1887
image of Syntactic ambiguity and ambiguity avoidance in language comprehension and production
USD
Buy:$35.00 + Taxes

Abstract

Abstract

It has often been argued that ambiguity plays a role in language change, but the cognitive mechanisms and constraints that might facilitate ambiguity-related change are as yet poorly understood. In this article I discuss syntactic ambiguity and its potential role in grammatical change in the contexts of real-time language comprehension and production. In order to comprehend in real-time, readers or listeners usually process syntactically ambiguous strings of words as if they were unambiguous. Syntactic change may come about when innovative syntactic analyses are computed during comprehension and later spread and are incorporated into the grammar. Although ambiguity will not normally be a problem for language producers, avoiding ambiguity in language production may be motivated by audience design considerations. Experimental evidence for speakers choosing to avoid syntactic ambiguity is mixed, however. Psycholinguistic models that propose a tight link between real-time production and comprehension offer an integrative perspective on ambiguity avoidance and its possible role in language change.

Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1075/jhl.24032.fel
2026-01-05
2026-01-24
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

References

  1. Andersen, Henning
    2001 Actualization and the (uni)directionality of change. Actualization: Linguistic change in progress, ed. byHenning Andersen, –. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. 10.1075/cilt.219.11and
    https://doi.org/10.1075/cilt.219.11and [Google Scholar]
  2. Arnold, Jennifer E., Thomas Wasow, Ash Asudeh & Peter Alrenga
    2004 Avoiding attachment ambiguities: The role of constituent ordering. Journal of Memory & Language:.–. 10.1016/j.jml.2004.03.006
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jml.2004.03.006 [Google Scholar]
  3. Audring, Jenny & Geert Booij
    2016 Cooperation and coercion. Linguistics:.–. 10.1515/ling‑2016‑0012
    https://doi.org/10.1515/ling-2016-0012 [Google Scholar]
  4. Bell, Allan
    1984 Language style as audience design. Language in Society:.–. 10.1017/S004740450001037X
    https://doi.org/10.1017/S004740450001037X [Google Scholar]
  5. Bergen, Leon, Roger Levy & Edward Gibson
    2012 Verb omission errors: Evidence of rational processing of noisy language inputs. Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society.
    [Google Scholar]
  6. Bock, J. Kathryn
    1986 Syntactic persistence in language production. Cognitive Psychology:.–. 10.1016/0010‑0285(86)90004‑6
    https://doi.org/10.1016/0010-0285(86)90004-6 [Google Scholar]
  7. 1995 Sentence production: From mouth to mind. Handbook of Perception and Cognition (Vol. 11), ed. byJ. L. Miller & P. D. Eimas, –. Orlando, FL: Academic Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  8. Bock, J. Kathryn, & Carol A. Miller
    1991 Broken agreement. Cognitive Psychology:–. 10.1016/0010‑0285(91)90003‑7
    https://doi.org/10.1016/0010-0285(91)90003-7 [Google Scholar]
  9. Bond, Zinny
    1999Slips of the Ear: Errors in the perception of casual conversation. New York: Academic Press. 10.1163/9789004653412
    https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004653412 [Google Scholar]
  10. Bosch, Sina, Ilaria De Cesare, Claudia Felser & Ulrike Demske
    2022 A multi-methodological approach to word order variation in German infinitival complementation. Proceedings of Linguistic Evidence 2020: Linguistic Theory Enriched by Experimental Data, ed. byR. Hörnig, S. von Wietersheim, A. Konietzko & S. Featherston, –. Tübingen: University of Tübingen.
