Gregory Scontras
Datos Biográficos
| ID | 84930 |
|---|---|
| NOMBRE | Gregory Scontras |
| NOMBRES | Gregory |
| APELLIDO | Scontras |
| FIRMA | SCONTRAS G |
| AFILIACIONES | University of California, Irvine |
| VERIFICADO | No |
| TOTAL DE OBRAS | 25 |
| TOTAL DE CITAS | 43 |
| TOTAL COMO AUTOR | 25 |
| TOTAL COMO EDITOR | 0 |
| PRIMER AÑO DE PUBLICACIÓN | 2011 |
| AÑO MÁS RECIENTE DE PUBLICACIÓN | 2025 |
| ÍNDICE H | 2 |
Weak crossover in Spanish relative clauses
We investigate the status of weak crossover violations (WCO) in Spanish restrictive relative clauses. Claims in the literature lead to the expectation that Spanish does not show sensitivity to WCO in this context; however, ours is the first systematic investigation of the phenomenon in the language. We find that Spanish restrictive relative clauses do exhibit WCO violations: when the relative clause is headed by que , participants rate crossover …
English Restrictive Relative Clauses Are Subject to Crossover Violations
The literature on crossover effects has yet to arrive at a consensus on the status of weak crossover (WCO) in restrictive relative clauses (RRCs). We present the first experimental investigation of this construction, finding clear evidence for the presence of WCO effects in English RRCs, contra claims in the theoretical literature (e.g., Chomsky 1982, Reinhart 1997, Rouveret 2002). In our large-scale acceptability judgment task, participants cons…
Italian Adjective Order Is Not Predicted by Syntactic Hierarchies and Movement
Speakers have robust preferences for the relative order of adjectives when multiple adjectives modify a noun (e.g., big blue box vs. blue big box; see Scontras 2023 for an overview). Here we investigate adjective ordering in Italian, a language with postnominal adjectives that also allows for noun-medial ANA configurations. We present two experiments on Italian AAN, ANA, and NAA orders. We find strong ordering preferences in the ANA template but …
On the Role of Loopholes in Polite Communication
Existing proposals on the attenuating uses of indirect, negated expressions (e.g., not happy to mean sad) agree that speakers exploit indirectness for pragmatic purposes but differ on the underlying sources they attribute to these uses. Here, we synthesize existing proposals via adjective subjectivity, which operationalizes the notion of loopholes for plausible deniability. We present experimental evidence that the degree of subjectivity of an ad…
On the compatibility of models with experiments
Comment This is a commentary article in response to the following content: The importance of features and exponents
Gender-inclusive language as a Rational Speech Act in Spanish
Amidst social changes in gendered language use, there is pushback from institutions such as the Spanish Royal Academy, which claims that the use of the generic masculine (e.g., bomberos ‘firemen’) in describing a mixed-gender group is equally inclusive of both men and women (Bosque 2012). By contrast, speakers of Spanish have increasingly adopted gender-inclusive alternatives to the generic masculine (e.g., bomberos o bomberas; Bengoechea 2015). …
Active Iterative Social Inference in Multi-Trial Signaling Games
Human behavioral choices can reveal intrinsic and extrinsic decision-influencing factors. We investigate the inference of choice priors in situations of referential ambiguity. In particular, we use the scenario of signaling games and investigate to which extent study participants profit from actively engaging in the task. Previous work has revealed that speakers are able to infer listeners’ choice priors upon observing ambiguity resolution. Howev…
How to frame bilingualism in context
An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content
Esports as a Cultural Microcosm for Studying Psycholinguistics
Esports have become increasingly popular as naturalistic experimental settings. In large part, this popularity is due to esports helping researchers balance ecological validity and experimental control; esports provide situations in which people are naturally motivated to learn and act in a complex yet restricted environment. Since players often learn and act collaboratively, many researchers have used esports as a setting in which to study commu…
On the semantics of number morphology
This paper develops a semantic account of morphological number marking, specifically in the presence of numerals. In addition to accounting for number marking on basic nouns like book in English, the account handles variation in patterns of number marking along two dimensions: cross-linguistically, between languages that either necessitate or prohibit singular morphology in the presence of numerals greater than ‘one’; and within one and the same …
Learning about others
Bayesian accounts of social cognition successfully model the human ability to infer goals and intentions of others on the basis of their behavior. In this paper, we extend this paradigm to the analysis of ambiguity resolution during brief communicative exchanges. In a reference game experimental setup, we observed that participants were able to infer listeners' preferences when analyzing their choice of object given referential ambiguity. Moreove…
Adjective Ordering Across Languages
Adjective ordering preferences stand as perhaps one of the best candidates for a true linguistic universal: When multiple adjectives are strung together in service of modifying some noun, speakers of different languages—from English to Mandarin to Hebrew—exhibit robust and reliable preferences concerning the relative order of those adjectives. More importantly, despite the diversity of the languages investigated, the very same preferences surface…
Cross-linguistic scope ambiguity
