension difficulty was modulated by animacy configuration and voice (active vs. passive). These differences were well correlated with the availability of alternative interpretations as the relative clause unfolds, as revealed by the completion data. In contrast to approaches arguing that comprehension difficulty stems from syntactic complexity, these results suggest that semantic indeterminacy is a major source of comprehension difficulty in object relative clauses. Results are consistent with constraint-based approaches to ambiguity resolution and bring new insights into previously identified sources of difficulty. (C) 2007 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.