    [Google Scholar]
  11. Bosch, Sina, Ilaria De Cesare, Ulrike Demske & Claudia Felser
    2023 Word order variation in German infinitival complementation. Journal of Comparative Germanic Linguistics. 10.1007/s10828‑023‑09140‑8
    https://doi.org/10.1007/s10828-023-09140-8 [Google Scholar]
  12. Boudewyn, Megan A., Megan Zirnstein, Tamara Y. Swaab & Matthew J. Traxler
    2014 Priming prepositional phrase attachment: Evidence from eye-tracking and event-related potentials. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology:–. 10.1080/17470218.2013.815237
    https://doi.org/10.1080/17470218.2013.815237 [Google Scholar]
  13. Branigan, Holly P.
    2007 Syntactic priming. Language and Linguistics Compass:–. 10.1111/j.1749‑818X.2006.00001.x
    https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1749-818X.2006.00001.x [Google Scholar]
  14. Bucaria, Chiara
    2004 Lexical and syntactic ambiguity as a source of humor: The case of newspaper headlines. Humor:.–. 10.1515/humr.2004.013
    https://doi.org/10.1515/humr.2004.013 [Google Scholar]
  15. Carreiras, Manuel & Charles Clifton
    1993 Relative clause interpretation preferences in Spanish and English. Language and Speech:–. 10.1177/002383099303600401
    https://doi.org/10.1177/002383099303600401 [Google Scholar]
  16. Chang, Franklin, Gary S. Dell, Kathryn Bock & Zenzi M. Griffin
    2000 Structural priming as implicit learning: A comparison of models of sentence production. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research:.–. 10.1023/A:1005101313330
    https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1005101313330 [Google Scholar]
  17. Chen, Rong & Fengguang Liu
    2024 Deliberate ambiguity as motivated strategy. Language & Communication:–. 10.1016/j.langcom.2023.11.003
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.langcom.2023.11.003 [Google Scholar]
  18. Christianson, Kiel
    2016 When language comprehension goes wrong for the right reasons: Good-enough, underspecified, or shallow language processing. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology:.–. 10.1080/17470218.2015.1134603
    https://doi.org/10.1080/17470218.2015.1134603 [Google Scholar]
  19. Cuetos, Fernando, Donald Mitchell & Martin Corley
    1996 Parsing in different languages. Language Processing in Spanish, ed. byM. Carreiras, J. Garcia-Albea, & N. Sebastian-Galles, –. Mahwa, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
    [Google Scholar]
  20. Dahan, Delphine
    2015 Prosody and language comprehension. WIREs Cogn Sci, :–. 10.1002/wcs.1355
    https://doi.org/10.1002/wcs.1355 [Google Scholar]
  21. De Cesare, Ilaria
    2021 Word order variability and change in German infinitival complements. A multi-causal approach. Potsdam: Universität Potsdam Phd dissertation.
  22. 2024 „Ich werde sie versuchen zu erklären“: Die dritte Konstruktion im Deutschen aus der Sicht der Sprachproduktion. Deutsche Sprache(), –. 10.37307/j.1868‑775X.2024.02.02
    https://doi.org/10.37307/j.1868-775X.2024.02.02 [Google Scholar]
  23. De Cesare, Ilaria, Sina Bosch, Claudia Felser & Ulrike Demske
    2025 Word order change in German infinitival complementation: the role of processing-related factors. Diachronica:.–. 10.1075/dia.22037.dec
    https://doi.org/10.1075/dia.22037.dec [Google Scholar]
  24. De Smet, Hendrik
    2009 Analysing reanalysis. Lingua:–. 10.1016/j.lingua.2009.03.001
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lingua.2009.03.001 [Google Scholar]
