Prosodic phrasing in German sentence production: optimal length vs. argument structure

Authors

  • Petra Augurzky Institute for Natural Language Processing, University of Stuttgart, Germany Author

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.36505/ExLing-2008/02/0009/000068

Keywords:

sentence production, argument structure, prosodic balance

Abstract

In the last few decades, language research has been characterized by an increasing interest in the role of prosody in sentence processing. Besides signalling disambiguation, prosodic phrasing has been shown to be sensitive to balancing demands. The present experiment examined the interaction of both domains in the production of DP1-DP2-V constructions in German. Acoustic analyses indicate that the need to signal argument structure is mediated by prosodic balance: A general tendency of grouping arguments together with their respective heads was observed, which was increased in saliency when prosodic balance supported such a phrasing.

 

References

Augurzky, P. and Schlesewsky, M. (under revision). Prosodic phrasing and transitivity in head-final sentence comprehension – ERP evidence from German ambiguous DPs.

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Selkirk, E. 2000. The interaction of constraints on prosodic phrasing. In M. Horne (Ed.), Prosody: Theory and Experiment (pp. 231-261). Dordrecht: Kluwer.

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Published

01-01-2008

How to Cite

Prosodic phrasing in German sentence production: optimal length vs. argument structure. (2008). Linguistic Proceedings Series, 2(1), 33-36. https://doi.org/10.36505/ExLing-2008/02/0009/000068

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