@article{NickelsLampeMasonetal.2022, author = {Nickels, Lyndsey and Lampe, Leonie F. and Mason, Catherine and Hameau, Solene}, title = {Investigating the influence of semantic factors on word retrieval}, series = {Cognitive neuropsychology}, volume = {39}, journal = {Cognitive neuropsychology}, number = {3-4}, publisher = {Routledge, Taylor \& Francis Group}, address = {Abingdon}, issn = {0264-3294}, doi = {10.1080/02643294.2022.2109958}, pages = {113 -- 154}, year = {2022}, abstract = {There is consensus that word retrieval starts with activation of semantic representations. However, in adults without language impairment, relatively little attention has been paid to the effects of the semantic attributes of to-be-retrieved words. This paper, therefore, addresses the question of which item-inherent semantic factors influence word retrieval. Specifically, it reviews the literature on a selection of these factors: imageability, concreteness, number of semantic features, typicality, intercorrelational density, featural distinctiveness, concept distinctiveness, animacy, semantic neighbourhood density, semantic similarity, operativity, valence, and arousal. It highlights several methodological challenges in this field, and has a focus on the insights from studies with people with aphasia where the effects of these variables are more prevalent. The paper concludes that further research simultaneously examining the effects of different semantic factors that are likely to affect lexical co-activation, and the interaction of these variables, would be fruitful, as would suitably scaled computational modelling of these effects in unimpaired language processing and in language impairment. Such research would enable the refinement of theories of semantic processing and word production, and potentially have implications for diagnosis and treatment of semantic and lexical impairments.}, language = {en} } @article{ClausenStede2022, author = {Clausen, Yulia and Stede, Manfred}, title = {Discourse connectives and their arguments}, series = {Linguistics Vanguard}, volume = {8}, journal = {Linguistics Vanguard}, number = {1}, publisher = {De Gruyter}, address = {Berlin}, issn = {2199-174X}, doi = {10.1515/lingvan-2021-0102}, pages = {95 -- 111}, year = {2022}, abstract = {Adverbial connectives like therefore, which link a preceding 'external' to an 'internal' argument, can be regarded as anaphoric: The external argument is selected by an interpretation process akin to that of an event anaphor, and intervening material can appear between both arguments. We report on a crowdsourcing experiment on the German connectives trotzdem and dennoch that studies factors that lead readers to assume such long-distance arguments: semantic plausibility of intervening material, 'subjective' versus 'objective' content, and the presence of an anaphoric morpheme in the connective. We find that the type and content of the intervening material play an important role in argument choice.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{MuchaEngelsWhibleyetal.2024, author = {Mucha, Anne and Engels, James J. and Whibley, Fred and Uegaki, Wataru and Wamsley, James C. and Dawson, Virginia and Gruzdeva, Anastasija and Alhazova, Anna and Golovnina, Anna and Nasyrova, Regina and Sadkovsky, Feudor and Weingartz, Siena and Hohaus, Vera and Cisse, Ousmane and Coppock, Elizabeth and Agodio, Badiba Olivier and Jenks, Peter and Sande, Hannah and Zimmermann, Malte and Berezovskaya, Polina and Chen, Sihwei and Renans, Agata}, title = {Proceedings of TripleA 10}, series = {Proceedings of TripleA}, booktitle = {Proceedings of TripleA}, editor = {Lecavelier des Etangs-Levallois, Jeanne and Geick, Niklas and Grubic, Mira and Bharadwaj, Prarthanaa and Zimmermann, Malte}, doi = {10.25932/publishup-64798}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-647980}, pages = {iv, 158}, year = {2024}, abstract = {The TripleA workshop series was founded in 2014 by linguists from Potsdam and T{\"u}bingen with the aim of providing a platform for researchers that conduct theoretically-informed linguistic fieldwork on meaning. Its focus is particularly on languages that are under-represented in the current research landscape, including but not limited to languages of Africa, Asia, and Australia, hence TripleA. For its 10th anniversary, TripleA returned to the University of Potsdam on the 7-9th of June 2023. The programme included 21 talks dealing with no less than 22 different languages, including three invited talks given by Sihwei Chen (Academia Sinica), J{\´e}r{\´e}my Pasquereau (Laboratoire de Linguistique de Nantes, CNRS) and Agata Renans (Ruhr-Universit{\"a}t Bochum). Nine of these (invited or peer-reviewed) talks are featured in this volume.