Cognitive and neural underpinnings of syntactic complexity
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Diego Fernandez-Duque
Abstract
Based on a review of the neuroimaging literature, I argue that the resources allocated for processing syntactically complex sentences (i.e., object-extracted relative clauses) are domain-general. Overlapping brain areas are activated by OR clauses and by effortful executive tasks, such as storing information in verbal working memory, resolving conflict among competing representations, and switching one’s mindset. A re-conceptualization of ‘syntactic complexity’ in terms of executive functions provides a useful framework in which to explore its links to relational complexity and to cognitive neuroscience, in general. As such, this approach should prove useful to linguists and cognitive scientists alike.
Abstract
Based on a review of the neuroimaging literature, I argue that the resources allocated for processing syntactically complex sentences (i.e., object-extracted relative clauses) are domain-general. Overlapping brain areas are activated by OR clauses and by effortful executive tasks, such as storing information in verbal working memory, resolving conflict among competing representations, and switching one’s mindset. A re-conceptualization of ‘syntactic complexity’ in terms of executive functions provides a useful framework in which to explore its links to relational complexity and to cognitive neuroscience, in general. As such, this approach should prove useful to linguists and cognitive scientists alike.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction 1
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Part I. Diachrony
- From nominal to clausal morphosyntax 23
- Re(e)volving complexity 53
- Multiple routes to clause union 81
- On the origins of serial verb constructions in Kalam 119
- A quantitative approach to the development of complex predicates 145
- Elements of complex structures, where recursion isn’t 163
- Nominalization and the origin of subordination 199
- The co-evolution of syntactic and pragmatic complexity 215
- Two pathways of grammatical evolution 239
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Part II. Child language
- On the role of frequency and similarity in the acquisition of subject and non-subject relative clauses 251
- ‘ Starting small ’ effects in the acquisition of early relative constructions in Spanish 277
- The ontogeny of complex verb phrases 311
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Part III. Cognition and neurology
- Syntactic complexity versus concatenation in a verbal production task 391
- The emergence of linguistic complexity 405
- Cognitive and neural underpinnings of syntactic complexity 433
- Neural mechanisms of recursive processing in cognitive and linguistic complexity 461
- Syntactic complexity in the brain 491
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Part IV. Biology and evolution
- Neural plasticity 509
- Recursion 531
- Index 545
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction 1
-
Part I. Diachrony
- From nominal to clausal morphosyntax 23
- Re(e)volving complexity 53
- Multiple routes to clause union 81
- On the origins of serial verb constructions in Kalam 119
- A quantitative approach to the development of complex predicates 145
- Elements of complex structures, where recursion isn’t 163
- Nominalization and the origin of subordination 199
- The co-evolution of syntactic and pragmatic complexity 215
- Two pathways of grammatical evolution 239
-
Part II. Child language
- On the role of frequency and similarity in the acquisition of subject and non-subject relative clauses 251
- ‘ Starting small ’ effects in the acquisition of early relative constructions in Spanish 277
- The ontogeny of complex verb phrases 311
-
Part III. Cognition and neurology
- Syntactic complexity versus concatenation in a verbal production task 391
- The emergence of linguistic complexity 405
- Cognitive and neural underpinnings of syntactic complexity 433
- Neural mechanisms of recursive processing in cognitive and linguistic complexity 461
- Syntactic complexity in the brain 491
-
Part IV. Biology and evolution
- Neural plasticity 509
- Recursion 531
- Index 545
