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Structure Influences Case Processing: Electrophysiological Insights from Hindi Light Verb Constructions.
Anna Merin Mathew1, R Muralikrishnan2, Mahima Gulati3
1Indian Institute of Technology Ropar, Rupnagar 140001, Punjab, India.
Brain Sciences
|February 27, 2026
Summary
This study reveals distinct brain responses to case marking violations in Hindi, showing unique neurophysiological patterns for ergative versus nominative cases in sentence processing.
Area of Science:
- Psycholinguistics
- Neuroscience
- Linguistic Typology
Background:
- Case marking is vital for sentence processing and predicting linguistic elements.
- Cross-linguistic research shows varied case processing, but ergative languages are underrepresented.
- Hindi's split-ergative system offers a unique opportunity to study case variations.
Purpose of the Study:
- Investigate case processing in Hindi compound light verb constructions.
- Examine the neurophysiological differences between ergative and nominative case alignment.
- Contribute to understanding the neural underpinnings of linguistic typology.
Main Methods:
- Event-related potential (ERP) study with 24 native Hindi speakers.
- Manipulated subject case (ergative/nominative) and aspect marking (perfective/imperfective).
- Analyzed ERP responses to case-aspect mismatches within light verb constructions.
Main Results:
- Ergative case violations at imperfective light verbs elicited a P600 effect.
- Nominative case violations at perfective light verbs showed a biphasic N400-P600 effect.
- Distinct ERP patterns indicate differential processing of case alignments.
Conclusions:
- Neurophysiological differences exist in processing ergative versus nominative case alignments in Hindi light verb structures.
- Structure-specific neurophysiological variations are key to understanding linguistic diversity.
- Further research can bridge the gap between typological patterns and their neural basis.
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