Publications

Displaying 101 - 151 of 151
  • Petersson, K. M., Ingvar, M., & Reis, A. (2009). Language and literacy from a cognitive neuroscience perspective. In D. Olsen, & N. Torrance (Eds.), Cambridge handbook of literacy (pp. 152-181). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Ramus, F., & Fisher, S. E. (2009). Genetics of language. In M. S. Gazzaniga (Ed.), The cognitive neurosciences, 4th ed. (pp. 855-871). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

    Abstract

    It has long been hypothesised that the human faculty to acquire a language is in some way encoded in our genetic program. However, only recently has genetic evidence been available to begin to substantiate the presumed genetic basis of language. Here we review the first data from molecular genetic studies showing association between gene variants and language disorders (specific language impairment, speech sound disorder, developmental dyslexia), we discuss the biological function of these genes, and we further speculate on the more general question of how the human genome builds a brain that can learn a language.
  • Rapold, C. J., & Zaugg-Coretti, S. (2009). Exploring the periphery of the central Ethiopian Linguistic area: Data from Yemsa and Benchnon. In J. Crass, & R. Meyer (Eds.), Language contact and language change in Ethiopia (pp. 59-81). Köln: Köppe.
  • Reesink, G. (2009). A connection between Bird's Head and (Proto) Oceanic. In B. Evans (Ed.), Discovering history through language, papers in honor of Malcolm Ross (pp. 181-192). Canberra: Pacific Linguistics.
  • Rossano, F., Brown, P., & Levinson, S. C. (2009). Gaze, questioning and culture. In J. Sidnell (Ed.), Conversation analysis: Comparative perspectives (pp. 187-249). Cambridge University Press.

    Abstract

    Relatively little work has examined the function of gaze in interaction. Previous research has mainly addressed issues such as next speaker selection (e.g. Lerner 2003) or engagement and disengagement in the conversation (Goodwin 1981). It has looked for gaze behavior in relation to the roles participants are enacting locally, (e.g., speaker or hearer) and in relation to the unit “turn” in the turn taking system (Goodwin 1980, 1981; Kendon 1967). In his seminal work Kendon (1967) claimed that “there is a very clear and quite consistent pattern, namely, that [the speaker] tends to look away as he begins a long utterance, and in many cases somewhat in advance of it; and that he looks up at his interlocutor as the end of the long utterance approaches, usually during the last phase, and he continues to look thereafter.” Goodwin (Goodwin 1980) introducing the listener into the picture proposed the following two rules: Rule1: A speaker should obtain the gaze of his recipient during the course of a turn of talk. Rule2: a recipient should be gazing at the speaker when the speaker is gazing at the hearer. Rossano’s work (2005) has suggested the possibility of a different level of order for gaze in interaction: the sequential level. In particular he found that gaze withdrawal after sustained mutual gaze tends to occur at sequence possible completion and if both participants withdraw the sequence is complete. By sequence here we refer to a unit that is structured around the notion of adjacency pair. The latter refers to two turns uttered by different speakers orderly organized (first part and second part) and pair type related (greeting-greeting, question-answer). These two turns are related by conditional relevance (Schegloff 1968) that is to say that the first part requires the production of the second and the absence of the latter is noticeable and accountable. Question-anwers are very typical examples of adjacency pairs. In this paper we compare the use of gaze in question-answer sequences in three different populations: Italians, speakers of Mayan Tzeltal (Mexico) and speakers of Yeli Ndye (Russel Island, Papua New Guinea). Relying mainly on dyadic interactions and ordinary conversation we will provide a comparison of the occurrence of gaze in each turn (to compare with the claims of Goodwin and Kendon) and we will describe whether gaze has any effect on the other participant response and whether it persists also during the answer. The three languages and cultures that will be compared here belong to three different continents and have been previously described as potentially following opposite rules: for speakers of Italian and Yeli Ndye unproblematic and preferred engagement of mutual gaze while for speakers of Tzeltal strong mutual gaze avoidance. This paper tries to provide an accurate description of their gaze behavior in this specific type of sequential conversation.
  • Salomo, D., & Liszkowski, U. (2009). Socialisation of prelinguistic communication. In A. Majid (Ed.), Field manual volume 12 (pp. 56-57). Nijmegen: Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics. doi:10.17617/2.844597.

