scholarly journals Self-priming in production: evidence for a hybrid model of syntactic priming

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cassandra Leigh Jacobs ◽  
Sun-Joo Cho ◽  
Duane Watson
Keyword(s):  
Hybrid Model ◽  
Language Production ◽  
Syntactic Structure ◽  
Syntactic Priming ◽  
Behavioral Experiments ◽  
Priming Effects ◽  
Syntactic Structures

Syntactic priming in language production is the increased likelihood of using a recently encountered syntactic structure. In this paper, we examine two theories of why speakers can be primed: error-driven learning accounts (Bock, Dell, Chang, & Onishi, 2007; Chang, Dell, & Bock, 2006) and activation-based accounts (Reitter et al., 2011; Pickering & Branigan, 1998). Both theories predict that speakers should be primed by the syntactic choices of others, but only activation-based accounts predict that speakers should be able to prime themselves. Here we test whether speakers can be primed by their own productions in three behavioral experiments and find evidence of structural persistence following both comprehension and speakers’ own productions. We also find that comprehension-based priming effects are larger for rarer syntactic structures than for more common ones, which is most consistent with error-driven accounts. Because neither error-driven accounts nor activation-based accounts fully explain the data, we propose a hybrid model.

scholarly journals Syntactic Priming Effects and their Underlying Mechanisms in Language Production and Comprehension

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 1370
Author(s):  
Reza Raissi ◽  
Neda Hedayat ◽  
Fakhereh Kazemirad
Keyword(s):  
Language Comprehension ◽  
Language Production ◽  
Syntactic Structure ◽  
Large Body ◽  
Syntactic Priming ◽  
Priming Effects ◽  
Syntactic Structures ◽  
Naturally Occurring ◽  
Underlying Mechanisms ◽  
The Relationship

Exposure to a syntactic structure influences the way we process a similar syntactic structure in language production and comprehension in what has been called ‘syntactic priming’. Syntactic priming is a robust phenomenon which can be observed in spoken and written production, with a range of syntactic constructions in laboratory tasks and naturally occurring samples of speech, in many languages, and also across languages within the same speaker. It has been used as a vehicle for exploring language production, language comprehension, and the relationship between them. Research in syntactic priming has made it the dominant means of investigating the processes involved in language production and comprehension. Some researchers propose that there are distinct mechanisms underlying the production and comprehension of syntactic structures; however, other researchers suggest that the same mechanisms underlie syntactic priming in production and comprehension. Thus, the mechanisms underlying syntactic priming effects in production and comprehension are still under debate. Moreover, although a fairly large body of research has addressed syntactic priming in production or in comprehension, there are few studies that consider and compare priming effects in both of these modalities. Therefore, the current study reviews the literature on syntactic priming in production and contrasts these findings to those in comprehension. It also provides an overview of syntactic priming effects and mechanisms underlying these effects in both production and comprehension.

scholarly journals The role of local and global syntactic structure in language production: Evidence from syntactic priming

2006 ◽  
Vol 21 (7-8) ◽  
pp. 974-1010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Holly P. Branigan ◽  
Martin J. Pickering ◽  
Janet F. McLean ◽  
Andrew J. Stewart
Keyword(s):  
Language Production ◽  
Syntactic Structure ◽  
Syntactic Priming

scholarly journals Lexically-mediated syntactic priming effects in comprehension: Sources of facilitation

2019 ◽  
Vol 72 (9) ◽  
pp. 2176-2196 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristen M Tooley ◽  
Martin J Pickering ◽  
Matthew J Traxler
Keyword(s):  
Eye Tracking ◽  
Sentence Processing ◽  
Syntactic Structure ◽  
Target Sentence ◽  
Syntactic Priming ◽  
Thematic Role ◽  
Priming Effects ◽  
Role Assignment ◽  
Mediated Priming ◽  
Structural Processing

The nature of the facilitation occurring when sentences share a verb and syntactic structure (i.e., lexically-mediated syntactic priming) has not been adequately addressed in comprehension. In four eye-tracking experiments, we investigated the degree to which lexical, syntactic, thematic, and verb form repetition contribute to facilitated target sentence processing. Lexically-mediated syntactic priming was observed when primes and targets shared a verb and abstract syntactic structure, regardless of the ambiguity of the prime. In addition, repeated thematic role assignment resulted in syntactic priming (to a lesser degree), and verb form repetition facilitated lexical rather than structural processing. We conclude that priming in comprehension involves lexically associated abstract syntactic representations, and facilitation of verb and thematic role processes. The results also indicate that syntactic computation errors during prime processing are not necessary for lexically-mediated priming to occur during target processing. This result is inconsistent with an error-driven learning account of lexically-mediated syntactic priming effects.

scholarly journals Evidence for robust abstract syntactic representations in production before age three

2020 ◽  
pp. 014272372090591
Author(s):  
Anouschka Foltz ◽  
Karolin Knopf ◽  
Kristina Jonas ◽  
Petra Jaecks ◽  
Prisca Stenneken
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Strong Evidence ◽  
Priming Effect ◽  
Young Age ◽  
Sentence Production ◽  
Syntactic Priming ◽  
Priming Effects ◽  
Phonological Working Memory ◽  
Syntactic Structures ◽  
Priming Process

This study investigated whether we can find reliable comprehension-to-production syntactic priming effects in children aged 2;0 to 2;11 and how phonological working memory and sentence production skills relate to the syntactic priming process. A finding of reliable syntactic priming effects would provide strong evidence that children’s syntactic representations are abstracted over individual lexical items. To test children at this young age, they were primed with simple and early-acquired transitive (e.g., tickling (a) baby) and unergative intransitive (e.g., running) syntactic structures. Children aged 2;7 to 2;11, primed with alternating prime structures, revealed a reliable syntactic priming effect. In addition, phonological working memory (moderated by age) and sentence production skills positively affected transitive productions. Children aged 2;0 to 2;6, primed either with alternating or cumulative prime structures, showed no priming effect. Together, the data indicate that children have robust abstract syntactic representations for the tested structures before age three and that both phonological working memory and production skills relate to children’s syntactic priming behavior, albeit in different ways.

Beyond syntactic priming: Evidence for activation of alternative syntactic structures

2011 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 258-283 ◽  
Author(s):  
MARINA VASILYEVA ◽  
HEIDI WATERFALL
Keyword(s):  
Syntactic Structure ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Syntactic Priming ◽  
Transitive Action ◽  
Passive Voice ◽  
Discourse Function ◽  
Syntactic Structures ◽  
Syntactic Form ◽  
Russian Speakers ◽  
English Speaking

ABSTRACTPriming methodology was previously used to investigate children's ability to represent abstract syntactic forms. Existing evidence indicates that following exposure to a particular syntactic structure (such as the passive voice), English-speaking children increase their production of that structure with new lexical items. In the present work, we utilize priming methodology to explore whether exposure to passive primes may increase children's production of sentences that have a different structure but share a similar purpose in discourse. We report three studies, two involving English- and Russian-speaking children, and a third involving Russian-speaking adults. Unlike English, Russian offers a variety of syntactic forms that emphasize the patient of a transitive action, thus fulfilling the discourse function of the passive. We found that English speakers increased the use of the particular syntactic form presented in the prime, whereas Russian speakers increased their production of several different syntactic forms used to emphasize the patient of the action.

Similarities in the Syntactic Structure of the German and Croatian Language

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 107-118
Author(s):  
Manuela Svoboda
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Learning Process ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Syntactic Structure ◽  
Foreign Language Teaching ◽  
Subordinate Clause ◽  
German Language ◽  
Syntactic Structures ◽  
Subordinate Clauses

Abstract The purpose of this paper is to analyse any potential similarities between the Croatian and German language and present them adopting a contrastive approach with the intent of simplifying the learning process in regards to the German syntactic structure for Croatian German as foreign language students. While consulting articles and books on the theories and methods of foreign language teaching, attention is usually drawn to differences between the mother tongue and the foreign language, especially concerning false friends etc. The same applies to textbooks, workbooks and how teachers behave in class. Thus, it is common practice to deal with the differences between the foreign language and the mother tongue but less with similarities. This is unfortunate considering that this would likely aid in acquiring certain grammatical and syntactic structures of the foreign language. In the author's opinion, similarities are as, if not more, important than differences. Therefore, in this article the existence of similarities between the Croatian and German language will be examined closer with a main focus on the segment of sentence types. Special attention is drawn to subordinate clauses as they play an important role when speaking and/or translating sentences from Croatian to German and vice versa. In order to present and further clarify this matter, subordinate clauses in both the German and Croatian language are defined, clarified and listed to gain an oversight and to present possible similarities between the two. In addition, the method to identify subordinate clauses in a sentence is explained as well as what they express, which conjunctions are being used for each type of subordinate clause in both languages and where the similarities and/or differences between the two languages lie.