Faced with a sentence like Every horse didn't jump over the fence as a description of a scenario in which one out of two horses jumped, adults readily endorse the utterance as a good description, while children overwhelmingly reject it. However, systematic changes to the task setup lead to marked increases in children's endorsement rates (Musolino & Lidz 2006; Viau et al. 2010). Savinelli et al.(2017) use a computational cognitive model of uttera…
When pragmatics matters more for truth-value judgments
Investigations of linguistic meaning rely crucially on truth-value judgments, which assess whether a sentence can truthfully describe a given scenario. In investigations of language acquisition, truth-value judgments are used to assess both the target knowledge adults have and the developing knowledge children have at different ages. On the basis of truth-value judgments, researchers have concluded that differences between how children resolve am…
On the Many Dimensions of Complexity in Heritage Languages
Heritage languages are often discussed in terms of their (reduced) complexity, but few attempts have been made to objectively measure the complexity of heritage languages. Here we explore various approaches to the investigation of language complexity, discussing three broad areas of inquiry: (i) attempts to objectively measure grammatical complexity, (ii) the potential role of socio-demographic factors in explaining variability in complexity, and…
Understanding heritage languages
With a growing interest in heritage languages from researchers of bilingualism and linguistic theory, the field of heritage-language studies has begun to build on its empirical foundations, moving toward a deeper understanding of the nature of language competence under unbalanced bilingualism. In furtherance of this trend, the current work synthesizes pertinent empirical observations and theoretical claims about vulnerable and robust areas of her…
Mandarin has subjectivity-based adjective ordering preferences in the presence of de
We investigate adjective ordering preferences in Mandarin, a language that has been claimed to have English-like preferences, but only in the absence of the linking particle de (Sproat & Shih 1991). Extending the experimental methodology of Scontras et al. (2017), we find evidence of robust adjective ordering preferences in Mandarin when de is present. Moreover, the Mandarin preferences are predicted by adjective subjectivity, as in English and o…
Adjective ordering in Arabic
Adults have a collective tendency to choose certain adjective orderings in nominals with multiple adjectives. For example, English-speaking adults prefer the order big blue box over blue big box; they are uncomfortable with the latter ordering, yet they are unable to articulate why. Scontras, Degen & Goodman (2017) showed that subjectivity is a robust predictor of adjective ordering preferences in English. That is, less subjective adjectives are …
Lesser-Studied Heritage Languages
On the grammatical source of adjective ordering preferences
Scontras et al. (2017) present experimental evidence demonstrating that the best predictor of adjective ordering preferences in the English noun phrase is the subjectivity of the property named by any given adjective: less subjective adjectives are preferred linearly closer to the nouns they modify. The current work builds on this empirical finding by proposing that the reason subjectivity predicts adjective ordering preferences has to do with th…
Definitely, maybe
The differential representation of number and gender in Spanish
This paper investigates the geometry of phi-features, with a special emphasis on number and gender in Spanish. We address two sets of questions: (i) are number and gender bundled together or do they constitute separate categories, and (ii) does the internal feature composition of number and gender follow a single- or a multi-valued system? Given the lack of consensus on these issues based on primary data, we approach these questions experimentall…
Heritage language and linguistic theory
This paper discusses a common reality in many cases of multilingualism: heritage speakers, or unbalanced bilinguals, simultaneous or sequential, who shifted early in childhood from one language (their heritage language) to their dominant language (the language of their speech community). To demonstrate the relevance of heritage linguistics to the study of linguistic competence more broadly defined, we present a series of case studies on heritage …
Saturating syntax
A quantitative investigation of the imperative-and-declarative construction in English
The imperative-and-declarative (IaD) construction in English (e.g. Study hard and you will pass the class ) has two distinct readings: one that has the semantics of a conditional and additionally the meaning of an imperative, and one that has only the semantics of a conditional, with no imperative meaning. There are two general kinds of syntactic approaches in the literature for analyzing this construction: one that treats the two interpretations…
Heritage language and linguistic theory
This paper discusses a common reality in many cases of multilingualism: heritage speakers, or unbalanced bilinguals, simultaneous or sequential, who shifted early in childhood from one language (their heritage language) to their dominant language (the language of their speech community). To demonstrate the relevance of heritage linguistics to the study of linguistic competence more broadly defined, we present a series of case studies on heritage …
Definitely, maybe
Saturating syntax
A quantitative investigation of the imperative-and-declarative construction in English
