Transparent parsing

Author: Iris Mulders
LOT Number: 56
ISBN: 90-76864-17-9
Pages: 219
Year: 2002
1st promotor: Prof. dr. E.J. Reuland
2nd promotor: Prof. dr. T. Reinhart
3rd promotor: Dr. F. Wijnen
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Head-driven processing of verb-final structures 

The conceptual guideline underlying this study is that the goal of processing
theory should be to construct a transparent parser, which refers only to properties
and relations that are available in the grammar, without resorting to
processing-specific notions. Under a Minimalist conception of grammar, the
structure-building mechanism available to this parser is necessarily headdriven.
This head-driven nature of the human parser is the main topic of
this work. As a starting point for building such a parser, this study takes the
processing model outlined by Pritchett (1992). Within this framework, the
author examines the role of the position of the verb in garden path sentences
cross-linguistically. It is argued that the virtual absence of garden path
effects in Japanese derives from its verb-final nature. Furthermore, it is
argued on the basis of Dutch and Japanese that the reanalysis process that
is available to the human parser can reanalyze material from the edge of a
phase to a position outside that phase. The resulting system comprises a step
forward in the formulation of a universal, transparent parser.

Transparent Parsing is a study into the relation between language competence
and performance. It is of interest to scholars concerned with the field
of sentence processing, as well as to syntacticians working in the generative
framework.

Head-driven processing of verb-final structures 

The conceptual guideline underlying this study is that the goal of processing
theory should be to construct a transparent parser, which refers only to properties
and relations that are available in the grammar, without resorting to
processing-specific notions. Under a Minimalist conception of grammar, the
structure-building mechanism available to this parser is necessarily headdriven.
This head-driven nature of the human parser is the main topic of
this work. As a starting point for building such a parser, this study takes the
processing model outlined by Pritchett (1992). Within this framework, the
author examines the role of the position of the verb in garden path sentences
cross-linguistically. It is argued that the virtual absence of garden path
effects in Japanese derives from its verb-final nature. Furthermore, it is
argued on the basis of Dutch and Japanese that the reanalysis process that
is available to the human parser can reanalyze material from the edge of a
phase to a position outside that phase. The resulting system comprises a step
forward in the formulation of a universal, transparent parser.

Transparent Parsing is a study into the relation between language competence
and performance. It is of interest to scholars concerned with the field
of sentence processing, as well as to syntacticians working in the generative
framework.

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