Relating (Un)acceptability to Interpretation

Autors:

Urtzi Etxeberria, Susagna Tubau, Viviane Deprez, Joan Borràs-Comes and M. Teresa Espinal

Títol:

Relating (Un)acceptability to Interpretation

Editorial: Frontiers in Psychology
Col·lecció: Frontiers in Psychology #8
Data de publicació: 2018

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Although contemporary linguistic studies routinely use unacceptable sentences to determine the boundary of what falls outside the scope of grammar, investigations far more rarely take into consideration the possible interpretations of such sentences, perhaps because these interpretations are commonly prejudged as irrelevant or unreliable across speakers. In this paper we provide the results of two experiments in which participants had to make parallel acceptability and interpretation judgments of sentences presenting various types of negative dependencies in Basque and in two varieties of Spanish (Castilian Spanish and Basque Country Spanish). Our results show that acceptable sentences are uniformly assigned a single negation reading in the two languages. However, while unacceptable sentences consistently convey single negation in Basque, they are interpreted at chance in both varieties of Spanish. These results confirm that judgment data that distinguish between acceptable and unacceptable negative utterances can inform us not only about an adult’s grammar of his/her particular language but also about interesting cross-linguistic differences. We conclude that the acceptability and interpretation of (un)grammatical negative sentences can serve linguistic theory construction by helping to disentangle basic assumptions about the nature of various negative dependencies.


Títols de la col·lecció / Also in this series:

Investigating grammar in Autism Spectrum Disorders

Autors:

Anna Gavarró, Stephanie Durrleman (Eds.)

Títol:

Investigating grammar in Autism Spectrum Disorders

Editorial: Frontiers in Psychology
Col·lecció: Frontiers in Psychology #19
Data de publicació: 2018

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Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD hereafter) is a neurodevelopmental condition characterized by deficits in communicative and social skills. Consequently, the vast majority of research on language in ASD has focused on pragmatic difficulties, while considerably less is known about structural aspects of language in this population. Work on syntax and phonology is not only sparse, but the large heterogeneity in these grammatical domains has moreover led to conflicting reports that they are either intact or impaired. A few recent studies have thus attempted to focus instead on elucidating the different language phenotypes on the spectrum, leading to the identification of a subgroup with ASD displaying deficits reminiscent of those attested in Specific Language Impairment (SLI). Still, much more remains to be understood about variations in these grammatical profiles, as well as their relation to other abilities, such as IQ, working memory and theory of mind.


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