Word Order and Voice Influence the Timing of Verb Planning in German Sentence Production.

ABSTRACT: Theories of incremental sentence production make different assumptions about when speakers encode information about described events and when verbs are selected, accordingly. An eye tracking experiment on German testing the predictions from linear and hierarchical incrementality about the timing of event encoding and verb planning is reported. In the experiment, participants described depictions of two-participant events with sentences that differed in voice and word order. Verb-medial active sentences and actives and passives with sentence-final verbs were compared. Linear incrementality predicts that sentences with verbs placed early differ from verb-final sentences because verbs are assumed to only be planned shortly before they are articulated. By contrast, hierarchical incrementality

SUBMITTER: Sauppe S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5623055 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature