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Focus and VP ellipsis.

Lyn Frazier1, Charles Clifton, Katy Carlson

  • 1Department of Linguistics, University of Massachusetts, Amherst 01003, USA. lyn@linguist.umass.edu

Language and Speech
|May 24, 2007
PubMed
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Pitch accents on subjects in spoken English make their clauses more likely antecedents for verb phrase ellipsis. This finding supports the Contrasted Remnant hypothesis, showing focus influences sentence comprehension.

Area of Science:

  • Psycholinguistics
  • Phonetics
  • Syntax

Background:

  • Pitch accents in spoken English signal constituent focus.
  • Focus can influence information structure and sentence processing.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate if subject pitch accent enhances antecedent potential for verb phrase ellipsis.
  • To test the Contrasted Remnant hypothesis regarding focus and ellipsis resolution.

Main Methods:

  • Two listening experiments were conducted.
  • Participants' responses to sentences with pitch-accented subjects and potential verb phrase ellipsis were analyzed.

Main Results:

  • Experiment 1 supported the hypothesis that subject pitch accent increases antecedent temptation for ellipsis.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Experiment 2 ruled out a general avoidance of focused constituents as antecedents.
  • Pitch accents within the verb phrase itself also impacted ellipsis resolution.

    • Conclusions:

    • Subject pitch accent plays a role in antecedent selection for verb phrase ellipsis.
    • The findings support the Contrasted Remnant hypothesis, linking focus to syntactic resolution.