Language and Reading 2

• What do we do when we process a sentence?

  We recognize individual words, assign syntactic structure, and interpret the intended meaning in context.

  
• What is syntax in the context of sentence processing?

  Syntax refers to the structured arrangement of words into phrases and clauses.
• What is the definition of syntactic ambiguity?

  Syntactic ambiguity occurs when a clause or sentence may have more than one interpretation due to the grammatical functions of individual words.
• What is global ambiguity?

  Global ambiguity is when a sentence starts ambiguous and remains ambiguous until the end.
• What is temporary ambiguity?

  Temporary ambiguity occurs when a sentence starts ambiguous but can be interpreted by the end.
• What are theories of parsing?

  Theories of parsing explain how we assign syntactic structure to a sentence.

  
• What is the garden path theory in parsing?

  The garden path theory suggests that only one syntactic structure is initially considered when processing a sentence.

  
• What does minimal attachment refer to in parsing?

  Minimal attachment refers to building the simplest tree structure with the fewest nodes.
• What does late closure mean in parsing?

  Late closure means attaching the ambiguous part of a sentence to the most recently mentioned constituent.
• What is the constraint satisfaction model in parsing?

  The constraint satisfaction model suggests that all relevant information is available to the parser simultaneously.
• How does the constraint satisfaction model determine the chosen syntactic structure?

  The syntactic structure receiving the most support from all constraints is activated and chosen.
• What is the unrestricted model of syntactic processing?

  The unrestricted model combines features of garden path theory and constraint satisfaction accounts.

  
• What are the theories proposed to explain how we assign syntactic structure to a sentence?

  The theories include garden path theory, constraint satisfaction, and unrestricted race theory.

  
• What is non-literal language?

  Non-literal language is when the intended meaning cannot be derived from the literal meanings of the words.
• What are examples of non-literal language?

  Examples include metaphor, idiom, and irony.
• What is a metaphor?

  A metaphor describes a person or object by referring to something with similar characteristics.
• What is an idiom?

  An idiom is a group of words in a fixed order that has a meaning different from the meanings of each word individually.
• What is irony?

  Irony suggests a different, usually humorous or angry meaning than the words used imply.
• What are the theories of figurative language processing?

  The theories include the standard pragmatic view, graded salience hypothesis, and direct access view.