    Abstract

    Little is known about cultural differences in interactional practices with infants. The goal of this task is to document the nature and emergence of caregiver-infant interaction/ communication in different cultures. There are two tasks: Task 1 – a brief documentation about the culture under investigation with respect to infant-caregiver interaction and parental beliefs. Task 2 – the “decorated room”, a task designed to elicit infant and caregiver.
  • Sankoff, G., & Brown, P. (2009). The origins of syntax in discourse: A case study of Tok Pisin relatives [reprint of 1976 article in Language]. In J. Holm, & S. Michaelis (Eds.), Contact languages (vol. II) (pp. 433-476). London: Routledge.
  • Sauter, D. (2009). Emotion concepts. In A. Majid (Ed.), Field manual volume 12 (pp. 20-30). Nijmegen: Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics. doi:10.17617/2.883578.

    Abstract

    The goal of this task is to investigate emotional categories across linguistic and cultural boundaries. There are three core tasks. In order to conduct this task you will need emotional vocalisation stimuli on your computer and you must translate the scenarios at the end of this entry into your local language.
  • Schapper, A., San Roque, L., & Hendery, R. (2016). Tree, firewood and fire in the languages of Sahul. In P. Juvonen (Ed.), The Lexical Typology of Semantic Shifts (pp. 355-422). Berlin: de Gruyter Mouton.
  • Schimke, S. (2009). Does finiteness mark assertion? A picture selection study with Turkish learners and native speakers of German. In C. Dimroth, & P. Jordens (Eds.), Functional categories in learner language (pp. 169-202). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
  • Scott, S. K., Sauter, D., & McGettigan, C. (2009). Brain mechanisms for processing perceived emotional vocalizations in humans. In S. M. Brudzynski (Ed.), Handbook of mammalian vocalization: An integrative neuroscience approach (pp. 187-198). London: Academic Press.

    Abstract

    Humans express emotional information in their facial expressions and body movements, as well as in their voice. In this chapter we consider the neural processing of a specific kind of vocal expressions, non-verbal emotional vocalizations e.g. laughs and sobs. We outline evidence, from patient studies and functional imaging studies, for both emotion specific and more general processing of emotional information in the voice. We relate these findings to evidence for both basic and dimensional accounts of the representations of emotion. We describe in detail an fMRI study of positive and negative non-verbal expressions of emotion, which revealed that prefrontal areas involved in the control of oro-facial movements were also sensitive to different kinds of vocal emotional information.
  • Senft, G. (2009). Bronislaw Kasper Malinowski. In G. Senft, J.-O. Östman, & J. Verschueren (Eds.), Culture and language use (pp. 210-225). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
  • Senft, G. (2009). Elicitation. In G. Senft, J.-O. Östman, & J. Verschueren (Eds.), Culture and language use (pp. 105-109). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
  • Senft, G. (2016). "Masawa - bogeokwa si tuta!": Cultural and cognitive implications of the Trobriand Islanders' gradual loss of their knowledge of how to make a masawa canoe. In P. Meusburger, T. Freytag, & L. Suarsana (Eds.), Ethnic and Cultural Dimensions of Knowledge (pp. 229-256). Heidelberg: Springer Verlag.

