The psycholinguistic realization of topic in Chinese
Cross-modal priming in the processing of Chinese OSV sentences
An OSV word order that deviates from the canonical SVO word order is typically viewed as derived through movement.
This theory has been widely supported by psycholinguistic studies showing that the displaced constituents are mentally reactivated
at the gap positions. However, some cognitive-functionalists have proposed an alternative account: in a topic-prominent language
like Chinese, topic is the basic unit of a sentence that delimits the frame within which the main predication holds. The present
study adopts the cross-modal antecedent priming technique to test whether the sentence-initial object is structurally associated
with the verb in native speakers’ online processing. Results of two experiments show that the sentence-initial object is not
associated with the verb whatsoever, neither lexically nor structurally, shedding light on the typological characteristics of
Chinese as a topic-prominent language. However, the processing of the antecedent object was shown facilitated at the
post-quantifier position.
Article outline
- 1.Introduction and background
- 1.1The Chinese OSV topic sentence
- 1.2Literature review
- 1.2.1Online processing of dislocated constituents: TRH vs DAH
- 1.2.2Online processing of Chinese OSV topic sentences
- 2.Research question and methodology
- 3.Experiment 1
- 3.1Materials
- 3.2Procedure
- 3.3Participants
- 3.4Results
- 3.5Discussion
- 4.Experiment 2
- 4.1Materials
- 4.2Procedure
- 4.3Participants
- 4.4Results
- 4.5Discussion
- 5.General discussion
- 6.Conclusion and future directions
- Notes
- Abbreviations
-
References
References (71)
References
Baayen, Harald R., Douglas J. Davidson & Douglas M. Bates. 2008. Mixed-effects
modeling with crossed random effects for subjects and items. Journal of Memory and
Language 591. 390–412.
Barr, Dale J., Roger Levy, Christoph Scheepers & Harry J. Tily. 2013. Random
effects structure for confirmatory hypothesis testing: Keep it maximal. Journal of Memory and
Language 68(3). 255–278.
Bever, Thomas G. & Brian McElree. 1988. Empty
categories access their antecedents during comprehension. Linguistic
Inquiry 191. 35–43.
Bürkner, Paul-Christian. 2017. brms:
An R Package for Bayesian multilevel models using Stan. Journal of Statistical
Software 80(1). 15–28.
Cai, Rendong & Yanping Dong. 2010. 汉语话题化结构空位的心理现实性研究 – 来自填充语启动实验的证据 Hanyu
huatihua jiegou kongwei de xinli xianshixing yanjiu: laizi tianchongyu qidong shiyan de
zhengju [An empirical study of the psychological reality of the gap in Chinese
topicalization: Evidence from filler priming]. 现代外语 Xiandai Waiyu [Modern Foreign Languages
(Quarterly)] 33(1). 64–71.
Chacon, Dustin Alfonso, Mashrur Imtiaz, Shirsho Dasgupta, Sikder Monoare Murshed, Mina Dan & Colin Phillips. 2016. Locality
and word order in active dependency formation in Bangla. Front
Psychol 71. 1235.
Chafe, Wallace. 1976. Giveness,
contrastiveness, definiteness, subjects, topics, and point of
view. In Charles N. Li (ed.), Subject
and topic, 27–55. New York: Academic Press.
Chomsky, Noam. 1995. The
minimalist program. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Clahsen, Harald & Sam Featherston. 1999. Antecedent-priming
at trace positions: evidence from German scrambling. Journal of Psycholinguistic
Research 281. 415–437.
Clahsen, Harald & Claudia Felser. 2006. Grammatical
processing in first and second language learners. Applied
Psycholinguistics 271. 3–42.
Crain, Stephen & Janet D. Fodor. 1985. “How
can grammars help parsers?” In David Dowty, Lauri Karttunen & Arnold Zwicky (eds.), Natural
language processing: Psychological, computational and theoretical
perspectives, 94–128. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Felser, Claudia & Leah Roberts. 2007. Processing
wh-dependencies in a second language: A cross-modal priming study. Second
Language Research 231. 9–39.
Fodor, Janet D. 1978. Parsing strategies and
constraints on transformations. Linguistic
Inquiry 9(3). 427–473.
Frazier, Lyn & Giovanni B. Flores d’Arcais. 1989. Filler
driven parsing: a study of gap filling in Dutch. Journal of Memory and
Language 281. 331–344.
Frazier, Lyn. 1987. Syntactic
processing: evidence from Dutch. Natural Language and Linguistic
Theory 51. 519–559.
Gibson, Edward & Gregory Hickok. 1993. Sentence
processing with empty categories. Language and Cognitive
Processes 8(2). 147–161.
Goldberg, Adele E. 1995. Constructions: A construction grammar
approach to argument structure. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Goldberg, Adele E. 2003. Constructions: A new theoretical
approach to language. Trends in Cognitive
Science 71. 219–224.