}, language = {en} } @article{AktasStede2022, author = {Aktas, Berfin and Stede, Manfred}, title = {Anaphoric distance in oral and written language}, series = {Discours : revue de linguistique, psycholinguistique et informatique}, journal = {Discours : revue de linguistique, psycholinguistique et informatique}, number = {31}, publisher = {Universit{\´e} de Paris-Sorbonne, Maion Recherche}, address = {Paris}, issn = {1963-1723}, doi = {10.4000/discours.12383}, pages = {37}, year = {2022}, abstract = {We investigate the variation in oral and written language in terms of anaphoric distance (i.e., the textual distance between anaphors and their antecedents), expanding corpus-based research with experimental evidence. Contrastive corpus studies demonstrate that oral genres include longer average anaphoric distance than written genres, if the distance is measured in terms of clauses (Fox, 1987; Aktas \& Stede, 2020). We designed an experiment in order to examine the contrasts in oral and written mediums, using the same genre. We aim to gain more insight about the impact of the medium, in a situation where both mediums convey a similar level of spontaneity, informality and interactivity. We designed a story continuation study, where the participants are recruited via crowdsourcing. To our knowledge, this is the first study of its kind, where anaphoric distance is manipulated systematically in a language production experiment in order to examine medium distinctions. We observed that participants use more pronouns in oral medium than in written medium if the anaphoric distance is long. This result is in line with the implications of the earlier corpus-based research. In addition, our results indicate that anaphoric distance has a larger effect in referential choice for the written medium.}, language = {en} } @article{ZiubanovaLaurinavichyuteParshina2023, author = {Ziubanova, Anastasia A. and Laurinavichyute, Anna and Parshina, Olga}, title = {Does early exposure to spoken and sign language affect reading fluency in deaf and hard-of-hearing adult signers?}, series = {Frontiers in psychology}, volume = {14}, journal = {Frontiers in psychology}, publisher = {Frontiers Research Foundation}, address = {Lausanne}, issn = {1664-1078}, doi = {10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1145638}, pages = {9}, year = {2023}, abstract = {Introduction Early linguistic background, and in particular, access to language, lays the foundation of future reading skills in deaf and hard-of-hearing signers. The current study aims to estimate the impact of two factors - early access to sign and/or spoken language - on reading fluency in deaf and hard-of-hearing adult Russian Sign Language speakers. Methods In the eye-tracking experiment, 26 deaf and 14 hard-of-hearing native Russian Sign Language speakers read 144 sentences from the Russian Sentence Corpus. Analysis of global eye-movement trajectories (scanpaths) was used to identify clusters of typical reading trajectories. The role of early access to sign and spoken language as well as vocabulary size as predictors of the more fluent reading pattern was tested. Results Hard-of-hearing signers with early access to sign language read more fluently than those who were exposed to sign language later in life or deaf signers without access to speech sounds. No association between early access to spoken language and reading fluency was found. Discussion Our results suggest a unique advantage for the hard-of-hearing individuals from having early access to both sign and spoken language and support the existing claims that early exposure to sign language is beneficial not only for deaf but also for hard-of-hearing children.}, language = {en} } @article{HeideNetzebandtAhrensetal.2023, author = {Heide, Judith and Netzebandt, Jonka and Ahrens, Stine and Br{\"u}sch, Julia and Saalfrank, Teresa and Schmitz-Antonischki, Dorit}, title = {Improving lexical retrieval with LingoTalk}, series = {Frontiers in communication}, volume = {8}, journal = {Frontiers in communication}, publisher = {Frontiers Media}, address = {Lausanne}, issn = {2297-900X}, doi = {10.3389/fcomm.2023.1210193}, pages = {16}, year = {2023}, abstract = {Introduction LingoTalk is a German speech-language app designed to enhance lexical retrieval in individuals with aphasia. It incorporates automatic speech recognition (ASR) to provide therapist-independent feedback. The execution and effectiveness of a self-administered intervention with LingoTalk was explored in a case series study. Methods Three individuals with chronic aphasia participated in a highly individualized, supervised self-administered intervention lasting 3 weeks. The LingoTalk app closely monitored the frequency, intensity and progress of the intervention. Treatment efficacy was assessed using a multiple baseline design, examining both item-specific treatment effects and generalization to untreated items, an untreated task, and spontaneous speech. Results All participants successfully completed the intervention with LingoTalk, although one participant was not able to use the ASR feature. None of the participants fully adhered to the treatment protocol. All participants demonstrated significant and sustained improvement in the naming of practiced items, although there was limited evidence of generalization. Additionally, there was a slight reduction in word-finding difficulties during spontaneous speech. Discussion This small-scale study indicates that self-administered intervention with LingoTalk can improve oral naming of treated items. Thus, it has the potential to complement face-to-face speech-language therapy, such as within in a "flipped speech room" approach. The choice of feedback mode is discussed. Transparent progress monitoring of the intervention appears to positively influence patients' motivation.