The leaf fell (the leaf): The online processing of unaccusatives

Naama Friedmann; Gina Taranto; Lewis P. Shapiro; David Swinney

doi:10.1162/ling.2008.39.3.355

The leaf fell (the leaf): The online processing of unaccusatives

Naama Friedmann^*, Gina Taranto, Lewis P. Shapiro, David Swinney

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

70 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

According to the Unaccusative Hypothesis, unaccusative subjects are base-generated in object position and move to subject position. We examined this hypothesis using the cross-modal lexical priming technique, which tests whether and when an antecedent is reactivated during the online processing of a sentence. We compared sentences containing unergative verbs with sentences containing unaccusatives, both alternating and nonalternating, and found that subjects of unaccusatives reactivate after the verb, while subjects of unergatives do not. Alternating unaccusatives showed a mixed pattern of reactivation. The research directly supports the Unaccusative Hypothesis.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	355-377
Number of pages	23
Journal	Linguistic Inquiry
Volume	39
Issue number	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1162/ling.2008.39.3.355
Publication status	Published - Jun 2008
Externally published	Yes

Keywords

English
Gap filling
NP-movement
Priming
Unaccusative hypothesis
Unaccusatives

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10.1162/ling.2008.39.3.355

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abstract = "According to the Unaccusative Hypothesis, unaccusative subjects are base-generated in object position and move to subject position. We examined this hypothesis using the cross-modal lexical priming technique, which tests whether and when an antecedent is reactivated during the online processing of a sentence. We compared sentences containing unergative verbs with sentences containing unaccusatives, both alternating and nonalternating, and found that subjects of unaccusatives reactivate after the verb, while subjects of unergatives do not. Alternating unaccusatives showed a mixed pattern of reactivation. The research directly supports the Unaccusative Hypothesis.",

keywords = "English, Gap filling, NP-movement, Priming, Unaccusative hypothesis, Unaccusatives",

author = "Naama Friedmann and Gina Taranto and Shapiro, {Lewis P.} and David Swinney",

year = "2008",

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AU - Friedmann, Naama

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AU - Shapiro, Lewis P.

AU - Swinney, David

PY - 2008/6

Y1 - 2008/6

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AB - According to the Unaccusative Hypothesis, unaccusative subjects are base-generated in object position and move to subject position. We examined this hypothesis using the cross-modal lexical priming technique, which tests whether and when an antecedent is reactivated during the online processing of a sentence. We compared sentences containing unergative verbs with sentences containing unaccusatives, both alternating and nonalternating, and found that subjects of unaccusatives reactivate after the verb, while subjects of unergatives do not. Alternating unaccusatives showed a mixed pattern of reactivation. The research directly supports the Unaccusative Hypothesis.

KW - English

KW - Gap filling

KW - NP-movement

KW - Priming

KW - Unaccusative hypothesis

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ER -

The leaf fell (the leaf): The online processing of unaccusatives

Abstract

Keywords

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