The imperative-and-declarative (IaD) construction in English (e.g. Study hard and you will pass the class ) has two distinct readings: one that has the semantics of a conditional and additionally the meaning of an imperative, and one that has only the semantics of a conditional, with no imperative meaning. There are two general kinds of syntactic approaches in the literature for analyzing this construction: one that treats the two interpretations…
Adjective Ordering Across Languages
Adjective ordering preferences stand as perhaps one of the best candidates for a true linguistic universal: When multiple adjectives are strung together in service of modifying some noun, speakers of different languages—from English to Mandarin to Hebrew—exhibit robust and reliable preferences concerning the relative order of those adjectives. More importantly, despite the diversity of the languages investigated, the very same preferences surface…
A quantitative investigation of the imperative-and-declarative construction in English
The imperative-and-declarative (IaD) construction in English (e.g. Study hard and you will pass the class ) has two distinct readings: one that has the semantics of a conditional and additionally the meaning of an imperative, and one that has only the semantics of a conditional, with no imperative meaning. There are two general kinds of syntactic approaches in the literature for analyzing this construction: one that treats the two interpretations…
Saturating syntax
The differential representation of number and gender in Spanish
This paper investigates the geometry of phi-features, with a special emphasis on number and gender in Spanish. We address two sets of questions: (i) are number and gender bundled together or do they constitute separate categories, and (ii) does the internal feature composition of number and gender follow a single- or a multi-valued system? Given the lack of consensus on these issues based on primary data, we approach these questions experimentall…
Heritage language and linguistic theory
This paper discusses a common reality in many cases of multilingualism: heritage speakers, or unbalanced bilinguals, simultaneous or sequential, who shifted early in childhood from one language (their heritage language) to their dominant language (the language of their speech community). To demonstrate the relevance of heritage linguistics to the study of linguistic competence more broadly defined, we present a series of case studies on heritage …
On the grammatical source of adjective ordering preferences
Scontras et al. (2017) present experimental evidence demonstrating that the best predictor of adjective ordering preferences in the English noun phrase is the subjectivity of the property named by any given adjective: less subjective adjectives are preferred linearly closer to the nouns they modify. The current work builds on this empirical finding by proposing that the reason subjectivity predicts adjective ordering preferences has to do with th…
Definitely, maybe
Understanding heritage languages
With a growing interest in heritage languages from researchers of bilingualism and linguistic theory, the field of heritage-language studies has begun to build on its empirical foundations, moving toward a deeper understanding of the nature of language competence under unbalanced bilingualism. In furtherance of this trend, the current work synthesizes pertinent empirical observations and theoretical claims about vulnerable and robust areas of her…
Mandarin has subjectivity-based adjective ordering preferences in the presence of de
We investigate adjective ordering preferences in Mandarin, a language that has been claimed to have English-like preferences, but only in the absence of the linking particle de (Sproat & Shih 1991). Extending the experimental methodology of Scontras et al. (2017), we find evidence of robust adjective ordering preferences in Mandarin when de is present. Moreover, the Mandarin preferences are predicted by adjective subjectivity, as in English and o…
Adjective ordering in Arabic
Adults have a collective tendency to choose certain adjective orderings in nominals with multiple adjectives. For example, English-speaking adults prefer the order big blue box over blue big box; they are uncomfortable with the latter ordering, yet they are unable to articulate why. Scontras, Degen & Goodman (2017) showed that subjectivity is a robust predictor of adjective ordering preferences in English. That is, less subjective adjectives are …
Lesser-Studied Heritage Languages
Cross-linguistic scope ambiguity
Faced with a sentence like Every horse didn't jump over the fence as a description of a scenario in which one out of two horses jumped, adults readily endorse the utterance as a good description, while children overwhelmingly reject it. However, systematic changes to the task setup lead to marked increases in children's endorsement rates (Musolino & Lidz 2006; Viau et al. 2010). Savinelli et al.(2017) use a computational cognitive model of uttera…
When pragmatics matters more for truth-value judgments
Investigations of linguistic meaning rely crucially on truth-value judgments, which assess whether a sentence can truthfully describe a given scenario. In investigations of language acquisition, truth-value judgments are used to assess both the target knowledge adults have and the developing knowledge children have at different ages. On the basis of truth-value judgments, researchers have concluded that differences between how children resolve am…
On the Many Dimensions of Complexity in Heritage Languages
Heritage languages are often discussed in terms of their (reduced) complexity, but few attempts have been made to objectively measure the complexity of heritage languages. Here we explore various approaches to the investigation of language complexity, discussing three broad areas of inquiry: (i) attempts to objectively measure grammatical complexity, (ii) the potential role of socio-demographic factors in explaining variability in complexity, and…
