7 Canonical Sentence Templates

Past Tense/Passive Participle Homonymy in Processing A Reduced Relative Clause
Identify The Passive Participles and Relative Clauses
Transitive/Intransitive Homonymy in Processing A Reduced Relative Clause
Garden Path Effects Are Greater for Potentially Intransitive Verbs
Animacy and Direct Object Cues in Processing A Reduced Relative Clause
Altmann & Steedman's (1988) Referential Theory of Processing A Reduced Relative Clause
Counter-Evidence from Murray & Liversedge (1994)
Homonymy Explains Contradictory Results for The Referential Theory
 

Back to contents

PAST TENSE/PASSIVE PARTICIPLE HOMONYMY IN PROCESSING A REDUCED RELATIVE CLAUSE
 

Sentences with a reduced relative clause may produce a garden path in which comprehenders initially assign a main clause structure to a relative clause. This is called a MC/RC ambiguity:

            The man sent the letter was surprised.

homonymy – two words that have different meaning but the same name

Only verbs that have the same form in the past tense and the passive participle can produce a garden path in comprehending sentences with a reduced relative clause.

Past tense:                             The man sent the letter.

Passive participle:                The letter was sent by the man.

Verbs that are homonymous between past tense and passive participle can produce a garden path in a sentence with a reduced relative, as in The man sent the letter was surprised.

Some Verbs that are Homonymous between Past Tense and Passive Participle:

Verbs that are not homonymous between past tense and passive participle do not produce a garden path in a sentence with a reduced relative, since sentence with a reduced relative clause and a past tense verb is ungrammatical as in The man showed the letter was surprised.

Some Verbs that are Not Homonymous between Past Tense and Passive Participle:

Back to top
 

IDENTIFY THE PASSIVE PARTICIPLES AND RELATIVE CLAUSES
 

As you examine the following sentences, try to think of factors that influence the garden path:

The land mind buried in the sand exploded.

The land mind that was buried in the sand exploded.

Papers submitted late will be marked down one grade.

Classes scheduled for October 26 are cancelled.

The parsing strategies identified by Frazier are consistent with modularity.

The two faces shown on a trial were mirror images.

We used a free-vision task developed by Levy.

Each face consisted of a chimera constructed from the same poser.

The bias was smaller than the one shown by right-handers.

The editor played the tape agreed it was a big story.

The performer sent the flowers was very pleased.

The florist sent the flowers was very pleased.
 

Back to top
 

TRANSITIVE/INTRANSITIVE HOMONYMY IN PROCESSING A REDUCED RELATIVE CLAUSE

MacDonald (1994)

non-homonymous passive participle (NHPP) – the passive participle and past tense differ, as in ridden vs rode

            a. transitive (active, past tense) –   The jockey rode the horse.

            b. transitive (passive participle) –   *The horse was rode by the jockey.

            c. transitive (passive participle) –   The horse was ridden by the jockey.

potentially intransitive (PI) –  a verb that may be used transitively or intransitively (i.e., either with or without an object), as in disintegrated

            a. transitive (active, past tense) –   The enemy disintegrated the ship.

            b. transitive (passive participle) –   The ship was disintegrated in outer space.

            c. intransitive (past)                      –   The ship disintegrated.

transitive only (TO) – a verb that must be used transitively (i.e., with an object), as in destroyed

            a. transitive (active, past tense) –   The enemy destroyed the ship.

            b. transitive (passive participle) –   The ship was destroyed in outer space.

            c. intransitive (past)                   –     *The ship destroyed.

We assess the strength of the garden path by measuring the “ambiguity effect” during comprehension:

ambiguity effect (AE) – the difference in performance on an ambiguous vs. unambiguous sentence that occurs when a comprehender initially assigns the incorrect structure to the ambiguous sentence

Back to top
 

GARDEN PATH EFFECTS ARE GREATER FOR POTENTIALLY INTRANSITIVE VERBS

MACDONALD (1994)

MacDonald (1994) used a self-paced moving window task.

Examples of critical materials include:

Potentially Intransitive 

Reduced:       The ruthless dictator fought in the coup was hated.

Unreduced:    The ruthless dictator that was fought in the coup was hated.

Transitive Only

Reduced:       The ruthless dictator captured in the coup was hated.

Unreduced:    The ruthless dictator that was captured in the coup was hated.

Mean Ambiguity Effects (RR – UR, in ms) Depending on Type of Verb 

                                                                                    Region                                   
                                                      Relative clause                                  Main verb

PI                                                         -14                                                          40
TO                                                         -2                                                           15

Within the PI Verbs:
More Frequently Intr. (move)                0                                                          32
More Frequently Tran. (push)             -8                                                            4 

Back to top
 

ANIMACY AND DIRECT OBJECT CUES IN PROCESSING A REDUCED RELATIVE CLAUSE

MacDonald (1994)
 

• Animate initial nouns increase the ambiguity effect.