Hahne, Anja & Angela D. Friederici. 1999. Electrophysiological
evidence for two steps in syntactic analysis: Early automatic and late controlled
processes. Journal of Cognitive
Neuroscience 11(2). 194–205.
Haiman, John. 2011. Competing
motivations. In Jae Jung Song (ed.), The
Oxford handbook of linguistic
typology, 148–165. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Huang, C.-T. James, Y.-H. Audrey Li & Yafei Li. 2009. The
syntax of Chinese. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Huang, Yu-Chi & Elsi Kaiser. 2008. Investigating
filler-gap dependencies in Chinese topicalization. In Marjorie K. M. Chan & Hana Kang (eds.), Proceedings
of the 20th North American Conference on Chinese Linguistics
(NACCL-20), 129–135. Columbus: The Ohio State University.
Huettig, Falk, Jidong Chen, Melissa Bowerman & Asifa Majid. 2010. Do
language-specific categories shape conceptual processing? Mandarin classifier distinctions influence eye gaze behavior, but
only during linguistic processing. Journal of Cognition and
Culture 101. 39–58.
Jacobs, Joachim. 2001. The
dimensions of
topic-comment. Linguistics 39(4). 641–681.
Jegerski, Jill. 2014. Self-paced
reading. In Jill Jegerski & Bill VanPatten (eds.), Research
methods in second language
psycholinguistics, 20–49. New York: Routledge.
Jiang, Song. 2017. The
semantics of Chinese classifiers and linguistic
relativity. London: Routledge.
Klein, Natalie M., Greg N. Carlson, Renjie Li, Florian Jaeger & Michael K. Tanenhaus. 2012. Classifying
and massifying incrementally in Chinese language
comprehension. In Diane Massam (ed.), Count
and mass across languages, 261–282. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Koehrsen, Will. 2018. Introduction
to Bayesian linear regression. Towards Data
Science. 2018. Available at [URL], last
access 16 May 2023.
Langacker, Ronald W. 2008. Cognitive grammar: A basic
introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Lau, Elaine & Theres Grüter. 2015. Real-time
processing of classifier information by L2 speakers of
Chinese. In Diane Massam (ed.), Proceedings
of the 39th Annual Boston University Conference on Language
Development, 311–323. Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Press.
Li, Charles & Sandra A. Thompson. 1976. Subject
and topic: a new typology of language. In Charles N. Li (ed.), Subject
and topic, 457–489. New York: Academic Press.
Li, Charles & Sandra A. Thompson. 1981. Mandarin
Chinese: A functional reference
grammar. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Liu, Jie. 2014. Grammatically-guided
resolution of filler-gap dependencies: An investigation of Chinese multiple
dependencies. Kansas City: University of Kansas MA thesis.
Love, Tracy & David Swinney. 1996. Conference
processing and levels of analysis in object-relative constructions: demonstration of antecedent reactivation with cross-modal
priming paradigm. Journal of Psycholinguistics
Research 201. 5–24.
Marinis, Theodore, Leah Roberts, Claudia Felser & Harald Clahsen. 2005. Gaps
in second language sentence processing. Studies in Second Language
Acquisition 271. 53–78.
Miyamoto, Edson & Shoichi Takahashi. 2002. Antecedent
reactivation in the processing of scrambling in Japanese. MIT Working Papers in
Linguistics 431. 127–142.
Morbiato, Anna. 2017. Word
order and sentence structure in Mandarin Chinese: New perspectives. Venice, Italy: Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, and Sydney, Australia: The University of Sydney PhD dissertation.
Nakano, Yoko, Claudia Felser & Herald Clahsen. 2002. Antecedent
priming at trace positions in Japanese long-distance scrambling. Journal of Psycholinguistic
Research 311. 531–571.
Neely, James. 1991. Semantic
priming effects in visual word recognition: A selective review of current findings and
theories. In Derek Besner & Glyn Humphreys (eds.), Basic
processes in reading: Visual word
recognition, 264–336. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Nicol, Janet & David Swinney. 1989. The
role of structure and co-reference assignment during sentence comprehension. Journal of
Psycholinguistic
Research 181. 5–19.
Nicol, Janet. 1993. Reconsidering
reactivation. In Derek Besner & Glyn Humphreys (eds.), Cognitive
models of speech processing: The second Sperlonga
meeting, 321–347. Hove, UK: Psychology Press.
Norman, Jerry. 1988. Chinese. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Osterhout, Lee & David A. Swinney. 1993. On
the temporal course of gap-filling during comprehension of verbal passives. Journal of
Psycholinguistic
Research 22(2). 273–286.
Pickering, Martin & Guy Barry. 1991. Sentence
processing without empty categories. Language and Cognitive
Processes 61. 229–259.