  25. De Smet, Hendrik & Marie-Anne Markey
    2021 The spark or the fuel? On the role of ambiguity in language change. Journal of Historical Syntax:–.
    [Google Scholar]
  26. Dempsey, Jack, Qiawen Liu & Kiel Christianson
    2024 Syntactic adaptation leads to updated knowledge for local structural frequencies. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology:.–. 10.1177/17470218231172908
    https://doi.org/10.1177/17470218231172908 [Google Scholar]
  27. Denison, David
    2006 Category change and gradience in the determiner system. The Handbook of the History of English, ed. byA. van Kemenade & B. Los, –. Oxford: Blackwell. 10.1002/9780470757048.ch12
    https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470757048.ch12 [Google Scholar]
  28. 2010 Category change in English with and without structural change. Gradience, Gradualness and Grammaticalization (Typological Studies in Language 90), ed. byElizabeth Closs Traugott & Graeme Trousdale, –. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins. 10.1075/tsl.90.07den
    https://doi.org/10.1075/tsl.90.07den [Google Scholar]
  29. 2017 Ambiguity and vagueness in historical change. The Changing English Language: Psycholinguistic perspectives, ed. byM. Hundt, S. Mollin & S. Pfenninger, –. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 10.1017/9781316091746.013
    https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316091746.013 [Google Scholar]
  30. Detges, Ulrich & Richard Waltereit
    2002 Grammaticalization vs. reanalysis: A semantic-pragmatic account of functional change in grammar. Zeitschrift für Sprachwissenschaft:–. 10.1515/zfsw.2002.21.2.151
    https://doi.org/10.1515/zfsw.2002.21.2.151 [Google Scholar]
  31. Felser, Claudia
    2017 Syntactic ambiguity in real-time language processing and diachronic change. The Changing English Language: Psycholinguistic perspectives, ed, byM. Hundt, S. Mollin & S. Pfenninger, –. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 10.1017/9781316091746.012
    https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316091746.012 [Google Scholar]
  32. Felser, Claudia & Sina Bosch
    2024 Processing factors constrain word order variation in German: The trouble with third constructions. Journal of Germanic Linguistics:.–. 10.1017/S1470542723000107
    https://doi.org/10.1017/S1470542723000107 [Google Scholar]
  33. Ferreira, Fernanda
    2003 The misinterpretation of noncanonical sentences. Cognitive Psychology:.–. 10.1016/S0010‑0285(03)00005‑7
    https://doi.org/10.1016/S0010-0285(03)00005-7 [Google Scholar]
  34. Ferreira, Fernanda & Benjamin Swets
    2002 How incremental is language production? Evidence from the production of utterances requiring the computation of arithmetic sums. Journal of Memory and Language:–. 10.1006/jmla.2001.2797
    https://doi.org/10.1006/jmla.2001.2797 [Google Scholar]
  35. Ferreira, Fernanda & Nikole D. Patson
    2007 The ‘good enough’ approach to language Comprehension. Language and Linguistics Compass–.–. 10.1111/j.1749‑818X.2007.00007.x
    https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1749-818X.2007.00007.x [Google Scholar]
  36. Ferreira, Victor S.
    2008 Ambiguity, accessibility, and a division of labor for communicative success. Psychology of Learning and Motivation: Advances in Research and Theory:–. 10.1016/S0079‑7421(08)00006‑6
    https://doi.org/10.1016/S0079-7421(08)00006-6 [Google Scholar]
  37. 2019 A mechanistic framework for explaining audience design in language production. Annual Review of Psychology:–. 10.1146/annurev‑psych‑122216‑011653
    https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-122216-011653 [Google Scholar]
  38. Ferreira, Victor S. & Gary S. Dell
    2000 Effect of ambiguity and lexical availability on syntactic and lexical production. Cognitive Psychology:–. 10.1006/cogp.1999.0730
    https://doi.org/10.1006/cogp.1999.0730 [Google Scholar]
  39. Ferreira, Victor S. & Melanie Hudson
    2011 Saying “that” in dialogue: the influence of accessibility and social factors on syntactic production. Language and Cognitive Processes:–. 10.1080/01690965.2010.537482
    https://doi.org/10.1080/01690965.2010.537482 [Google Scholar]
  40. Fine, Alex B., T. Florian Jaeger, Thomas A. Farmer & Ting Qian
    2013 Rapid expectation adaptation during syntactic comprehension. PLoS ONE(): e77661. 10.1371/journal.pone.0077661
    https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0077661 [Google Scholar]
  41. Fischer, Olga
    1988 The rise of the for NP to V construction: An explanation. An Historic Tongue: Studies in English linguistics in memory of Barbara Strang, ed. ByG. Nixon & J. Honey, –. London and New York: Routledge.
