Darmasetiyawan, I Made Sena 
ORCID: 0000-0003-3786-3988 and Ambridge, Ben ORCID: 0000-0003-2389-8477
(2022)
Syntactic Representations Contain Semantic Information: Evidence From Balinese Passives.
COLLABRA-PSYCHOLOGY, 8 (1).
Abstract
<jats:p>Semantics-based approaches to syntax hold that the basic units of language are constructions: form-meaning pairings that have meanings in and of themselves. The aim of the present study was to test this claim using a previously-unstudied construction: Balinese passives. Using a grammatical acceptability judgment methodology with 60 native adult speakers, we found that independent ratings of 49 verbs’ semantic affectedness (obtained from a separate group of 20 native adult speakers) significantly predict the relative acceptability of these verbs in three types of passives (-a, ka- and ma- passives), and also actives, but not in what we term the “basic passive”; a construction which lacks the morphological markers that characterize the other passive types. These findings constitute support for semantics-based approaches to syntax, but are more difficult to reconcile with approaches that posit a pure-syntax level of representation that includes syntactic category information but not semantic information or lexical content.</jats:p>
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | Language, syntax, semantics, Balinese, grammaticality judgments, passives |
| Divisions: | Faculty of Health and Life Sciences Faculty of Health and Life Sciences > Institute of Population Health |
| Depositing User: | Symplectic Admin |
| Date Deposited: | 06 Apr 2022 09:16 |
| Last Modified: | 18 Jan 2023 21:05 |
| DOI: | 10.1525/collabra.33133 |
| Open Access URL: | https://doi.org/10.1525/collabra.33133 |
| Related URLs: | |
| URI: | https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3152243 |
Dimensions
Dimensions
