Onobjectposi-oninPersianditransi-ves:movementorbase-genera-on?
EliasAbdollahnejad&DennisRyanStoroshenkoSchoolofLanguages,Linguis=cs,Literatures,andCultures
Linguis=cBackground
TheIssue
• Rela=veposi=onsofthedirectobject(DO)andindirectobject(IO)inPersianditransi=vestructuresdependonthespecificityoftheDO:
a. Sāra[IObarāyebache-hā][DOketāb]mi-xun-e.S.forkid-PLbookDUR-read-3SG‘Sarareadsthekidsbooks.’
b.Sāra[DOketāb=ro][IObarāyebache-hā]mi-xun-e.S.book=OMforkid-PLDUR-read-3SG‘Sarareadsaspecificbookforthekids.’
Results&Discussion
• GeneralizedEs=ma=ngEqua=on(GEE)Model(unbalancedrepeated-measuresdesign)
• PrimingEffect:RTUnrelated–RTIden=cal29ms36ms76ms
• Type(Posi=on)*Posi=on(Type):χ2(2)=12.695,p=.002• Bonferronipairwisecomparisons:Ø Type*Posi-on:ü Iden=calTARGETsatPre-Copyvs.Post-Copy,p=.001
Ø Posi-on*Type:ü Iden=calvs.UnrelatedTARGETs:Pre-Copy,p=.073
Copy,p=.001Post-Copy,p<.001
• Delayedprimingeffect,i.e.750msagerCopy• NotinlinewithA’-movementevidence,e.g.licencingparasi=cgapsandonwardlong-distancemovement
[email protected]@ucalgary.ca
• 40na=vespeakersofPersian,testedinCanada• 36ditransi=vePersiansentences“DO[+Specific]–IO–V”• ProbeType:Iden=caltotheDOoraseman=callyunrelatedword(compa=bleinfrequencyandsyllablenumber)
Methodology
SelectedReferencesBrowning, M., & Karimi, E., (1994). Scrambling to object posi=on in Persian. Studies onScrambling.MovementandNon-MovementApproachestoFreeWord-OrderPhenomena,Moutonde Gruyter, Berlin, 61-100. Chomsky, N., (1995). The Minimalist Program. Dordrecht: Foris.Karimi, S., (2003). On Object posi=ons, specificity and scrambling. In Simin Karimi (ed.),Wordorderandscrambling,91–125.Oxford:BlackwellPublishers.Swinney,D.A.,Onifer,W.,Prather,P.,&Hirshkowitz,M.,(1979).Seman=cfacilita=onacrosssensorymodali=esintheprocessingofindividual words and sentences.Memory & CogniEon, 7(3), 159-165. Swinney, D., Ford, M.,Bresnan, J., & Frauenfelder, U., (1988). Coreference assignment during sentence processing.Language structure and processing. Stanford, CA: CSLI.VandeKoot,H., Silva, R., Felser, C.,&Sato, M., (2013). Dutch A-Scrambling Is Not Movement: Evidence from Antecedent Priming,UCLWPL25,176,200.
Psycholinguis=cBackground
• TraceReac-va-onHypothesis:Theheadofamovementchainisreac=vatedinthecogni=vesystemwhentheparserencountersthetail(Swinneyetal.,1988)CrossModalLexicalPriming(CMLP:Swinneyet.al.,1979):• Whilelisteningtoasentence,thepar=cipant,atsomemanipulatedpoint,seesastringoflerers(i.e.probe:realwordornon-word)appearingonacomputerscreenforalimited=me• Par=cipantsmakealexicaldecision(realwordornot?)
• Ifthedisplacedelementisreac=vatedatitsoriginalsite,seman=callyrelatedwordswillberecognizedmorequicklythanunrelatedwords(VandeKootet.al.,2013)Example: Probe:DANCER(iden-cal→lowerRT)Thedancerthatthemayoradoresdancerisverytalented. Probe:RANGER(unrelated→higherRT)• A’-movement:immediatereac=va=on,e.g.Englishobjectrela=veclause(LoveandSwinney,1996),Japaneselong-distanceobjectscrambling(Nakanoetal.2002)• A-movement:delayedreac=va=on,e.g.EnglishPassivestructure(OsterhoutandSwinney,1993),Englishunaccusa=vestructure(Friedmanetal.(2008)
• SpecificDOhasfeaturesofbothA-andA’-movement• Judgment-basedsyntac=canalyseshavenotprovidedaclearanalysisofthissurfaceordervaria=on
Twobasicstructures:• Varia=oninbase-generatedposi=ons:TwoObjectPosi=onHypothesis(Karimi,2003)
i)IO–DO[-Specific]–Vii)DO[+Specific]–IO–V
A-orA’-movement?• A-movement:Generallytriggeredby[Case],Shortdistance,…• A’-movement:Triggeredbynon-Casefeatures,Associatedwithdiscourse,Longdistance,…
Movement:• Syntac=cmovementtriggeredbyaccusa=ve/specificityfeature• Underlyingorder:IO-DO[-Specific]-V(Mahajan1992;Browning&E-Karimi1994;amongothers).
Probeposi=onProbetype
#1(control:500msbeforeIOoffset)
#2(IOoffset:(Presumedcopy)
#3(750msagerIOoffset)
Iden=cal Condi=on1 Condi=on3 Condi=on5
Unrelated Condi=on2 Condi=on4 Condi=on6
Conclusion
Our results support the claim that this surface varia=on in Persianditransi=ves is the result of syntac=cmovement A-movement, opposinganalyses claiming that the alternate word orders are formed purelythroughdifferentbase-generatedVPstructures.
x̄=310ms#1#2#3
Sāraqoldādebudkeqafasa=robarāye[pesar-amu]-ā-šqafasaS.promisegivenwasthatshelf=OMfor[son-uncle]-PL-hisx̄=709mstamizvamoratabbo-kon-e,valihargezinkār=ona-kard.cleaningandorganizingSUB-do-3SGbutneverthiswork=OMNEG-do
“Sarahadpromisedtocleanandorganizetheshelfforhercousins,butsheneverdidso.”
ResearchQues-ons:1. Isvaria=oninthesurfaceformofPersianditransi=vestructureresultofmovement(Browning&E-Karimi,1994)orvaria=oninbasegeneratedposi=onofDO(Karimi2003)?
2. Ifthe[+Specific]DOdoesmoveacrosstheIO,isthisbestanalyzedasA-orA’-movement?
560570580590600610620630640650660
Pre-Copy Copy Post-CopyIden=cal 612 590 573Unrelated 641 626 649
MeanRe
ac=o
nTime(m
s)
ProbePosi=on
Iden=cal Unrelated
IO-DO[-specific]-V
DO[+specific]-IO-V
ResultsareconsistentwithA-movement