    Abstract

    This paper describes how the Trobriand Islanders of Papua New Guinea used to construct their big seagoing masawa canoes and how they used to make their sails, what forms of different knowledge and expertise they needed to do this during various stages of the construction processes, how this knowledge was socially distributed, and the social implications of all the joint communal activities that were necessary until a new canoe could be launched. Then it tries to answer the question why the complex distributed knowledge of how to make a masawa has been gradually getting lost in most of the village communities on the Trobriand Islands; and finally it outlines and discusses the implications of this loss for the Trobriand Islanders' culture, for their social construction of reality, and for their indigenous cognitive capacities.
  • Senft, G. (1998). 'Noble Savages' and the 'Islands of Love': Trobriand Islanders in 'Popular Publications'. In J. Wassmann (Ed.), Pacific answers to Western hegemony: Cultural practices of identity construction (pp. 119-140). Oxford: Berg Publishers.
  • Senft, G. (2009). Fieldwork. In G. Senft, J.-O. Östman, & J. Verschueren (Eds.), Culture and language use (pp. 131-139). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
  • Senft, G. (2009). Linguistische Feldforschung. In H. M. Müller (Ed.), Arbeitsbuch Linguistik (2nd rev. ed., pp. 353-363). Paderborn: Schöningh UTB.

    Abstract

    This article provides a brief introduction into field research, its aims, its methods and the various phases of fieldwork.
  • Senft, G. (2009). Introduction. In G. Senft, J.-O. Östman, & J. Verschueren (Eds.), Culture and language use (pp. 1-17). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
  • Senft, G. (2009). Phatic communion. In G. Senft, J.-O. Östman, & J. Verschueren (Eds.), Culture and language use (pp. 226-233). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
  • Senft, G. (2009). Sind die emotionalen Gesichtsausdrücke des Menschen in allen Kulturen gleich? In Max Planck Society (Ed.), Max-Planck-Gesellschaft Jahrbuch 2008/09 Tätigkeitsberichte und Publikationen (DVD) (pp. 1-4). München: Max Planck Society for the Advancement of Science.

    Abstract

    This paper presents a project which tests the hypothesis of the universality of facial expressions of emotions crossculturally and crosslinguistically. First results are presented which contradict the hypothesis.
  • Senft, G. (2016). Pragmatics. In K. B. Jensen, R. T. Craig, J. Pooley, & E. Rothenbuhler (Eds.), The International Encyclopedia of Communication Theory and Philosophy (pp. 1586-1598). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley. doi:10.1002/9781118766804.wbiect165.

    Abstract

    This entry takes an interdisciplinary approach to linguistic pragmatics. It discusses how the meaning of utterances can only be understood in relation to overall cultural, social, and interpersonal contexts, as well as to culture-specific conventions and the speech events in which they are embedded. The entry discusses core issues of pragmatics such as speech act theory, conversational implicature, deixis, gesture, interaction strategies, ritual communication, phatic communion, linguistic relativity, ethnography of speaking, ethnomethodology, and conversation analysis. It takes a transdisciplinary view of the field, showing that linguistic pragmatics has its predecessors in other disciplines such as philosophy, psychology, ethology, ethnology, and sociology.
  • Senft, G. (1998). Zeichenkonzeptionen in Ozeanien. In R. Posner, T. Robering, & T.. Sebeok (Eds.), Semiotics: A handbook on the sign-theoretic foundations of nature and culture (Vol. 2) (pp. 1971-1976). Berlin: de Gruyter.
  • Senft, G. (2009). Trobriand Islanders' forms of ritual communication. In G. Senft, & E. B. Basso (Eds.), Ritual communication (pp. 81-101). Oxford: Berg.
  • Seuren, P. A. M. (1974). Autonomous versus semantic syntax. In P. A. M. Seuren (Ed.), Semantic syntax (pp. 96-122). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Seuren, P. A. M. (2009). Hesseling, Dirk Christiaan. In H. Stammerjohann (Ed.), Lexicon Grammaticorum: A bio-bibliographical companion to the history of linguistics. Volume 1. (2nd ed.) (pp. 649-650). Berlin: DeGruyter.
  • Seuren, P. A. M. (1974). Introduction. In P. A. M. Seuren (Ed.), Semantic syntax (pp. 1-28). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Seuren, P. A. M. (1974). Negative's travels. In P. A. M. Seuren (Ed.), Semantic syntax (pp. 183-208). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Seuren, P. A. M. (2009). Voorhoeve, Jan. In H. Stammerjohann (Ed.), Lexicon Grammaticorum: A bio-bibliographical companion to the history of linguistics. Volume 2. (2nd ed.) (pp. 1593-1594). Berlin: DeGruyter.
  • Seuren, P. A. M. (1998). Towards a discourse-semantic account of donkey anaphora. In S. Botley, & T. McEnery (Eds.), New Approaches to Discourse Anaphora: Proceedings of the Second Colloquium on Discourse Anaphora and Anaphor Resolution (DAARC2) (pp. 212-220). Lancaster: Universiy Centre for Computer Corpus Research on Language, Lancaster University.
  • Sicoli, M. A., Majid, A., & Levinson, S. C. (2009). The language of sound: II. In A. Majid (Ed.), Field manual volume 12 (pp. 14-19). Nijmegen: Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics. doi:10.17617/2.446294.

