The Availability of Verb-based Instrument Information in Sentence Processing

This work explores the role of verb information during online processing ofspoken language. Currently the field already acknowledges a large influenceof verb information in the prediction of structure during language comprehensionbut focuses on information used to make predictions about immediatelyupcoming syntactically licensed constituents leaving questions abouthow (and if) verb information is used to make predictions about other upcomingelements of the sentence. Instruments are unique in that they have aclose semantic relation with verbs while at the same time they maintain onlya loose syntactic connection. As such instruments have the potential tountangle questions about what kinds of verb-specific information can influenceunfolding interpretation of a sentence. Also a better understandingof the connection between instruments and their associated verbs can help toshed light on the structure and organization of lexical entries. These findingsshould prove useful for researchers and students of Linguistics and CognitiveScience particularly those investigating Lexical Semantics or Sentence Processing.