@article{SimikWierzba2015, author = {Simik, Radek and Wierzba, Marta}, title = {The role of givenness, presupposition, and prosody in Czech word order: An experimental study}, series = {Semantics and pragmatics}, volume = {8}, journal = {Semantics and pragmatics}, publisher = {Linguistic Society of America}, address = {Washington}, issn = {1937-8912}, doi = {10.3765/sp.8.3}, pages = {103}, year = {2015}, language = {en} } @article{GrubicWierzba2021, author = {Grubic, Mira and Wierzba, Marta}, title = {The German additive particle noch}, series = {Glossa : a journal of general linguistics}, volume = {6}, journal = {Glossa : a journal of general linguistics}, number = {1}, publisher = {Ubiquity Press}, address = {London}, issn = {2397-1835}, doi = {10.5334/gjgl.1275}, pages = {29}, year = {2021}, abstract = {The particle noch ('still') can have an additive reading similar to auch ('also'). We argue that both particles indicate that a previously partially answered QUD is re-opened to add a further answer. The particles differ in that the QUD, in the case of auch, can be re-opened with respect to the same topic situation, whereas noch indicates that the QUD is re-opened with respect to a new topic situation. This account predicts a difference in the accommodation behavior of the two particles. We present an experiment whose results are in line with this prediction.}, language = {en} } @misc{GrubicWierzba2021, author = {Grubic, Mira and Wierzba, Marta}, title = {The German additive particle noch}, series = {Postprints der Universit{\"a}t Potsdam : Humanwissenschaftliche Reihe}, journal = {Postprints der Universit{\"a}t Potsdam : Humanwissenschaftliche Reihe}, number = {709}, issn = {1866-8364}, doi = {10.25932/publishup-51004}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-510049}, pages = {29}, year = {2021}, abstract = {The particle noch ('still') can have an additive reading similar to auch ('also'). We argue that both particles indicate that a previously partially answered QUD is re-opened to add a further answer. The particles differ in that the QUD, in the case of auch, can be re-opened with respect to the same topic situation, whereas noch indicates that the QUD is re-opened with respect to a new topic situation. This account predicts a difference in the accommodation behavior of the two particles. We present an experiment whose results are in line with this prediction.}, language = {en} } @phdthesis{Wierzba2017, author = {Wierzba, Marta}, title = {Revisiting prosodic reconstruction}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-403152}, school = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam}, pages = {vi, 224}, year = {2017}, abstract = {In this thesis, I develop a theoretical implementation of prosodic reconstruction and apply it to the empirical domain of German sentences in which part of a focus or contrastive topic is fronted. Prosodic reconstruction refers to the idea that sentences involving syntactic movement show prosodic parallels with corresponding simpler structures without movement. I propose to model this recurrent observation by ordering syntax-prosody mapping before copy deletion. In order to account for the partial fronting data, the idea is extended to the mapping between prosody and information structure. This assumption helps to explain why object-initial sentences containing a broad focus or broad contrastive topic show similar prosodic and interpretative restrictions as sentences with canonical word order. The empirical adequacy of the model is tested against a set of gradient acceptability judgments.}, language = {en} } @article{GrubicWierzba2019, author = {Grubic, Mira and Wierzba, Marta}, title = {Presupposition Accommodation of the German Additive Particle auch (= "too")}, series = {Frontiers in Communication}, volume = {4}, journal = {Frontiers in Communication}, publisher = {Frontiers Media}, address = {Lausanne}, issn = {2297-900X}, doi = {10.3389/fcomm.2019.00015}, pages = {18}, year = {2019}, abstract = {Presupposition triggers differ with respect to whether their presupposition is easily accommodatable. The presupposition of focus-sensitive additive particles like also or too is often classified as hard to accommodate, i.e., these triggers are infelicitous if their presupposition is not entailed by the immediate linguistic or non-linguistic context. We tested two competing accounts for the German additive particle auch concerning this requirement: First, that it requires a focus alternative to the whole proposition to be salient, and second, that it merely requires an alternative to the focused constituent (e.g., an individual) to be salient. We conducted two experiments involving felicity judgments as well as questions asking for the truth of the presupposition to be