Refine
Has Fulltext
- no (2)
Year of publication
- 2014 (2) (remove)
Document Type
- Article (2)
Language
- English (2) (remove)
Is part of the Bibliography
- yes (2)
Keywords
- Argument structure (1)
- Event-related potential (1)
- Light verb constructions (1)
- Sentence processing (1)
- Sustained negativity (1)
- Syntax-semantics interface (1)
- argument structure (1)
- conceptualization (1)
- events (1)
- light-verb constructions (1)
Institute
It takes two to kiss, but does it take three to give a kiss? Categorization based on thematic roles
(2014)
We used event-related potentials (ERPs) to investigate the neurocognitive mechanisms associated with processing light verb constructions such as "give a kiss". These constructions consist of a semantically underspecified light verb ("give") and an event nominal that contributes most of the meaning and also activates an argument structure of its own ("kiss"). This creates a mismatch between the syntactic constituents and the semantic roles of a sentence. Native speakers read German verb-final sentences that contained light verb constructions (e.g., "Julius gave Anne a kiss"), non-light constructions (e.g., "Julius gave Anne a rose"), and semantically anomalous constructions (e.g., 'Julius gave Anne a conversation"). ERPs were measured at the critical verb, which appeared after all its arguments. Compared to non-light constructions, the light verb constructions evoked a widely distributed, frontally focused, sustained negative-going effect between 500 and 900 ms after verb onset. We interpret this effect as reflecting working memory costs associated with complex semantic processes that establish a shared argument structure in the light verb constructions.