Focus and thematic role assignment: A comparison of Hungarian and German in Child Language Comprehension

本研究旨在探讨从信息结构到主位角色分配的语用推理。心理语言学和类型学的研究已经证实，信息结构除了句法和形态线索（如词序和格）外，还有助于角色消歧。然而，我们对听话者将话题和焦点等信息结构范畴映射到特定论元及其相应的主位角色的原则知之甚少。本项目将收集经验数据，旨在对语言理解过程中的这一过程进行精确的语用解释。两个理论立场将进行比较：（a）听话人使用信息结构偏好（例如，（B）另外，信息结构线索激发关于说话者为什么使用规范或非规范语序的语用推理。为了检验这些假设的预测，我们将在两种语言中进行实验研究（视觉词范式），这两种语言在如何解释焦点方面存在重大差异（德语中作为对象，匈牙利语中作为主题）。我们研究这些语言的句法和韵律（差异）如何影响推理过程，导致不同的主题角色分配。通过检查语言发展的几个阶段（两种语言）的数据，该项目将深入了解（a）识别特定线索的发展阶段（例如，韵律和格），（B）这些线索对角色分配的语用学的贡献;（C）儿童在这一过程中新兴的语用能力。这个项目的结果将被整合到一个心理语言学的情境语言处理模型（协调的相互作用帐户）。

The aim of this project is to investigate pragmatic inferences from information structure to thematic role assignment. The fact that information structure contributes to role disambiguation, in addition to syntactic and morphological cues (such as word order and case) is established in psycholinguistic and typological research. However, we know very little about listeners principles in mapping information structural categories, such as topic and focus, to particular arguments and their corresponding thematic roles. This project will collect empirical data with the goal of developing a precise pragmatic account of this process during language comprehension. Two theoretical positions will be compared: (a) Hearers use information structural preferences (e.g., topics are subjects and foci are objects) as defaults for thematic role assignment; (b) alternatively, information structural cues motivate pragmatic inferences about why the speaker uses canonical or non-canonical word orders. In order to examine the predictions of these hypotheses, we will conduct experimental studies (visual word paradigm) in two languages that crucially differ with respect to how focus is interpreted (as an object in German, and as a subject in Hungarian). We examine how (differences in) the syntax and prosody of these languages implicate inferential processes that lead to different thematic role assignments. By examining data from several stages of language development (in both languages), the project will gain insights into (a) the developmental stages in the recognition of particular cues (e.g., prosody and case), (b) the contribution of these cues to the pragmatics of role assignment; and (c) children's emerging pragmatic competence in this process. The results of this project will be integrated into a psycholinguistic model of situated language processing (Coordinated Interplay Account).