Language Processing as a Precursor to Language Change: Evidence From Icelandic

Abstract

One of the main characteristics of human languages is that they are subject to fundamental changes over time. However, because of the long transitional periods involved, the internal dynamics of such changes are typically inaccessible. Here, we present a new approach to examining language change via its connection to language comprehension. By means of an EEG experiment on Icelandic, a prominent current example of a language in transition, we show that the neurophysiological responses of native speakers already reflect projected changes that are not yet apparent in their overt behavior. Neurocognitive measures thus offer a means of predicting, rather than only retracing, language change.

Salience-weighted agreement feature hierarchy modulates language comprehension

“…The prepositional phrases (containing two words) were presented for 750 ms. The word presentation rate we employed is in line with several existing studies on languages that are orthographically and/or or morphologically complex, such as Mandarin Chinese (Wang et al, 2009), Icelandic (Bornkessel-Schlesewsky, Roehm, Mailhammer, & Schlesewsky, 2020), Japanese (Wang & Schumacher, 2013) and Turkish (Demiral et al, 2008), among others, in order to provide a comfortable reading rate for participants.…”

Tracking meaning evolution in the brain: Processing consequences of conventionalization

“…But with place-for-event alternations we have identified a test case that makes it possible to zoom in on stages of meaning evolution without the need to train participants or implement a specific task. A similar approach has been adopted by Bornkessel-Schlesewsky et al (2020) who investigated argument processing in Icelandic and proposed that the electrophysiological responses point towards an ongoing language change from morphological marking of arguments (via case) to positional marking of argument roles. The authors argue that processing correlates of language change surface before the change is consciously recognized by a speech community because the observed ERP signatures did not pattern with the behavioral responses (acceptability ratings) of the participants.…”

Context and Complexity in Incremental Sentence Interpretation: An ERP Study on Temporal Quantification

“…Analogous to previous studies on quantifier restriction (Augurzky et al, 2017(Augurzky et al, , 2019(Augurzky et al, , 2020, we applied bandpass filtering without baseline correction. This method has become common practice in recent ERP studies on language comprehension (e.g., Bornkessel-Schlesewsky, Roehm, Mailhammer, & Schlesewsky, 2020;Chan et al, 2020). By this method, artificial effects on ERPs due to transient differences in the baseline period can be avoided (see Steinhauer & Drury, 2012, for a discussion of such effects; see also Dien & Santuzzi, 2005;Urbach & Kutas, 2006, for baseline effects on topographical analyses).…”