Gisbert Fanselow - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Uploads
Papers by Gisbert Fanselow
RefDoc Refdoc est un service / is powered by. ...
The effects of focus on syntax differ across languages: some languages encode focus in situ, whil... more The effects of focus on syntax differ across languages: some languages encode focus in situ, while in other languages focus induces an array of constructions that deviate from the canonical configuration, such as noncanonical orders or clefts. This article presents semi-spontaneously produced data from American English, Québec French, Hungarian, and Georgian that shows exactly that speakers of these languages select different structures in identical discourse conditions. The observed cross-linguistic differences are accounted for by means of grammatical properties of the object languages that hold independently of information structure. This account leads to the conclusion that a non-compositional mapping between information structural concepts and structural configurations is an unnecessary complication of the grammatical model.
Mouton de Gruyter (formerly Mouton, The Hague) is a Division of Walter de Gruyter GmbH &a... more Mouton de Gruyter (formerly Mouton, The Hague) is a Division of Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG, Berlin. The series Studies in Generative Grammar was formerly published by Foris Publications Holland. Printed on acid-free paper which falls within the guidelines of the ANSI to ensure ...
Universitätsverlag Potsdam, Potsdam, Jan 1, 2007
Proceedings of PLM, Jan 1, 2006
The presence of a (categorical) superiority effect in English, and its absence in languages like ... more The presence of a (categorical) superiority effect in English, and its absence in languages like German, Polish, or Spanish, exemplified by the contrast between and , still poses quite a challenge in the formulation of a comparative theory of syntax. The pattern we observe in English with its fairly strict ban against crossing movement seems rather rare among the world's languages, yet most accounts of the contrast concerning superiority have English represent the default case. Some more recent approaches have abandoned this assumption , and they also do not attribute the superiority effect to the operation of a single constraint, cf. Haider for details of such a model.
Memory & cognition, Jan 1, 2006
Brain research, Jan 1, 2007
The present investigation demonstrates that incremental sentence processing is guided by principl... more The present investigation demonstrates that incremental sentence processing is guided by principles of minimal structure building. Event-related potentials (ERPs) to a local number mismatch between an auxiliary and a subsequent noun phrase revealed that the subject preference, a strategy known to be very robust during processing, can be overridden when information about a verb's valency (i.e. the number and type of arguments a verb requires) is available. Using verb-initial sentences, the ERP data revealed a left anterior negativity for the local number mismatch at the noun phrase following the finite verb compared to a locally matching condition in conditions with intransitive verbs, but no effect following conditions with transitive verbs. This indicates that grammar-internal information guides minimal structure formation, such that verbs that require only one argument reveal an immediate mismatch effect, while verbs that require two arguments neglect the subject preference and opt for an alternative interpretation in light of the number mismatch. The study reveals that the decisions made at this point have consequences for the processing of subsequent elements in the sentences. Using coordination constructions (e.g. the dancer and the singer), the study reports additional ERP results at the coordinating conjunction and at the second noun phrase of the coordination, which provide further evidence that verb valency is taken into consideration during incremental parsing and can override local agreement expectations.
Submitted to Cognition, Jan 1, 2006
Linguistische Berichte, Jan 1, 1989
Résumé/Abstract Après avoir montré l'impossibilité d'une réduction des principe... more Résumé/Abstract Après avoir montré l'impossibilité d'une réduction des principes B et C de la théorie du liage à la pragmatique, l'A. propose de leur substituer un «principe d'inclusion stricte», qui exclut un mécanisme grammatical A là où est applicable un mécanisme ...
Studium Linguistik, Jan 1, 1981
Università^ Passau: Diss, Jan 1, 1985
Constraints on language: Aging, …, Jan 1, 2002
We believe the methodological proposals in this chapter can help focus theoretical controversies ... more We believe the methodological proposals in this chapter can help focus theoretical controversies about the role of age in the processing of language. Of course (unfortunately), the experimental paradigms we propose do not substitute for good theory. Especially in the case of syntactic complexity, we apparently are only at the beginning of understanding the interplay of language-related and general cognitive mechanisms such as working memory or processing rate. Models tracing age differences to some form of general resource ...
Manuscript, University of Potsdam. Paper available at: …, Jan 1, 2001
Gradience in grammar: Generative perspectives
Advances in comparative Germanic syntax, Jan 1, 2009
In the mainstream analysis of verb second clauses, the finite verb moves to Comp or one of the va... more In the mainstream analysis of verb second clauses, the finite verb moves to Comp or one of the various heads present in the cartographic approach to CP. We show that such analyses are not satisfactory empirically, and cannot even be formulated within minimalist syntax. Verb movement -and head movement in general-should rather be analysed in terms of a 'bootstrapping' movement, in which the displaced head reprojects in its landing site.