accommodated. Our results suggest that the latter account is too weak: mere previous mention of a potential alternative to the focused constituent is not enough to license the use of auch. However, our results also suggest that the former account is too strong: when an alternative of the focused constituent is prementioned and certain other accommodation-enhancing factors are present, the context does not have to entail the presupposed proposition. We tested the following two potentially accommodation-enhancing factors: First, whether the discourse can be construed to be from the perspective of the individual that the presupposition is about, and second, whether the presupposition is needed to establish coherence between the host sentence of the additive particle and the preceding context. The factor coherence was found to play a significant role. Our results thus corroborate the results of other researchers showing that discourse participants go to great lengths in order to identify a potential presupposition to accommodate, and we contribute to these results by showing that coherence is one of the factors that enhance accommodation.}, language = {en} } @misc{GrubicWierzba2019, author = {Grubic, Mira and Wierzba, Marta}, title = {Presupposition Accommodation of the German Additive Particle auch (= "too")}, series = {Postprints der Universit{\"a}t Potsdam Humanwissenschaftliche Reihe}, journal = {Postprints der Universit{\"a}t Potsdam Humanwissenschaftliche Reihe}, number = {547}, issn = {1866-8364}, doi = {10.25932/publishup-42800}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-428003}, year = {2019}, abstract = {Presupposition triggers differ with respect to whether their presupposition is easily accommodatable. The presupposition of focus-sensitive additive particles like also or too is often classified as hard to accommodate, i.e., these triggers are infelicitous if their presupposition is not entailed by the immediate linguistic or non-linguistic context. We tested two competing accounts for the German additive particle auch concerning this requirement: First, that it requires a focus alternative to the whole proposition to be salient, and second, that it merely requires an alternative to the focused constituent (e.g., an individual) to be salient. We conducted two experiments involving felicity judgments as well as questions asking for the truth of the presupposition to be accommodated. Our results suggest that the latter account is too weak: mere previous mention of a potential alternative to the focused constituent is not enough to license the use of auch. However, our results also suggest that the former account is too strong: when an alternative of the focused constituent is prementioned and certain other accommodation-enhancing factors are present, the context does not have to entail the presupposed proposition. We tested the following two potentially accommodation-enhancing factors: First, whether the discourse can be construed to be from the perspective of the individual that the presupposition is about, and second, whether the presupposition is needed to establish coherence between the host sentence of the additive particle and the preceding context. The factor coherence was found to play a significant role. Our results thus corroborate the results of other researchers showing that discourse participants go to great lengths in order to identify a potential presupposition to accommodate, and we contribute to these results by showing that coherence is one of the factors that enhance accommodation.}, language = {en} } @article{BrownSchmidtWierzba2019, author = {Brown, Jessica M. M. and Schmidt, Andreas and Wierzba, Marta}, title = {Preface}, series = {Of trees and birds. A Festschrift for Gisbert Fanselow}, journal = {Of trees and birds. A Festschrift for Gisbert Fanselow}, publisher = {Universit{\"a}tsverlag Potsdam}, address = {Potsdam}, isbn = {978-3-86956-457-9}, doi = {10.25932/publishup-43057}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-430575}, pages = {xiii -- xvi}, year = {2019}, language = {en} } @book{OlsenStiebelsBierwischetal.2019, author = {Olsen, Susan and Stiebels, Barbara and Bierwisch, Manfred and Zimmermann, Ilse and Cavar, Damir and Georgi, Doreen and Bacskai-Atkari, Julia and Alexiadou, Artemis and Błaszczak, Joanna and M{\"u}ller, Gereon and Šim{\´i}k, Radek and Meinunger, Andr{\´e} and Thiersch, Craig and Arnhold, Anja and F{\´e}ry, Caroline and Bayer, Josef and Titov, Elena and Fominyam, Henry and Tran, Thuan and Bornkessel-Schlesewsky, Ina D. and Schlesewsky, Matthias and Zimmermann, Malte and H{\"a}ussler, Jana and Mucha, Anne and Schmidt, Andreas and Weskott, Thomas and Wierzba, Marta and Stede, Manfred and Skopeteas, Stavros and Gafos, Adamantios I. and Haider, Hubert and