Animate nouns tend to be assigned agent, but this is not the correct role if the verb is part of a reduced relative clause.

• Post-verbal cues that prolong a direct-object interpretation increase the ambiguity effect.

These cues enhance the application of NVN, which is not correct in a reduced relative.
 

Inanimate subject, direct-object plausible

            The shipment [transported almost two thousand miles] would help the famine.

Inanimate subject, direct-object implausible

            The shipment [transported to the polluted beaches] would help...

Animate subject, direct-object plausible

            The workers [transported almost two thousand miles] would help...

Animate subject, direct-object implausible

            The workers [transported to the polluted beaches] would help…
 

Note that The workers transported almost two thousand bananas is acceptable, showing that almost two thousand could be part of a direct object noun phrase, or part of an adverbial phrase (as above).
 

AE =   reading time on main verb (would) for reduced relative – reading time on main verb (would) for unreduced relative

Back to top
 

ALTMANN & STEEDMAN’S  (1988) REFERENTIAL THEORY OF PROCESSING A REDUCED RELATIVE CLAUSE

Referential Theory

• Relative clauses often are used to modify a noun phrase when it is necessary to distinguish which of two referents the speaker is talking about.
   
• So, reduced relative clauses might be easier when the context mentions two possible referents for the noun phrase that the relative clause modifies.
   

Spivey-Knowlton et al. (1993) used a two-word self-paced reading task to test this theory.

Two-referents context (reduced relative bias)

In the visiting room, two prisoners began yelling at each other. To prevent a fight, the guard removed one of the prisoners from the room but not the other ...

One-referent context

In the visiting room, a prisoner and a visitor began yelling at each other. To prevent a fight, the guard removed the prisoner from the room but not the visitor ...

Target sentence (RR vs. UR)

The prisoner (who was) removed by the guard fought violently to break free of the guard's grip.
 

The two-referent context mentions two prisoners, so it is felicitous to use a reduced relative clause to identify which of the two prisoners is being discussed.  

Mean Reading Times Depending on Number of Referents in Context (ms/word)

                                                                                    Region                       
Sentence Type                                  Verb+by       Det+N              MV

One Referent:
RR                                                       462                 494                 509
UR                                                       416                 384                 459
RR - UR                                                46                  110                   50

Two Referents:
RR                                                       410                 422                 472
UR                                                       403                 410                 443
RR - UR                                                  7                    12                    29
 

Context had a significant effect (by subjects) only on the Det+N (at the end of the clause).

 
Back to top
 

COUNTER-EVIDENCE FROM MURRAY & LIVERSEDGE (1994)
 

Murray & Liversedge (1994) used an eye-tracking task and measured eye fixation times in the disambiguating region. Examples of critical materials include:

Two-referents context (reduced relative bias)

After the auditions two people had been chosen to perform in a local village pantomime. One was a man who was playing the prince and the other was a man who was playing an old witch ...

One-referent context

After the auditions two people had been chosen to perform in a local village pantomime. One was a woman who was playing the prince and the other was a man who was playing an old witch ...

Target sentence (RR vs. UR)

            The man / (who was) dressed as a woman / looked quite ridiculous.
 

Slashes mark scoring regions for measuring fixation times. 

Referential Theory predicts that the ambiguity effects are larger for the one-referent context than for the two-referents context.
 

Mean Reading Times (ms/word) Depending on Type of Context and Type of Sentence:

                                                                                    Region                                   
Sentence Type                      Verb+prep+Det+N                           MV+rest

One Referent:
RR                                                       210                                                     280
UR                                                       238                                                     256
RR - UR                                               -28                                                       24

Two Referents:
RR                                                       213                                                     279
UR                                                       223                                                     259
RR - UR                                              -10                                                       20
 
Within the relative clause, there was no garden path effect in either context.

On the main verb, the size of the garden path was similar for the two contexts.

 
Back to top
 

HOMONYMY EXPLAINS CONTRADICTORY RESULTS FOR THE REFERENTIAL THEORY
 

Summary of Studies on the Role of Discourse Context in Processing Sentences with Reduced Relatives 

Study                                                  Garden Path                          %Homonymous        

Ferreira & Clifton 1986                           Yes                                                 50                                                                                   

Britt et al. 1992                                         Yes                                                 87

Rayner et al. 1992                                    Yes                                                 87

Murray & Liversedge 1994                    Yes                                                100

Spivey-Knowlton et al. 1993                    No                                                  0

Trueswell & Tanenhaus 1991                  No                                                 25

Studies that show that discourse context does not affect the garden path tended to use embedded verbs that were homonymous between transitive and intransitive usage (e.g., dressed).

Studies that show that discourse context eliminates the garden path tended to use embedded verbs that have only a transitive use (e.g., removed).

Back to top