    [Google Scholar]
  42. Frances, Candice
    2024 Good enough processing: what have we learned in the 20 years since Ferreira et al. (2002)?Frontiers in Psychology:. 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1323700
    https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1323700 [Google Scholar]
  43. Frazier, Lyn & Keith Rayner
    1982 Making and correcting errors during sentence comprehension: Eye movements in the analysis of structurally ambiguous sentences. Cognitive Psychology:–. 10.1016/0010‑0285(82)90008‑1
    https://doi.org/10.1016/0010-0285(82)90008-1 [Google Scholar]
  44. Fukumura, Kumiko, Céline Pozniak & F.-Xavier Alario
    2022 Avoiding gender ambiguous pronouns in French. Cognition:. 10.1016/j.cognition.2021.104909
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2021.104909 [Google Scholar]
  45. Gambi, Chiara & Martin J. Pickering
    2017 Models linking production and comprehension. The Handbook of Psycholinguistics, ed. byE. M. Fernández & H. S. Cairns, –. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. 10.1002/9781118829516.ch7
    https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118829516.ch7 [Google Scholar]
  46. Garrett, Merrill. F.
    (2000) Remarks on the architecture of language processing systems. Language and Brain, ed. byY. Grodzinsky, L. Shapiro & D. Swinney, –. San Diego, CA: Academic Press. 10.1016/B978‑012304260‑6/50004‑9
    https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-012304260-6/50004-9 [Google Scholar]
  47. Gernsbacher, Morton A.
    1990Language Comprehension As Structure Building. New York: Psychology Press. 10.21236/ADA221854
    https://doi.org/10.21236/ADA221854 [Google Scholar]
  48. Gibson, Edward, Leon Bergen & Steven T. Piantadosi
    2013 Rational integration of noisy evidence and prior semantic expectations in sentence interpretation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences:.–. 10.1073/pnas.1216438110
    https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1216438110 [Google Scholar]
  49. Goldberg, Adele E. & Fernanda Ferreira
    2022 Good-enough language production. Trends in Cognitive Sciences:.–. 10.1016/j.tics.2022.01.005
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2022.01.005 [Google Scholar]
  50. Grice, H. Paul
    1975 Logic and conversation. Syntax and Semantics 3: Speech acts, ed.P. Cole & J. L. Morgan, –. New York: Academic Press. 10.1163/9789004368811_003
    https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004368811_003 [Google Scholar]
  51. Haider, Hubert
    1994 Fakultativ kohärente Infinitive. Zur Satzwertigkeit von Infinitiven und Small Clauses, ed. byAnita Steube & Gerhild Zybatow, –. Tübingen: Niemeyer. 10.1515/9783111353265.75
    https://doi.org/10.1515/9783111353265.75 [Google Scholar]
  52. Harris, Alice & Lyle Campbell
    1995Historical Syntax in Cross-linguistic Perspective. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 10.1017/CBO9780511620553
    https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511620553 [Google Scholar]
  53. Hawkins, John A.
    2012 The drift of English towards invariable word order from a typological and Germanic perspective. The Oxford Handbook of the History of English, ed. byTerttu Nevalainen & Elizabeth Closs Traugott, –. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199922765.013.0053
    https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199922765.013.0053 [Google Scholar]
  54. Haywood, Sarah L., Martin J. Pickering & Holly P. Branigan
    2005 Do speakers avoid ambiguities during dialogue?Psychological Science:–. 10.1111/j.0956‑7976.2005.01541.x
    https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0956-7976.2005.01541.x [Google Scholar]
  55. Hörberg, Thomas
    2018 Functional motivations behind direct object fronting in written Swedish: A corpus-distributional account. Glossa:. –. 10.5334/gjgl.502
    https://doi.org/10.5334/gjgl.502 [Google Scholar]
