Chapter published in:
Perspectives on Abstract Concepts: Cognition, language and communicationEdited by Marianna Bolognesi and Gerard J. Steen
[Human Cognitive Processing 65] 2019
► pp. 145–165
Chapter 7Acceptability properties of abstract senses in copredication
This chapter explores the acceptability properties of copredication and how they can inform debates about the representation of abstract concepts. Across a series of acceptability judgment experiments, it was tested whether copredication in book-, lunch- and city-type nominals is difficult across-the-board or depends on adjective ordering in sentences like “John said that the folded and educational newspaper was on the shelf”. The results revealed no acceptability difference between copredication and non-copredication, however there was a strong preference for concrete adjectives to be placed before abstract ones. It is suggested for the first time that the parser is sensitive to semantic complexity, and that it is more optimal to access abstract concepts after associated concrete concepts than the reverse.
Keywords: copredication, lexical frequency, sense order, simplicity first
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.Experiment 1: Foundations of copredication
- 2.1Materials and methods
- 2.1.1Participants
- 2.1.2Materials
- 2.1.3Procedure
- 2.2Results
- 2.2.1Comprehension question analysis
- 2.2.2Acceptability judgment data
- 2.3Discussion
- 2.1Materials and methods
- 3.Experiment 2: Sense order effects
- 3.1Materials and methods
- 3.1.1Participants
- 3.1.2Materials
- 3.1.3Procedure
- 3.2Results
- 3.2.1Comprehension question analysis
- 3.2.2Acceptability judgment data
- 3.3Discussion
- 3.1Materials and methods
- 4.Norming studies
- 4.1Study 1: Sense frequency and adjective coordination
- 4.1.1Methods and materials
- 4.1.2Results and discussion: Sense frequency
- 4.1.3Results and discussion: Adjective coordination
- 4.2Study 2: Adjective co-occurrence and sense relatedness
- 4.2.1Methods and materials
- 4.2.2Results and discussion
- 4.1Study 1: Sense frequency and adjective coordination
- 5.Conclusion
-
Acknowledgment -
References
Published online: 06 June 2019
https://doi.org/10.1075/hcp.65.08mur
https://doi.org/10.1075/hcp.65.08mur
References
Arapanis, A.
Cruse, D. A.
Duffy, S., Morris, R. K., & Rayner, K.
Field, A.
Gibson, E., & Fedorenko, E.
Gotham, M.
Greenhouse, S. W., & Geisser, S.
Jezek, E., & Vieu, L.
Moltmann, F.
Murphy, E.
Rayner, K., & Duffy, S. A.
Simpson, G. B., & Burgess, C.
Sprouse, J.
Cited by
Cited by 2 other publications
Murphy, Elliot
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