On the semantics of number morphology
This paper develops a semantic account of morphological number marking, specifically in the presence of numerals. In addition to accounting for number marking on basic nouns like book in English, the account handles variation in patterns of number marking along two dimensions: cross-linguistically, between languages that either necessitate or prohibit singular morphology in the presence of numerals greater than ‘one’; and within one and the same …
Learning about others
Bayesian accounts of social cognition successfully model the human ability to infer goals and intentions of others on the basis of their behavior. In this paper, we extend this paradigm to the analysis of ambiguity resolution during brief communicative exchanges. In a reference game experimental setup, we observed that participants were able to infer listeners' preferences when analyzing their choice of object given referential ambiguity. Moreove…
Adjective Ordering Across Languages
Adjective ordering preferences stand as perhaps one of the best candidates for a true linguistic universal: When multiple adjectives are strung together in service of modifying some noun, speakers of different languages—from English to Mandarin to Hebrew—exhibit robust and reliable preferences concerning the relative order of those adjectives. More importantly, despite the diversity of the languages investigated, the very same preferences surface…
Gender-inclusive language as a Rational Speech Act in Spanish
Amidst social changes in gendered language use, there is pushback from institutions such as the Spanish Royal Academy, which claims that the use of the generic masculine (e.g., bomberos ‘firemen’) in describing a mixed-gender group is equally inclusive of both men and women (Bosque 2012). By contrast, speakers of Spanish have increasingly adopted gender-inclusive alternatives to the generic masculine (e.g., bomberos o bomberas; Bengoechea 2015). …
Active Iterative Social Inference in Multi-Trial Signaling Games
Human behavioral choices can reveal intrinsic and extrinsic decision-influencing factors. We investigate the inference of choice priors in situations of referential ambiguity. In particular, we use the scenario of signaling games and investigate to which extent study participants profit from actively engaging in the task. Previous work has revealed that speakers are able to infer listeners’ choice priors upon observing ambiguity resolution. Howev…
How to frame bilingualism in context
An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content
Esports as a Cultural Microcosm for Studying Psycholinguistics
Esports have become increasingly popular as naturalistic experimental settings. In large part, this popularity is due to esports helping researchers balance ecological validity and experimental control; esports provide situations in which people are naturally motivated to learn and act in a complex yet restricted environment. Since players often learn and act collaboratively, many researchers have used esports as a setting in which to study commu…
On the Role of Loopholes in Polite Communication
Existing proposals on the attenuating uses of indirect, negated expressions (e.g., not happy to mean sad) agree that speakers exploit indirectness for pragmatic purposes but differ on the underlying sources they attribute to these uses. Here, we synthesize existing proposals via adjective subjectivity, which operationalizes the notion of loopholes for plausible deniability. We present experimental evidence that the degree of subjectivity of an ad…
On the compatibility of models with experiments
Comment This is a commentary article in response to the following content: The importance of features and exponents
Weak crossover in Spanish relative clauses
We investigate the status of weak crossover violations (WCO) in Spanish restrictive relative clauses. Claims in the literature lead to the expectation that Spanish does not show sensitivity to WCO in this context; however, ours is the first systematic investigation of the phenomenon in the language. We find that Spanish restrictive relative clauses do exhibit WCO violations: when the relative clause is headed by que , participants rate crossover …
English Restrictive Relative Clauses Are Subject to Crossover Violations
The literature on crossover effects has yet to arrive at a consensus on the status of weak crossover (WCO) in restrictive relative clauses (RRCs). We present the first experimental investigation of this construction, finding clear evidence for the presence of WCO effects in English RRCs, contra claims in the theoretical literature (e.g., Chomsky 1982, Reinhart 1997, Rouveret 2002). In our large-scale acceptability judgment task, participants cons…
Italian Adjective Order Is Not Predicted by Syntactic Hierarchies and Movement
Speakers have robust preferences for the relative order of adjectives when multiple adjectives modify a noun (e.g., big blue box vs. blue big box; see Scontras 2023 for an overview). Here we investigate adjective ordering in Italian, a language with postnominal adjectives that also allows for noun-medial ANA configurations. We present two experiments on Italian AAN, ANA, and NAA orders. We find strong ordering preferences in the ANA template but …
Linguistics (18 obras) · Computer Science (17 obras) · Psychology (15 obras) · Philosophy (14 obras) · Syntax, Semantics, Linguistic Variation (14 obras) · Language, Discourse, Communication Strategies (9 obras) · Artificial Intelligence (8 obras) · Epistemology (7 obras) · Mathematics (7 obras) · Neurobiology of Language and Bilingualism (7 obras)