    Abstract

    The task is designed to elicit vocabulary for simple sounds. The primary goal is to establish how people describe sound and what resources the language provides generally for encoding this domain. More specifically: (1) whether there is dedicated vocabulary for encoding simple sound contrasts and (2) how much consistency there is within a community in descriptions. This develops on materials used in The language of sound
  • Silva, S., Petersson, K. M., & Castro, S. (2016). Rhythm in the brain: Is music special? In D. Da Silva Marques, & J. Avila-Toscano (Eds.), Neuroscience to neuropsychology: The study of the human brain (pp. 29-54). Barranquilla, Colombia: Ediciones CUR.
  • Smith, A. C., Monaghan, P., & Huettig, F. (2016). Complex word recognition behaviour emerges from the richness of the word learning environment. In K. Twomey, A. C. Smith, G. Westermann, & P. Monaghan (Eds.), Neurocomputational Models of Cognitive Development and Processing: Proceedings of the 14th Neural Computation and Psychology Workshop (pp. 99-114). Singapore: World Scientific. doi:10.1142/9789814699341_0007.

    Abstract

    Computational models can reflect the complexity of human behaviour by implementing multiple constraints within their architecture, and/or by taking into account the variety and richness of the environment to which the human is responding. We explore the second alternative in a model of word recognition that learns to map spoken words to visual and semantic representations of the words’ concepts. Critically, we employ a phonological representation utilising coarse-coding of the auditory stream, to mimic early stages of language development that are not dependent on individual phonemes to be isolated in the input, which may be a consequence of literacy development. The model was tested at different stages during training, and was able to simulate key behavioural features of word recognition in children: a developing effect of semantic information as a consequence of language learning, and a small but earlier effect of phonological information on word processing. We additionally tested the role of visual information in word processing, generating predictions for behavioural studies, showing that visual information could have a larger effect than semantics on children’s performance, but that again this affects recognition later in word processing than phonological information. The model also provides further predictions for performance of a mature word recognition system in the absence of fine-coding of phonology, such as in adults who have low literacy skills. The model demonstrated that such phonological effects may be reduced but are still evident even when multiple distractors from various modalities are present in the listener’s environment. The model demonstrates that complexity in word recognition can emerge from a simple associative system responding to the interactions between multiple sources of information in the language learner’s environment.
  • Snowdon, C. T., & Cronin, K. A. (2009). Comparative cognition and neuroscience. In G. Berntson, & J. Cacioppo (Eds.), Handbook of neuroscience for the behavioral sciences (pp. 32-55). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
  • Stolker, C. J. J. M., & Poletiek, F. H. (1998). Smartengeld - Wat zijn we eigenlijk aan het doen? Naar een juridische en psychologische evaluatie. In F. Stadermann (Ed.), Bewijs en letselschade (pp. 71-86). Lelystad, The Netherlands: Koninklijke Vermande.
  • Sumer, B., & Ozyurek, A. (2016). İşitme Engelli Çocukların Dil Edinimi [Sign language acquisition by deaf children]. In C. Aydin, T. Goksun, A. Kuntay, & D. Tahiroglu (Eds.), Aklın Çocuk Hali: Zihin Gelişimi Araştırmaları [Research on Cognitive Development] (pp. 365-388). Istanbul: Koc University Press.
  • Sumer, B. (2016). Scene-setting and reference introduction in sign and spoken languages: What does modality tell us? In B. Haznedar, & F. N. Ketrez (Eds.), The acquisition of Turkish in childhood (pp. 193-220). Amsterdam: Benjamins.

