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Freezing as a probabilistic phenomenon

  • Rui P. Chaves
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Freezing
This chapter is in the book Freezing

Abstract

This paper shows that freezing effects are graded rather than categorical, and that different kinds of freezing are not equally strong. Building on Hofmeister et al. (2015: 470), I argue that freezing effects are at least in part caused by their extremely unusual structure, with two disparate foci governed by the same verb. By being inconsistent with comprehenders’ expectations about the distribution of gaps, such constructions likely create a processing conflict between what is expected and the actual input. Experiment 1 suggests that such expectations are malleable, given that the oddness of extracting from an extraposed phrase disappears by virtue of making such constructions as likely as their non-extraposed counterparts. Experiments 2 and 3 suggest that the oddness created by crossing extraposition and extraction paths also disappears, but at a much lower rate. I propose that the latter constructions are more improbable and therefore worse than the former because (a) they are preempted by simpler and more likely alternative (local) parses (Fodor 1978) in which the point of retrieval and integration does not coincide with the point of reanalysis (Hofmeister et al. 2015), (b) involve crossing non-local dependencies (which are independently known to be more difficult than non-crossing dependencies (Fodor 1978), and therefore bound to be rarer), and (c) have disparate foci and therefore atypical pragmatic requirements (Huck and Na 1990; Bolinger 1992).

Abstract

This paper shows that freezing effects are graded rather than categorical, and that different kinds of freezing are not equally strong. Building on Hofmeister et al. (2015: 470), I argue that freezing effects are at least in part caused by their extremely unusual structure, with two disparate foci governed by the same verb. By being inconsistent with comprehenders’ expectations about the distribution of gaps, such constructions likely create a processing conflict between what is expected and the actual input. Experiment 1 suggests that such expectations are malleable, given that the oddness of extracting from an extraposed phrase disappears by virtue of making such constructions as likely as their non-extraposed counterparts. Experiments 2 and 3 suggest that the oddness created by crossing extraposition and extraction paths also disappears, but at a much lower rate. I propose that the latter constructions are more improbable and therefore worse than the former because (a) they are preempted by simpler and more likely alternative (local) parses (Fodor 1978) in which the point of retrieval and integration does not coincide with the point of reanalysis (Hofmeister et al. 2015), (b) involve crossing non-local dependencies (which are independently known to be more difficult than non-crossing dependencies (Fodor 1978), and therefore bound to be rarer), and (c) have disparate foci and therefore atypical pragmatic requirements (Huck and Na 1990; Bolinger 1992).

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Contents VII
  3. Exploring the concepts of Freezing: Theoretical and empirical perspectives 1
  4. Part I: Theoretical advancement
  5. Criterial Freezing in small clauses and the cartography of copular constructions 29
  6. Freezing Effects in a free-Merge System 66
  7. Freezing in complex prefields 105
  8. Part II: Empirical domains
  9. The Freezing points of the (Dutch) adjectival system 143
  10. Freezing in it-clefts: Movement and focus 195
  11. Criterial Freezing in the syntax of particles 225
  12. Only syntax 264
  13. Freezing and phi-feature agreement: On the role of [PERSON] 284
  14. Freezing, Topic Opacity and Phase-based Cyclicity in Subject Islands 317
  15. Part III: Interface extensions
  16. Freezing: Between grammar and processing 353
  17. Heavy NP shift in context: On the interaction of information structure and subextraction from shifted constituents 387
  18. Freezing as a probabilistic phenomenon 403
  19. An experimental study on freezing and topicalization in English 430
  20. Index 451
https://doi.org/10.1515/9781501504266-013

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Contents VII
  3. Exploring the concepts of Freezing: Theoretical and empirical perspectives 1
  4. Part I: Theoretical advancement
  5. Criterial Freezing in small clauses and the cartography of copular constructions 29
  6. Freezing Effects in a free-Merge System 66
  7. Freezing in complex prefields 105
  8. Part II: Empirical domains
  9. The Freezing points of the (Dutch) adjectival system 143
  10. Freezing in it-clefts: Movement and focus 195
  11. Criterial Freezing in the syntax of particles 225
  12. Only syntax 264
  13. Freezing and phi-feature agreement: On the role of [PERSON] 284
  14. Freezing, Topic Opacity and Phase-based Cyclicity in Subject Islands 317
  15. Part III: Interface extensions
  16. Freezing: Between grammar and processing 353
  17. Heavy NP shift in context: On the interaction of information structure and subextraction from shifted constituents 387
  18. Freezing as a probabilistic phenomenon 403
  19. An experimental study on freezing and topicalization in English 430
  20. Index 451
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