  56. Holmes, Virginia M.
    1988 Hesitations and sentence planning. Cognition:–.
    [Google Scholar]
  57. Horton, William S. & Boaz Keysar
    1996 When do speakers take into account common ground?Cognition:.–. 10.1016/0010‑0277(96)81418‑1
    https://doi.org/10.1016/0010-0277(96)81418-1 [Google Scholar]
  58. Huettig, Falk
    2015 Four central questions about prediction in language processing. Brain Research:–. 10.1016/j.brainres.2015.02.014
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brainres.2015.02.014 [Google Scholar]
  59. Hwang, Heeju
    2021 Avoidance of gender-ambiguous pronouns as a consequence of ambiguity-avoidance strategy. Discourse Processes:.–. 10.1080/0163853X.2020.1844965
    https://doi.org/10.1080/0163853X.2020.1844965 [Google Scholar]
  60. Jäger, Gerhard & Annette Rosenbach
    2008 Priming and unidirectional language change. Theoretical Linguistics:.–. 10.1515/THLI.2008.008
    https://doi.org/10.1515/THLI.2008.008 [Google Scholar]
  61. Kaan, Edith & Eunjin Chun
    2018 Syntactic adaptation. The Psychology of Learning and Motivation: Current topics in language, ed. byK. D. Federmeier & D. G. Watson, –. Amsterdam: Elsevier Academic Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  62. Kurumada, Chigusa & T. Florian Jaeger
    2015 Communicative efficiency in language production: Optional case-marking in Japanese. Journal of Memory and Language:–. 10.1016/j.jml.2015.03.003
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jml.2015.03.003 [Google Scholar]
  63. Langacker, Ronald W.
    1977 Syntactic reanalysis. Mechanisms of syntactic change, ed. byCharles N. Li, –. Austin: University of Texas Press. 10.7560/750357‑005
    https://doi.org/10.7560/750357-005 [Google Scholar]
  64. Lee, Eun-Kyung, Sarah Brown-Schmidt & Duane G. Watson
    2013 Ways of looking ahead: Hierarchical planning in language production. Cognition:–. 10.1016/j.cognition.2013.08.007
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2013.08.007 [Google Scholar]
  65. Lee, Hanjung
    2006 Parallel optimization in case systems: Evidence from case ellipsis in Korean. Journal of East Asian Linguistics:.–. 10.1007/s10831‑005‑3004‑1
    https://doi.org/10.1007/s10831-005-3004-1 [Google Scholar]
  66. Levelt, Willem J. M.
    (1989) Speaking: From intention to articulation. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. 10.7551/mitpress/6393.001.0001
    https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/6393.001.0001 [Google Scholar]
  67. Levy, Roger
    2008 A noisy-channel model of human sentence comprehension under uncertain input. Proceedings of the 2008 Conference on Empirical Methods in Natural Language Processing, –, Honolulu, Hawaii. Association for Computational Linguistics. 10.3115/1613715.1613749
    https://doi.org/10.3115/1613715.1613749 [Google Scholar]
  68. Lewis, Richard & Shravan Vasishth
    2005 An activation-based model of sentence processing as skilled memory retrieval. Cognitive Science:.–. 10.1207/s15516709cog0000_25
    https://doi.org/10.1207/s15516709cog0000_25 [Google Scholar]
  69. Loebell, Helga & Kathryn Bock
    2003 Structural priming across languages. Linguistics:.–. 10.1515/ling.2003.026
    https://doi.org/10.1515/ling.2003.026 [Google Scholar]
  70. MacDonald, Maryellen C.
    2013 How language production shapes language form and comprehension. Frontiers in Psychology:. 10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00226
    https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00226 [Google Scholar]
  71. MacDonald, Maryellen C., Neil J. Pearlmutter & Mark S. Seidenberg
    1994 The lexical nature of syntactic ambiguity resolution. Psychological Review:.–. 10.1037/0033‑295X.101.4.676
    https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.101.4.676 [Google Scholar]
  72. Magni, Elisabetta
    2024 The role of ambiguity and vagueness in language change. Vagueness, Ambiguity, and their Relationship: Theory, methods, uses, ed. byIlaria Fiorentini & Chiara Zanchi, –. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins. 10.1075/pbns.347.02mag
    https://doi.org/10.1075/pbns.347.02mag [Google Scholar]
  73. McRae, Ken & Katsunaga Matsuki
    2013 Constraint-based models of sentence processing. Sentence Processing, ed. byR. P. G. van Gompel, –. London: Psychology Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  74. Meyer, Antje S.