    Abstract

    Previous studies show that children do not become adult-like in learning to set the scene and introduce referents in their narrations until 9 years of age and even beyond. However, they investigated spoken languages, thus we do not know much about how these skills are acquired in sign languages, where events are expressed in visually similar ways to the real world events, unlike in spoken languages. The results of the current study demonstrate that deaf children (3;5–9;10 years) acquiring Turkish Sign Language, and hearing children (3;8–9;11 years) acquiring spoken Turkish both acquire scene-setting and referent introduction skills at similar ages. Thus the modality of the language being acquired does not have facilitating or hindering effects in the development of these skills.
  • Sumer, B., Zwitserlood, I., Perniss, P., & Ozyurek, A. (2016). Yer Bildiren İfadelerin Türkçe ve Türk İşaret Dili’nde (TİD) Çocuklar Tarafından Edinimi [The acqusition of spatial relations by children in Turkish and Turkish Sign Language (TID)]. In E. Arik (Ed.), Ellerle Konuşmak: Türk İşaret Dili Araştırmaları [Speaking with hands: Studies on Turkish Sign Language] (pp. 157-182). Istanbul: Koç University Press.
  • Suppes, P., Böttner, M., & Liang, L. (1998). Machine Learning of Physics Word Problems: A Preliminary Report. In A. Aliseda, R. van Glabbeek, & D. Westerståhl (Eds.), Computing Natural Language (pp. 141-154). Stanford, CA, USA: CSLI Publications.
  • Van Berkum, J. J. A. (2009). The neuropragmatics of 'simple' utterance comprehension: An ERP review. In U. Sauerland, & K. Yatsushiro (Eds.), Semantics and pragmatics: From experiment to theory (pp. 276-316). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Abstract

    In this chapter, I review my EEG research on comprehending sentences in context from a pragmatics-oriented perspective. The review is organized around four questions: (1) When and how do extra-sentential factors such as the prior text, identity of the speaker, or value system of the comprehender affect the incremental sentence interpretation processes indexed by the so-called N400 component of the ERP? (2) When and how do people identify the referents for expressions such as “he” or “the review”, and how do referential processes interact with sense and syntax? (3) How directly pragmatic are the interpretation-relevant ERP effects reported here? (4) Do readers and listeners anticipate upcoming information? One important claim developed in the chapter is that the well-known N400 component, although often associated with ‘semantic integration’, only indirectly reflects the sense-making involved in structure-sensitive dynamic composition of the type studied in semantics and pragmatics. According to the multiple-cause intensified retrieval (MIR) account -- essentially an extension of the memory retrieval account proposed by Kutas and colleagues -- the amplitude of the word-elicited N400 reflects the computational resources used in retrieving the relatively invariant coded meaning stored in semantic long-term memory for, and made available by, the word at hand. Such retrieval becomes more resource-intensive when the coded meanings cued by this word do not match with expectations raised by the relevant interpretive context, but also when certain other relevance signals, such as strong affective connotation or a marked delivery, indicate the need for deeper processing. The most important consequence of this account is that pragmatic modulations of the N400 come about not because the N400 at hand directly reflects a rich compositional-semantic and/or Gricean analysis to make sense of the word’s coded meaning in this particular context, but simply because the semantic and pragmatic implications of the preceding words have already been computed, and now define a less or more helpful interpretive background within which to retrieve coded meaning for the critical word.
  • Van Valin Jr., R. D. (2009). Case in role and reference grammar. In A. Malchukov, & A. Spencer (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of case (pp. 102-120). Oxford University Press.
  • Van Valin Jr., R. D. (2016). An overview of information structure in three Amazonian languages. In M. Fernandez-Vest, & R. D. Van Valin Jr. (Eds.), Information structure and spoken language from a cross-linguistic perspective (pp. 77-92). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
  • Van Gijn, R., & Gipper, S. (2009). Irrealis in Yurakaré and other languages: On the cross-linguistic consistency of an elusive category. In L. Hogeweg, H. De Hoop, & A. Malchukov (Eds.), Cross-linguistic semantics of tense, aspect, and modality (pp. 155-178). Amsterdam: Benjamins.