“Subject-predicate predicate sentences” in modern Mandarin Chinese: A Cardiff Grammar approach

Linguistics ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 55 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei He
Keyword(s):  
Mandarin Chinese ◽  
Syntactic Structure ◽  
Contextual Factors ◽  
Semantic Features ◽  
Basic Principles ◽  
Syntactic Structures

AbstractThis study investigates “subject-predicate predicate sentences” (“S-P P sentences”) in modern Mandarin Chinese from a Cardiff Grammar approach with the aim of answering three main questions: (i) What is/are the functional syntactic structure(s) of the sentences to be considered in the study? (ii) What is/are the semantic motivation(s) for the structure(s)? (iii) What is/are the contextual constraints on the structure(s)? The study is guided by three basic principles: (a) language is multifunctional; (b) meaning is primary while form is the realization of meaning; and (c) different strands of meaning are realized by a single syntactic structure. Further, the study utilizes the concepts of Theme and Subject within the Cardiff Grammar in order to analyze and discuss the generally acknowledged seven types of “S-P P sentences”. The results show that only one type is truly S-P P and another type only in one sense, whereas no other types can be categorized as such. All the syntactic structures are conditioned by a different set of distinctive semantic features and contextual factors.

Is word-order similarity necessary for cross-linguistic structural priming?

2013 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 375-389 ◽  
Author(s):  
Baoguo Chen ◽  
Yuefang Jia ◽  
Zhu Wang ◽  
Susan Dunlap ◽  
Jeong-Ah Shin
Keyword(s):  
Word Order ◽  
Language Production ◽  
Structural Priming ◽  
Stage Model ◽  
Syntactic Priming ◽  
Two Stage ◽  
Chinese And English

This article presents two experiments employing two structural priming paradigms that investigated whether cross-linguistic syntactic priming occurred in Chinese and English passive sentences that differ in word order (production-to-production priming in Experiment 1 and comprehension-to-production priming in Experiment 2). Results revealed that cross-linguistic syntactic priming occurred in Chinese and English passive sentences, regardless of production of primes or comprehension of primes and language direction (L1–L2 or L2–L1). Our findings indicate that word-order similarity between languages is not necessary for cross-linguistic structural priming, supporting the view of a two-stage model of language production.

When the Construction Is Axla, Everything Is Axla: A Case of Combined Lexical and Structural Borrowing from Arabic to Hebrew

2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 337-348 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roey J. Gafter ◽  
Uri Horesh
Keyword(s):  
Language Contact ◽  
Syntactic Structure ◽  
Lexical Borrowing ◽  
Syntactic Structures ◽  
Modern Hebrew ◽  
Specific Contact ◽  
Theory Of Language ◽  
Contact Situation

This article examines a borrowing from Arabic into Hebrew, which is a combination of a lexical borrowing and a structural one. The Arabic superlativeaħla‘sweetest, most beautiful,’ pronounced by most Modern Hebrew speakers [axla], has shifted semantically to mean ‘great, awesome.’ Yet, as our corpus-based study illustrates, it was borrowed into Hebrew—for the most part—with a very particular syntactic structure that, in Arabic, denotes the superlative. In Arabic itself,aħlamay also denote a comparative adjective, though in different syntactic structures. We discuss the significance of this borrowing and the manner in which it is borrowed both to the specific contact situation between Arabic and Hebrew and to the theory of language contact in general.

About the Syntactic Structure of Bulgarian Proverbs and English Proverbial Parallels to Them

2021 ◽  
Vol 63 (2) ◽  
pp. 134-139
Author(s):  
Nadezhda Ershova ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Syntactic Structure ◽  
State University ◽  
Syntactic Structures

The article considers the most frequent sentence structures of Bulgarian proverbial parallels to Russian proverbs included into G. L. Permyakov’s paremiological minimum. The aim of the study is to classify the syntactic structures of the Bulgarian proverbs in comparison with the structures of the English proverbial parallels. The research has been based on the findings of a paremiological sociolinguistic experiment conducted by Professor M. Yu. Kotova of St. Petersburg State University and her paremiological group that resulted into series of publications titled “Tetradi Paremiographa” (“Handbooks of a Paremiographer”). The relevance of studying sentence structures is due to the fact that the coverage of grammatical issues, i.e. the analysis and description of the logical and syntactic structures of proverbs, is not paid sufficient attention in many languages.

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