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Die mentale Verarbeitung von Verben in idiomatischen Konstruktionen

  • Stefan Rabanus , Eva Smolka , Judith Streb and Frank Rösler
Published/Copyright: February 11, 2009
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Zeitschrift für germanistische Linguistik
From the journal Volume 36 Issue 1

Abstract

This study investigated whether verbs in figurative language activate different types of associations than do verbs in literal language. In a sentence-priming experiment, we compared idiomatic sentences and literal sentences that comprised the same verb. The German perfect tense is of particular interest here, since the verb (i.e. the past participle) is always cast in sentence-final position. This allowed us to examine associations with the verb immediately after its presentation. We compared response times for associations with the literal meaning of the verb, with the figurative meaning of the phrase, or for unassociated nouns. Even though the idiomatic sentences were highly predictable, our results showed that not only associations with the figurative meaning but also associations with the literal verb meaning were activated. This contrasts with the configuration hypothesis (Cacciari/Tabossi 1988) assuming that literal associations should not be activated in idiomatically biased sentences. We argue that the literal verb meaning is essential in both figurative and non-figurative language and present a model that integrates our findings.


Adressen der Verfasser: Dipartimento di Germanistica e Slavistica, Università degli Studi di Verona, Lungadige Porta Vittoria 41, I-37129 Verona. E-Mail:
Adressen der Verfasser: Departamento de Psicología Cognitiva, Universidad de La Laguna, E-38205 Tenerife. E-Mail:
Adressen der Verfasser: Allgemeine und Biologische Psychologie, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Gutenbergstr. 18, D-35032 Marburg.
Adressen der Verfasser: Allgemeine und Biologische Psychologie, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Gutenbergstr. 18, D-35032 Marburg. E-Mail:

Online erschienen: 2009-02-11
Erschienen im Druck: 2008-July
Downloaded on 25.1.2026 from https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/ZGL.2008.003/html
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