Anaphoric Pronouns and the Computation of Prominence Profiles

Bibliographic Data

ID11052018
AuthorsBarbara Tomaszewicz-Özakın (University of Cologne, corresponding author), Petra B Schumacher (0000-0003-0263-8502, University of Cologne)
Year2022
Volume51
Issue3
Pages627-653
Publication date2022-06-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Psycholinguistic Research (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0090-6905 • E-ISSN: 1573-6555
PublisherSpringer Science and Business Media LLC (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1007/s10936-022-09873-9
PMID35430639
OpenAlexW4224214861
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited60

Previous research has investigated anaphoric resolution at the anaphor. Using a self-paced reading study we show that prominence profiles, i.e. the ranking of the referential candidates for anaphoric resolution, are dynamically established as discourse unfolds. We compared four types of context sentences introducing two referents and found that the cost of the computation of the prominence profile depends on the alignment of prominence-lending features, namely ‘left edge’, ‘agent’, ‘subject’. Cost occurs as referents become available. Further downstream, we contrasted two types of pronouns in German, personal pronoun vs. demonstrative pronoun. By the time the pronoun is encountered, profile computation is already complete, as indicated by the lack of interaction between context and pronoun type. An effect of pronoun reveals that resolution is driven by the form-dependent strength with which an interpretation is obtained (demonstrative pronouns being more stable than personal pronouns). The results also indicate that two prominence-lending features – subjecthood and agentivity – compete with each other

Algorithm · Anaphora (linguistics) · Computation · Context (archaeology) · Demonstrative · Linguistics · Natural language processing · Personal pronoun · Pronoun · Psycholinguistics · Reflexive pronoun · Resolution (logic) · Subject pronoun · Artificial Intelligence · Computer Science · History · Language, Discourse, Communication Strategies · Language, Metaphor, and Cognition · Philosophy · Psychology · Syntax, Semantics, Linguistic Variation

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