W4 - Language Structure & Reading Flashcards
What distinction did Noam Chomsky introduce in 1928 regarding language?
Competence vs. Performance
Define ‘Competence’ in Chomsky’s language theory.
Knowledge of language rules
Define ‘Performance’ in Chomsky’s language theory.
Actual language use influenced by memory and situational factors
What is the focus of grammaticality judgments in language?
Differentiating grammaticality from sensicality - These judgments rely on implicit knowledge of the syntactic rules of a language - innate
What does Chomsky’s generative grammar allow?
Creation of infinite sentences from finite rules via recursion
Why don’t we store all possible sentences according to Chomsky’s theory?
as we have ‘rule-governed creativity’ where we can come up with new well informed sentences
What is the purpose of phrase structure tree/diagram?
To illustrate the hierarchical structure of sentences
How do phrase structure trees function in syntax?
They represent relationships among sentence constituents
What is ‘on-line parsing’?
Incrementally building syntax structure as words are heard or read
In parsing ‘The girl hit the man with the umbrella,’ what ambiguity arises?
Whether the man or girl has the umbrella or if the umbrella is used to hit
What is the Encapsulation model in parsing?
Syntax, semantics, and discourse operate in separate modules
Contrast Encapsulation with Interaction in parsing models.
Interaction allows continuous integration of syntax, semantics, and context
Who proposed the Garden-Path Model and in what year?
Frazier, 1987
What is the ‘Minimal Attachment’ principle in Frazier’s Garden-Path Model?
Choosing the syntactic structure with the fewest nodes
What does ‘Late Closure’ mean in syntactic processing?
Attaching new words to the current phrase or clause
When does reanalysis occur in the Garden-Path Model?
When the initial parse is incompatible with further information
In two-stage models, what follows initial syntactic parsing?
Integration of semantics and pragmatics
How do interactive models process language?
By integrating meaning and context simultaneously
Give an example sentence used to test syntactic misinterpretations.
‘The man saw the girl with the telescope.’
What is a key feature of constraint-based models like MacDonald’s?
Immediate use of all available information (constraints)
How does parallel processing work in constraint-based models?
Multiple syntactic interpretations are considered at once
What happens in constraint-based models when analyses are equally supported?
It creates competition and ambiguity
Define lexical ambiguity with an example.
A word with multiple meanings, e.g., ‘bank’ (financial vs. river bank)
What did Swinney’s 1979 experiment show about lexical ambiguity?
Multiple meanings activate before context selects the appropriate one