Wunderlich, Dieter and Staudacher, Peter and Rauh, Gisa}, title = {Of Trees and Birds}, editor = {Brown, Jessica M. M. and Schmidt, Andreas and Wierzba, Marta}, publisher = {Universit{\"a}tsverlag Potsdam}, address = {Potsdam}, isbn = {978-3-86956-457-9}, doi = {10.25932/publishup-42654}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-426542}, publisher = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam}, pages = {xvi, 435}, year = {2019}, abstract = {Gisbert Fanselow's work has been invaluable and inspiring to many ­researchers working on syntax, morphology, and information ­structure, both from a ­theoretical and from an experimental perspective. This ­volume comprises a collection of articles dedicated to Gisbert on the occasion of his 60th birthday, covering a range of topics from these areas and beyond. The contributions have in ­common that in a broad sense they have to do with language structures (and thus trees), and that in a more specific sense they have to do with birds. They thus cover two of Gisbert's major interests in- and outside of the linguistic world (and ­perhaps even at the interface).}, language = {en} } @article{WierzbaFanselow2020, author = {Wierzba, Marta and Fanselow, Gisbert}, title = {Factors influencing the acceptability of object fronting in German}, series = {The journal of comparative Germanic linguistics}, volume = {23}, journal = {The journal of comparative Germanic linguistics}, number = {1}, publisher = {Springer}, address = {New York}, issn = {1383-4924}, doi = {10.1007/s10828-020-09113-1}, pages = {77 -- 124}, year = {2020}, abstract = {In this paper, we address some controversially debated empirical questions concerning object fronting in German by a series of acceptability rating studies. We investigated three kinds of factors: (i) properties of the subject (given/new, pronoun/full DP), (ii) emphasis, (iii) register. The first factor is predicted to play a crucial role by models in which object fronting possibilities are limited by prosodic properties. Two experiments provide converging evidence for a systematic effect of this factor: we find that the relative acceptability of object fronting across subjects that require an accent (new DPs) is lower than across deaccentable subjects (pronouns and given DPs). Other models predict object fronting across full phrases (but not across pronouns) to be limited to an emphatic interpretation. This prediction is also borne out, suggesting that both types of models capture an empirically valid generalization and can be seen as complementing each other rather than competing with each other. Finally, we find support for the view that informal register facilitates object fronting. In sum, our experiments contribute to clarifying the empirical basis concerning a phenomenon influenced by a range of interacting factors. This, in turn, informs theoretical approaches to the prefield position and helps to identify factors that need to be carefully controlled in this field of research.}, language = {en} } @article{SimikWierzba2017, author = {Simik, Radek and Wierzba, Marta}, title = {EXPRESSION OF INFORMATION STRUCTURE IN WEST SLAVIC: MODELING THE IMPACT OF PROSODIC AND WORD-ORDER FACTORS}, series = {Language : journal of the Linguistic Society of America}, volume = {93}, journal = {Language : journal of the Linguistic Society of America}, publisher = {Linguistic Society of America}, address = {Washington}, issn = {0097-8507}, doi = {10.1353/lan.2017.0040}, pages = {671 -- 709}, year = {2017}, abstract = {The received wisdom is that word-order alternations in Slavic languages arise as a direct consequence of word-order-related information-structure constraints such as 'Place given expressions before new ones'. In this article, we compare the word-order hypothesis with a competing one, according to which word-order alternations arise as a consequence of a prosodic constraint: 'Avoid stress on given expressions'. Based on novel experimental and modeling data, we conclude that the prosodic hypothesis is more adequate than the word-order hypothesis. Yet we also show that combining the strengths of both hypotheses provides the best fit for the data. Methodologically, our article is based on gradient acceptability judgments and multiple regression, which allows us to evaluate whether violations of generalizations like 'Given precedes new' or 'Given lacks stress' lead to a consistent decrease in acceptability and to quantify the size of their respective effects. Focusing on the empirical adequacy of such generalizations rather than on specific theoretical implementations also makes it possible to bridge the gap between different linguistic traditions and to directly compare predictions emerging from formal and functional approaches.}, language = {en} }