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Language is a unique communication system that uses words and systematic rules to organize and transmit information. Unlike other forms of communication, which may involve postures, movements, odors, or vocalizations, language relies on symbols and grammar. This makes human communication distinct from that of other species, who also communicate but do not use language in the same way humans do.
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Agreement With Conjoined NPs Reflects Language Experience.

Heidi Lorimor¹, Nora C Adams^1,2, Erica L Middleton³

¹Linguistics Lab, Department of Languages, Cultures and Linguistics, Bucknell University, Lewisburg, PA, United States.

Frontiers in Psychology

|May 5, 2018

Summary

Grammatical number in language is probabilistic, not discrete. Language experience shapes how noun phrases (NPs) acquire number, influencing agreement at the phrasal level.

Keywords:

conjunctions language production notional number number agreement psycholinguistics statistical learning subject–verb agreement

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Area of Science:

Psycholinguistics
Computational Linguistics
Cognitive Science

Background:

Debate on whether grammatical number is discrete or probabilistic.
Inquiry into whether number specification occurs at the lexical or phrasal level.

Purpose of the Study:

Investigate the nature of grammatical number specification in conjoined noun phrases (NPs).
Examine the role of notional number and language experience in phrasal agreement.

Main Methods:

Corpus analysis of written language.
Oral and written production tasks to elicit agreement patterns.
Experimental manipulation of exposure to singular or plural agreement.

Main Results:

Conjoined NPs exhibit both singular and plural verb agreement.
Notional number significantly influences agreement with conjoined NPs.
Exposure to plural agreement biases subsequent production of plural agreement.

Conclusions:

Grammatical number specifications for conjoined NPs are probabilistic and influenced by language experience.
Language experience impacts agreement at the phrasal level, not solely at the lexical level.
Findings support a usage-based model of grammatical number acquisition.