Verb-argument relation is a very important aspect of syntax-semantics interaction in sentence processing. Previous ERP （event related potentials） studies in this field concentrated on the relation between the verb a...Verb-argument relation is a very important aspect of syntax-semantics interaction in sentence processing. Previous ERP （event related potentials） studies in this field concentrated on the relation between the verb and its core arguments. The present study aims to reveal the ERP pattern of Chinese applied object structures （AOSs）, in which a peripheral argument is promoted to occupy the position of the patient object, as compared with the patient object structures （POSs）. The ERP data were collected when participants were asked to perform acceptability judgments about Chinese phrases. The result shows that, similar to the previous studies of number-of-argument violations, Chinese AOSs show a bilaterally distributed N400 effect. But different from all the previous studies of verb-argument relations, Chinese AOSs demonstrate a sustained anterior positivity （SAP）. This SAP, which is very rare in the studies related to complexity of argument structure operation, reflects the integration difficulty of the newly promoted arguments and the progressive nature of well-formedness checking in the processing of Chinese AOSs which is in accordance with the metonymic mechanism of non- patient objects in the relevant cognitive study. It shows that, in Chinese, which is a paratactic language, semantics （thematic roles） plays a more important role in the syntax-semantics interface than that in hypotactic languages.展开更多
基金supported Beijing Social Science Fund Project(17YYB024)The Importation and Development of HighCaliber Talents Project (The Great Wall Scholar Program)of Beijing Municipal Institutions(CIT&TCD20150303)
文摘Verb-argument relation is a very important aspect of syntax-semantics interaction in sentence processing. Previous ERP （event related potentials） studies in this field concentrated on the relation between the verb and its core arguments. The present study aims to reveal the ERP pattern of Chinese applied object structures （AOSs）, in which a peripheral argument is promoted to occupy the position of the patient object, as compared with the patient object structures （POSs）. The ERP data were collected when participants were asked to perform acceptability judgments about Chinese phrases. The result shows that, similar to the previous studies of number-of-argument violations, Chinese AOSs show a bilaterally distributed N400 effect. But different from all the previous studies of verb-argument relations, Chinese AOSs demonstrate a sustained anterior positivity （SAP）. This SAP, which is very rare in the studies related to complexity of argument structure operation, reflects the integration difficulty of the newly promoted arguments and the progressive nature of well-formedness checking in the processing of Chinese AOSs which is in accordance with the metonymic mechanism of non- patient objects in the relevant cognitive study. It shows that, in Chinese, which is a paratactic language, semantics （thematic roles） plays a more important role in the syntax-semantics interface than that in hypotactic languages.