    Abstract

    The linguistic category of irrealis does not show stable semantics across languages. This makes it difficult to formulate general statements about this category, and it has led some researchers to reject irrealis as a cross-linguistically valid category. In this paper we look at the semantics of the irrealis category of Yurakaré, an unclassified language spoken in central Bolivia, and compare it to irrealis semantics of a number of other languages. Languages differ with respect to the subcategories they subsume under the heading of irrealis. The variable subcategories are future tense, imperatives, negatives, and habitual aspect. We argue that the cross-linguistic variation is not random, and can be stated in terms of an implicational scale.
  • Van Geenhoven, V. (1998). On the Argument Structure of some Noun Incorporating Verbs in West Greenlandic. In M. Butt, & W. Geuder (Eds.), The Projection of Arguments - Lexical and Compositional Factors (pp. 225-263). Stanford, CA, USA: CSLI Publications.
  • Van Valin Jr., R. D. (2009). Privileged syntactic arguments, pivots and controllers. In L. Guerrero, S. Ibáñez, & V. A. Belloro (Eds.), Studies in role and reference grammar (pp. 45-68). Mexico: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.
  • Van Valin Jr., R. D. (1998). The acquisition of WH-questions and the mechanisms of language acquisition. In M. Tomasello (Ed.), The new psychology of language: Cognitive and functional approaches to language structure (pp. 221-249). Mahwah, New Jersey: Erlbaum.
  • Van Valin Jr., R. D. (2009). Role and reference grammar. In F. Brisard, J.-O. Östman, & J. Verschueren (Eds.), Grammar, meaning, and pragmatics (pp. 239-249). Amsterdam: Benjamins.
  • van Hell, J. G., & Witteman, M. J. (2009). The neurocognition of switching between languages: A review of electrophysiological studies. In L. Isurin, D. Winford, & K. de Bot (Eds.), Multidisciplinary approaches to code switching (pp. 53-84). Philadelphia: John Benjamins.

    Abstract

    The seemingly effortless switching between languages and the merging of two languages into a coherent utterance is a hallmark of bilingual language processing, and reveals the flexibility of human speech and skilled cognitive control. That skill appears to be available not only to speakers when they produce language-switched utterances, but also to listeners and readers when presented with mixed language information. In this chapter, we review electrophysiological studies in which Event-Related Potentials (ERPs) are derived from recordings of brain activity to examine the neurocognitive aspects of comprehending and producing mixed language. Topics we discuss include the time course of brain activity associated with language switching between single stimuli and language switching of words embedded in a meaningful sentence context. The majority of ERP studies report that switching between languages incurs neurocognitive costs, but –more interestingly- ERP patterns differ as a function of L2 proficiency and the amount of daily experience with language switching, the direction of switching (switching into L2 is typically associated with higher switching costs than switching into L1), the type of language switching task, and the predictability of the language switch. Finally, we outline some future directions for this relatively new approach to the study of language switching.
  • Verhagen, J. (2009). Light verbs and the acquisition of finiteness and negation in Dutch as a second language. In C. Dimroth, & P. Jordens (Eds.), Functional categories in learner language (pp. 203-234). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
  • Verkerk, A. (2009). A semantic map of secondary predication. In B. Botma, & J. Van Kampen (Eds.), Linguistics in the Netherlands 2009 (pp. 115-126).
  • Von Stutterheim, C., Carroll, M., & Klein, W. (2009). New perspectives in analyzing aspectual distinctions across languages. In W. Klein, & P. Li (Eds.), The expression of time (pp. 195-216). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
  • Wood, N. (2009). Field recording for dummies. In A. Majid (Ed.), Field manual volume 12 (pp. V). Nijmegen: Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics.

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