Details
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 729-754 |
| Number of pages | 26 |
| Journal | Language and Cognition |
| Volume | 12 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| Publication status | Published - 5 Dec 2020 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Abstract
Categorisation is arguably the most important organising principle in semantic memory. However, elements that are not in a categorical relation can be dynamically grouped together when the context provides a common theme for these elements. In the field of sentence (and discourse) comprehension, alternatives to a focused element can be thought of as a set of elements determined by a theme given in the utterance context. According to Alternative Semantics (Rooth, 1985, 1992), the main function of linguistic focus is to introduce a set of alternatives to the focused element within an utterance. Here, we will investigate the contribution of the utterance context to the composition of focus alternative sets. Specifically, we test whether a focus alternative set can contain elements that belong to different taxonomic categories (i.e., that are not closely semantically related). Using a behavioural probe recognition experiment, we show that participants activate elements from another taxonomic category than the focused element as part of sentence comprehension. This finding suggests that the composition of a focus alternative set is not simply based on semantic relations between the members of the set and the focused element, but that contextual relations also play a crucial role.
Keywords
- contextual relations, cross-modal priming, focus alternatives, intonation focus, taxonomic categories
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Psychology(all)
- Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
- Arts and Humanities(all)
- Language and Linguistics
- Social Sciences(all)
- Linguistics and Language
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In: Language and Cognition, Vol. 12, No. 4, 05.12.2020, p. 729-754.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - The role of non-categorical relations in establishing focus alternative sets
AU - Jördens, Kim A.
AU - Gotzner, Nicole
AU - Spalek, Katharina
N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2020 UK Cognitive Linguistics Association.
PY - 2020/12/5
Y1 - 2020/12/5
N2 - Categorisation is arguably the most important organising principle in semantic memory. However, elements that are not in a categorical relation can be dynamically grouped together when the context provides a common theme for these elements. In the field of sentence (and discourse) comprehension, alternatives to a focused element can be thought of as a set of elements determined by a theme given in the utterance context. According to Alternative Semantics (Rooth, 1985, 1992), the main function of linguistic focus is to introduce a set of alternatives to the focused element within an utterance. Here, we will investigate the contribution of the utterance context to the composition of focus alternative sets. Specifically, we test whether a focus alternative set can contain elements that belong to different taxonomic categories (i.e., that are not closely semantically related). Using a behavioural probe recognition experiment, we show that participants activate elements from another taxonomic category than the focused element as part of sentence comprehension. This finding suggests that the composition of a focus alternative set is not simply based on semantic relations between the members of the set and the focused element, but that contextual relations also play a crucial role.
AB - Categorisation is arguably the most important organising principle in semantic memory. However, elements that are not in a categorical relation can be dynamically grouped together when the context provides a common theme for these elements. In the field of sentence (and discourse) comprehension, alternatives to a focused element can be thought of as a set of elements determined by a theme given in the utterance context. According to Alternative Semantics (Rooth, 1985, 1992), the main function of linguistic focus is to introduce a set of alternatives to the focused element within an utterance. Here, we will investigate the contribution of the utterance context to the composition of focus alternative sets. Specifically, we test whether a focus alternative set can contain elements that belong to different taxonomic categories (i.e., that are not closely semantically related). Using a behavioural probe recognition experiment, we show that participants activate elements from another taxonomic category than the focused element as part of sentence comprehension. This finding suggests that the composition of a focus alternative set is not simply based on semantic relations between the members of the set and the focused element, but that contextual relations also play a crucial role.
KW - contextual relations
KW - cross-modal priming
KW - focus alternatives
KW - intonation focus
KW - taxonomic categories
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85087156645&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1017/langcog.2020.21
DO - 10.1017/langcog.2020.21
M3 - Article
VL - 12
SP - 729
EP - 754
JO - Language and Cognition
JF - Language and Cognition
SN - 1866-9808
IS - 4
ER -