Prosodic phrasing and transitivity in head-final sentence comprehension-ERP evidence from German ambiguous DPs

Abstract

In this article, we present an ERP study investigating the neurophysiological correlates of the interplay between prosodic phrasing and case information in head-final sentence processing. We examine German DP1-DP2-V constructions, in which the second DP can either be interpreted as a possessive modifier of the first DP (one-participant reading), or as a verbal argument (two-participant reading). An N400 on the determiner of the second DP is observed when either case information or prosodic phrasing biased toward the establishment of a two-participant reading, thus reflecting local processing costs associated with the introduction of a transitive event. By contrast, when the DPs are integrated with the logical structure of the clause-final verb, a general advantage for the two-argument interpretation is observed: An N400 for intransitive as opposed to transitive verbs is found. This argument preference is even stronger when prosodic phrasing information rules out a transitive interpretation. The results are discussed with regard to current ERP data from head-final constructions in other languages, such as Japanese.