    1996 Lexical access in phrase and sentence production: Results from picture-word interference experiments. Journal of Memory and Language:–. 10.1006/jmla.1996.0026
    https://doi.org/10.1006/jmla.1996.0026 [Google Scholar]
  75. Michaelis, Laura A.
    2004 Type shifting in construction grammar. An integrated approach to aspectual coercion. Cognitive Linguistics:–. 10.1515/cogl.2004.001
    https://doi.org/10.1515/cogl.2004.001 [Google Scholar]
  76. Mitchell, Donald & Fernando Cuetos
    1991 The origins of parsing strategies. Current Issues in Natural Language Processing, ed. byC. Smith, –. Center for Cognitive Science, University of Austin, TX.
    [Google Scholar]
  77. Momma, Shota
    2021 Filling the gap in gap-filling: Long-distance dependency formation in sentence production. Cognitive Psychology:. 10.1016/j.cogpsych.2021.101411
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cogpsych.2021.101411 [Google Scholar]
  78. Morgan, Adam M. & Victor S. Ferreira
    2022 Still no evidence for audience design in syntax: Resumptive pronouns are not the exception. Journal of Memory and Language:. 10.1016/j.jml.2022.104368
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jml.2022.104368 [Google Scholar]
  79. Nambu, Satoshi, David Y. Oshima & Shin-ichiro Sano
    2022 The nominative-to-accusative shift in Japanese: diachronic and synchronic considerations. Journal of Japanese Linguistics:.–. 10.1515/jjl‑2022‑2057
    https://doi.org/10.1515/jjl-2022-2057 [Google Scholar]
  80. Newmeyer, Frederick
    (2003) Grammar is grammar and usage is usage. Language:.–. 10.1353/lan.2003.0260
    https://doi.org/10.1353/lan.2003.0260 [Google Scholar]
  81. Norcliffe, Elisabeth & T. Florian Jaeger
    2016 Predicting head-marking variability in Yucatec Maya relative clause production. Language and Cognition:.–. 10.1017/langcog.2014.39
    https://doi.org/10.1017/langcog.2014.39 [Google Scholar]
  82. Oaks, Dallin D.
    1994 Creating structural ambiguities in humor: getting English grammar to cooperate. Humor:.–. 10.1515/humr.1994.7.4.377
    https://doi.org/10.1515/humr.1994.7.4.377 [Google Scholar]
  83. Piantadosi, Steven T., Harry Tily & Edward Gibson
    2012 The communicative function of ambiguity in language. Cognition:.–. 10.1016/j.cognition.2011.10.004
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2011.10.004 [Google Scholar]
  84. Pickering, Martin J. & Chiara Gambi
    2018 Predicting while comprehending language: A theory and review. Psychological Bulletin:.–. 10.1037/bul0000158
    https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000158 [Google Scholar]
  85. Pickering, Martin J. & Simon Garrod
    2013 An integrated theory of language production and comprehension. Behavioral and Brain Sciences:.–. 10.1017/S0140525X12001495
    https://doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X12001495 [Google Scholar]
  86. 2017 Priming and language change. The Changing English Language: Psycholinguistic perspectives, ed. byM. Hundt, S. Mollin, & S. E. Pfenninger, –. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 10.1017/9781316091746.008
    https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316091746.008 [Google Scholar]
  87. Pickering, Martin J., Janet F. McLean & Holly P. Branigan
    2013 Persistent structural priming and frequency effects during comprehension. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition:–.
    [Google Scholar]
  88. Pickering, Martin J. & Matthew Traxler
    1998 Plausibility and recovery from garden paths: An eye-tracking study. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory and Cognition:.–.