}, language = {en} } @article{RossettoToraldoLarattaetal.2023, author = {Rossetto, Alessia and Toraldo, Alessio and Laratta, Stefania and Tonin, Paolo and Poletto, Cecilia and Bencini, Giulia and Semenza, Carlo}, title = {Linguistic structure modulates attention in reading: evidence from negative concord in Italian}, series = {Cognitive neuropsychology}, volume = {39}, journal = {Cognitive neuropsychology}, number = {5-8}, publisher = {Taylor \& Francis}, address = {London [u.a.]}, issn = {0264-3294}, doi = {10.1080/02643294.2023.2199918}, pages = {356 -- 374}, year = {2023}, abstract = {We report the reading performance of an Italian speaker with egocentric Neglect Dyslexia on sentences with Negative Concord structures, which contain a linguistic cue to the presence of a preceding negative marker and compare it to sentences with no such cue. As predicted, the frequency of reading the whole sentence, including the initial negative marker non, was higher in Negative Concord structures than in sentences which also started with non, but crucially, lacked the medially positioned linguistic cue to the presence of non. These data support the claim that the presence of linguistic cues to sentence structure modulates attention during reading in Neglect Dyslexia.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Pregla2024, author = {Pregla, Andreas}, title = {Word order variability in OV languages}, doi = {10.25932/publishup-64363}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-643636}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam}, pages = {xv, 265}, year = {2024}, abstract = {This thesis explores word order variability in verb-final languages. Verb-final languages have a reputation for a high amount of word order variability. However, that reputation amounts to an urban myth due to a lack of systematic investigation. This thesis provides such a systematic investigation by presenting original data from several verb-final languages with a focus on four Uralic ones: Estonian, Udmurt, Meadow Mari, and South S{\´a}mi. As with every urban myth, there is a kernel of truth in that many unrelated verb-final languages share a particular kind of word order variability, A-scrambling, in which the fronted elements do not receive a special information-structural role, such as topic or contrastive focus. That word order variability goes hand in hand with placing focussed phrases further to the right in the position directly in front of the verb. Variations on this pattern are exemplified by Uyghur, Standard Dargwa, Eastern Armenian, and three of the Uralic languages, Estonian, Udmurt, and Meadow Mari. So far for the kernel of truth, but the fourth Uralic language, South S{\´a}mi, is comparably rigid and does not feature this particular kind of word order variability. Further such comparably rigid, non-scrambling verb-final languages are Dutch, Afrikaans, Amharic, and Korean. In contrast to scrambling languages, non-scrambling languages feature obligatory subject movement, causing word order rigidity next to other typical EPP effects. The EPP is a defining feature of South S{\´a}mi clause structure in general. South S{\´a}mi exhibits a one-of-a-kind alternation between SOV and SAuxOV order that is captured by the assumption of the EPP and obligatory movement of auxiliaries but not lexical verbs. Other languages that allow for SAuxOV order either lack an alternation because the auxiliary is obligatorily present (Macro-Sudan SAuxOVX languages), or feature an alternation between SVO and SAuxOV (Kru languages; V2 with underlying OV as a fringe case). In the SVO-SAuxOV languages, both auxiliaries and lexical verbs move. Hence, South S{\´a}mi shows that the textbook difference between the VO languages English and French, whether verb movement is restricted to auxiliaries, also extends to OV languages. SAuxOV languages are an outlier among OV languages in general but are united by the presence of the EPP. Word order variability is not restricted to the preverbal field in verb-final languages, as most of them feature postverbal elements (PVE). PVE challenge the notion of verb-finality in a language. Strictly verb-final languages without any clause-internal PVE are rare. This thesis charts the first structural and descriptive typology of PVE. Verb-final languages vary in the categories they allow as PVE. Allowing for non-oblique PVE is a pivotal threshold: when non-oblique PVE are allowed, PVE can be used for information-structural effects. Many areally and genetically unrelated languages only allow for given PVE but differ in whether the PVE are contrastive. In those languages, verb-finality is not at stake since verb-medial orders are marked. In contrast, the Uralic