Pickering, Martin. 1993. Direct
Association and sentence processing: A reply to Gibson, and Hickok. Language and Cognitive
Processes 81. 163–196.
Qu, Yan-Feng. 1994. Object
noun phrase dislocation in Mandarin
Chinese. Vancouver: University of British Columbia PhD dissertation.
Roberts, Leah, Theodore Marinis, Claudia Felser & Harald Clahsen. 2007. Antecedent
priming at gap positions in children’s sentence processing. Journal of Psycholinguistic
Research 36(3). 175–188.
Sag, Ivan & Janet Fodor. 1994. Extraction
without traces. In Raul Aranovich, William Byme, Susanne Preuss & Martha Senturia (eds.), Proceedings
of the 13th West Coast conference on formal
linguistics, 365–384. Stanford, CA: Stanford Linguistic Association.
Shi, Dingxu. 1992. The
nature of topic comment constructions and topic constructions in Mandarin Chinese. Los Angeles: University of Southern California PhD dissertation.
Shi, Dingxu. 1998. 汉语主题句的特征 Hanyu zhutiju de
tezheng [The nature of Chinese
topics]. Beijing: Modern Foreign Language Press.
Shi, Dingxu. 2000. Topic
and topic-comment constructions in Mandarin
Chinese. Language 76(2). 383–408.
Shillcock, Richard. 1982. The
on-line resolution of pronominal anaphora. Language and
Speech 25(4). 385–401.
Shyu, Shu-ing. 1995. The
syntax of focus and topic. Los Angeles: University of Southern California PhD dissertation.
Stan Development Team. 2017. Stan: A
C++ Library for Probability and Sampling, Version 2.14.0. Available at [URL], last access 16 May 2023.
Stowe, Laurie A. 1986. Evidence for on-line gap
location. Language and Cognitive
Processes 11. 227–342.
Swinney, David & William Onifer, Penny Prathe & Max Hirshkowitz. 1979. Semantic
facilitation across sensory modalities in the processing of individual words and
sentences. Memory and
Cognition 71. 159–165.
Tai, James. H.-Y. & Lianqing Wang. 1990. A
semantic study of the classifier Tiao. Journal of the Chinese Language Teachers
Association XXVI (1). 35–56.
Thiersch, Craig L. 1978. Topics in German
syntax. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Boston PhD dissertation.
Traxler, Matthew & Martin Pickering. 1996. Plausibility
and the processing of unbounded dependencies: An eye-tracking study. Journal of Memory and
Language 351. 454–475.
Tsang, Cara & Craig G. Chambers. 2011. Appearances
aren’t everything: Shape classifiers and referential processing in Cantonese. Journal of
Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and
Cognition 37(5). 1065–1080.
Van de Schoot, Rens & Joris J. Broere, Koen H. Perryck, Mariëlle Zondervan-Zwijnenburg & Nancy E. Van Loey. 2015. Analyzing
small data sets using Bayesian estimation: The case of posttraumatic stress symptoms following mechanical ventilation in burn
survivors. European Journal of
Psychotraumatology 61. 1–13.
Van de Schoot, Rens & Sarah Depaoli. 2014. Bayesian
analyses: Where to start and what to report. European Health
Psychologist 21. 75–84.
Van Valin, Robert & Randy LaPolla. 1997. Syntax:
Structure, meaning and function. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Wang, Zhenlai. 2004. 被动表述对自主动词和非自主动词的选择 Beidong biaoshu dui
zizhu dongci he feizizhu dongci de xuanze [Selection of volitional and
nonvolitional verb in passive statement]. 汉语学习 Hanyu Xuexi [Chinese
Learning] (6). 17–22.
Wanner, Erik & Michael Maratsos. 1978. An
ATN approach to comprehension. In Morris Halle, Joan Bresnan & George A. Miller (eds.), Linguistic
theory and psychological
reality, 119–161. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press.
Yang, Yiming & Tao Liu. 2013. 汉语话题句中语迹的神经机制研究 Hanyu huatiju Zhong yuji
de shenjing jizhi yanjiu [On the neutral mechanism of the traces of Chinese
topicalization]. 中国社会科学 Zhongguo Shehui Kexue [Social Sciences in
China] (6). 146–166.
Yuan, Yulin. 1996. 话题化及相关的语法过程 Yufahua ji xiangguan de yufa
guocheng [Topicalization and Related Grammatical
Process]. 中国语文 Zhongguo Yuwen [Studies of the Chinese
Language] 254 (4). 241–254.
Zhang, Jinjun, Nini Xie, Shihua Wang, Yanan Li & Tieying Zhang. 2010. 汉语水平考试研制报告 Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi yanzhi
baogao [Report of Chinese Proficiency Test
designing]. 中国考试 Zhongguo Kaoshi [China
Examinations] 91. 38–44.