Potsdam: Universität Potsdam (= Linguistics …, Jan 1, 2002
GLOW Newsletter, Jan 1, 1996
RefDoc Refdoc est un service / is powered by. ...
The effects of focus on syntax differ across languages: some languages encode focus in situ, whil... more The effects of focus on syntax differ across languages: some languages encode focus in situ, while in other languages focus induces an array of constructions that deviate from the canonical configuration, such as noncanonical orders or clefts. This article presents semi-spontaneously produced data from American English, Québec French, Hungarian, and Georgian that shows exactly that speakers of these languages select different structures in identical discourse conditions. The observed cross-linguistic differences are accounted for by means of grammatical properties of the object languages that hold independently of information structure. This account leads to the conclusion that a non-compositional mapping between information structural concepts and structural configurations is an unnecessary complication of the grammatical model.
Mouton de Gruyter (formerly Mouton, The Hague) is a Division of Walter de Gruyter GmbH &a... more Mouton de Gruyter (formerly Mouton, The Hague) is a Division of Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG, Berlin. The series Studies in Generative Grammar was formerly published by Foris Publications Holland. Printed on acid-free paper which falls within the guidelines of the ANSI to ensure ...
Universitätsverlag Potsdam, Potsdam, Jan 1, 2007
Proceedings of PLM, Jan 1, 2006
The presence of a (categorical) superiority effect in English, and its absence in languages like ... more The presence of a (categorical) superiority effect in English, and its absence in languages like German, Polish, or Spanish, exemplified by the contrast between and , still poses quite a challenge in the formulation of a comparative theory of syntax. The pattern we observe in English with its fairly strict ban against crossing movement seems rather rare among the world's languages, yet most accounts of the contrast concerning superiority have English represent the default case. Some more recent approaches have abandoned this assumption , and they also do not attribute the superiority effect to the operation of a single constraint, cf. Haider for details of such a model.
Memory & cognition, Jan 1, 2006
Brain research, Jan 1, 2007
The present investigation demonstrates that incremental sentence processing is guided by principl... more The present investigation demonstrates that incremental sentence processing is guided by principles of minimal structure building. Event-related potentials (ERPs) to a local number mismatch between an auxiliary and a subsequent noun phrase revealed that the subject preference, a strategy known to be very robust during processing, can be overridden when information about a verb's valency (i.e. the number and type of arguments a verb requires) is available. Using verb-initial sentences, the ERP data revealed a left anterior negativity for the local number mismatch at the noun phrase following the finite verb compared to a locally matching condition in conditions with intransitive verbs, but no effect following conditions with transitive verbs. This indicates that grammar-internal information guides minimal structure formation, such that verbs that require only one argument reveal an immediate mismatch effect, while verbs that require two arguments neglect the subject preference and opt for an alternative interpretation in light of the number mismatch. The study reveals that the decisions made at this point have consequences for the processing of subsequent elements in the sentences. Using coordination constructions (e.g. the dancer and the singer), the study reports additional ERP results at the coordinating conjunction and at the second noun phrase of the coordination, which provide further evidence that verb valency is taken into consideration during incremental parsing and can override local agreement expectations.
Submitted to Cognition, Jan 1, 2006
Linguistische Berichte, Jan 1, 1989
Résumé/Abstract Après avoir montré l'impossibilité d'une réduction des principe... more Résumé/Abstract Après avoir montré l'impossibilité d'une réduction des principes B et C de la théorie du liage à la pragmatique, l'A. propose de leur substituer un «principe d'inclusion stricte», qui exclut un mécanisme grammatical A là où est applicable un mécanisme ...
Studium Linguistik, Jan 1, 1981
Università^ Passau: Diss, Jan 1, 1985
Constraints on language: Aging, …, Jan 1, 2002
We believe the methodological proposals in this chapter can help focus theoretical controversies ... more We believe the methodological proposals in this chapter can help focus theoretical controversies about the role of age in the processing of language. Of course (unfortunately), the experimental paradigms we propose do not substitute for good theory. Especially in the case of syntactic complexity, we apparently are only at the beginning of understanding the interplay of language-related and general cognitive mechanisms such as working memory or processing rate. Models tracing age differences to some form of general resource ...
Manuscript, University of Potsdam. Paper available at: …, Jan 1, 2001
Gradience in grammar: Generative perspectives
Advances in comparative Germanic syntax, Jan 1, 2009
In the mainstream analysis of verb second clauses, the finite verb moves to Comp or one of the va... more In the mainstream analysis of verb second clauses, the finite verb moves to Comp or one of the various heads present in the cartographic approach to CP. We show that such analyses are not satisfactory empirically, and cannot even be formulated within minimalist syntax. Verb movement -and head movement in general-should rather be analysed in terms of a 'bootstrapping' movement, in which the displaced head reprojects in its landing site.
Potsdam: Universität Potsdam (= Linguistics …, Jan 1, 2002
GLOW Newsletter, Jan 1, 1996