languages Estonian and Udmurt allow for any PVE, including information focus. Verb-medial orders can be used in the same contexts as verb-final orders without semantic and pragmatic differences. As such, verb placement is subject to actual free variation. The underlying verb-finality of Estonian and Udmurt can only be inferred from a range of diagnostics indicating optional verb movement in both languages. In general, it is not possible to account for PVE with a uniform analysis: rightwards merge, leftward verb movement, and rightwards phrasal movement are required to capture the cross- and intralinguistic variation. Knowing that a language is verb-final does not allow one to draw conclusions about word order variability in that language. There are patterns of homogeneity, such as the word order variability driven by directly preverbal focus and the givenness of postverbal elements, but those are not brought about by verb-finality alone. Preverbal word order variability is restricted by the more abstract property of obligatory subject movement, whereas the determinant of postverbal word order variability has to be determined in the future.}, language = {en} } @article{VogelClausAhringetal.2022, author = {Vogel, Annemarie and Claus, Inga and Ahring, Sigrid and Gruber, Doreen and Haghikia, Aiden and Frank, Ulrike and Dziewas, Rainer and Ebersbach, Georg and Gandor, Florin and Warnecke, Tobias}, title = {Endoscopic characteristics of dysphagia in multiple system atrophy}, series = {Movement disorders : official journal of the Movement Disorder Society}, volume = {37}, journal = {Movement disorders : official journal of the Movement Disorder Society}, number = {3}, publisher = {Wiley-Blackwell}, address = {Hoboken}, issn = {0885-3185}, doi = {10.1002/mds.28854}, pages = {535 -- 544}, year = {2022}, abstract = {Background Dysphagia is a major clinical concern in multiple system atrophy (MSA). A detailed evaluation of its major endoscopic features compared with Parkinson's disease (PD) is lacking. Objective This study systematically assessed dysphagia in MSA compared with PD and correlated subjective dysphagia to objective endoscopic findings. Methods Fifty-seven patients with MSA (median, 64 [interquartile range (IQR): 59-71] years; 35 women) underwent flexible endoscopic evaluation of swallowing using a specific MSA-flexible endoscopic evaluation of swallowing task protocol. Findings were compared with an age-matched cohort of 57 patients with PD (median, 67 [interquartile range: 60-73] years; 28 women). In a subcohort, subjective dysphagia was assessed using the Swallowing Disturbance Questionnaire and correlated to endoscopy findings. Results Patients with MSA predominantly showed symptoms suggestive of oral-phase disturbance (premature spillage, 75.4\%, piecemeal deglutition, 75.4\%). Pharyngeal-phase symptoms occurred less often (pharyngeal residues, 50.9\%; penetration/aspiration, 28.1\%). In contrast, pharyngeal symptoms were the most common finding in PD (pharyngeal residues, 47.4\%). Oral symptoms occurred less frequently in PD (premature spillage, 15.8\%, P < 0.001; piecemeal deglutition, 1.8\%, P < 0.01). Patients with MSA had a greater risk for oral-phase disturbances with increased disease severity (P < 0.05; odds ratio, 3.15). Patients with MSA showed a significantly higher intraindividual interswallow variability compared with PD. When correlating Swallowing Disturbance Questionnaire scores with endoscopy results, its cutoff, validated for PD, was not sensitive enough to identify patients with MSA with dysphagia. We developed a subscore for identifying dysphagia in MSA and calculated a new cutoff (sensitivity 85\%, specificity 100\%). Conclusions In contrast with patients with PD, patients with dysphagic MSA more frequently present with oral-phase symptoms and a significantly higher intraindividual interswallow variability. A novel Swallowing Disturbance Questionnaire MSA subscore may be a valuable tool to identify patients with MSA with early oropharyngeal dysphagia.}, language = {en} } @article{HeinMurphy2022, author = {Hein, Johannes and Murphy, Andrew}, title = {VP-nominalization and the Final-over-Final Condition}, series = {Linguistic inquiry}, volume = {53}, journal = {Linguistic inquiry}, number = {2}, publisher = {MIT Press}, address = {Cambridge, Mass.}, issn = {0024-3892}, doi = {10.1162/ling_a_00407}, pages = {337 -- 370}, year = {2022}, abstract = {The Final-over-Final Condition has emerged as a robust and explanatory generalization for a wide range of phenomena (Biberauer, Holmberg, and Roberts 2014, Sheehan et al. 2017). In this article, we argue that it also holds in another domain, nominalization. In languages that show overt nominalization of VPs, one word order is routinely unattested, namely, a head-initial VP with a suffixal nominalizer. This typological gap can be accounted for by the Final-over-Final Condition, if we allow it to hold within mixed extended projections. This view also makes correct predictions about agentive nominalizations and nominalized serial verb constructions.}, language = {en} }