    [Google Scholar]
  89. Pratt, Elizabeth
    2017 Prosody in sentence processing. The Handbook of Psycholinguistics, ed. byE. M. Fernández & H. S. Cairns, –\. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. 10.1002/9781118829516.ch16
    https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118829516.ch16 [Google Scholar]
  90. Rohdenburg, Günter
    2021 Ambiguity avoidance by means of function words in English? Providing additional corpus-based counterevidence. Zeitschrift für Anglistik und Amerikanistik:.–. 10.1515/zaa‑2021‑2022
    https://doi.org/10.1515/zaa-2021-2022 [Google Scholar]
  91. Schafer, Amy J., Shari R. Speer, Paul Warren & S. David White
    2000 Intonational disambiguation in sentence production and comprehension. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research:–. 10.1023/A:1005192911512
    https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1005192911512 [Google Scholar]
  92. Temperley, David
    2003 Ambiguity avoidance in English relative clauses. Language:–. 10.1353/lan.2003.0189
    https://doi.org/10.1353/lan.2003.0189 [Google Scholar]
  93. Traugott, Elizabeth & Graeme Trousdale
    2013Constructionalization and Constructional Changes. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199679898.001.0001
    https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199679898.001.0001 [Google Scholar]
  94. Traugott, Elizabeth
    2012 On the persistence of ambiguous linguistic contexts over time: Implications for corpus research on micro-changes. Language and Computers:–. 10.1163/9789401207713_019
    https://doi.org/10.1163/9789401207713_019 [Google Scholar]
  95. Vigliocco, Gabriela & Robert J. Hartsuiker
    2002 The interplay of meaning, sound, and syntax in sentence production. Psychological Bulletin:.–. 10.1037/0033‑2909.128.3.442
    https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.128.3.442 [Google Scholar]
  96. Walkden, George
    2021 Against mechanisms: towards a minimal theory of change. Journal of Historical Syntax:.–.
    [Google Scholar]
  97. Waltereit, Richard
    1999 Reanalyse als metonymischer Prozeß. Reanalyse und Grammatikalisierung in den romanischen Sprachen, ed. byJürgen Lang & Ingrid Neumann-Holzschuh, –. Tübingen: Niemeyer. 10.1515/9783110924824‑003
    https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110924824-003 [Google Scholar]
  98. Wasow, Thomas
    2015 Ambiguity avoidance is overrated. Ambiguity: language and communication, ed. byS. Winkler, –. Berlin, München, Boston: DeGruyter. 10.1515/9783110403589‑003
    https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110403589-003 [Google Scholar]
  99. Wasow, Thomas, Amy Perfors & David Beaver
    2005 The puzzle of ambiguity. Morphology and The Web of Grammar: Essays in Memory of Steven G. Lapointe, ed. byO. Orgun & P. Sells, –. Chicago: CSLI Publications.
    [Google Scholar]
  100. Winter-Froemel, Esme
    2021 Reinvestigating ambiguity and frequency in reanalysis: A two-step methodology for corpus-linguistic analyses based on bridging use exposure. Journal of Historical Syntax:–.
    [Google Scholar]
  101. Wöllstein-Leisten, Angelika
    2001Die Syntax der dritten Konstruktion. Tübingen: Stauffenburg Verlag.
    [Google Scholar]
  102. Yano, Masataka, Shugo Suwazono, Hiroaki Arao, Daichi Yasunaga & Hiroaki Oishi
    2021 Selective adaptation in sentence comprehension: Evidence from event-related brain potentials. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology:.–. 10.1177/1747021820984623
    https://doi.org/10.1177/1747021820984623 [Google Scholar]
  103. Zehentner, Eva
    2022 Ambiguity avoidance as a factor in the rise of the English dative alternation. Cognitive Linguistics:.–. 10.1515/cog‑2021‑0018
    https://doi.org/10.1515/cog-2021-0018 [Google Scholar]
/content/journals/10.1075/jhl.24032.fel
Loading
  • Article Type: Research Article
Keywords: comprehension ; syntactic change ; production ; syntactic ambiguity ; sentence processing
This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was successful
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error