Show simple item record

dc.contributor.authorRedolfi, Michela
dc.contributor.authorPereira Soares, Sergio Miguel
dc.contributor.authorCzypionka, Anna
dc.contributor.authorKupisch, Tanja
dc.date.accessioned2021-07-02T13:46:30Z
dc.date.available2021-07-02T13:46:30Z
dc.date.issued2021-02-05
dc.description.abstractIn the Romance languages, definite plural articles (e.g., le rane ‘the frogs’) are generally ambiguous between a generic and a specific interpretation, and speakers must reconstruct the intended interpretation through the linguistic or extra-linguistic context. Following the “polar bear” paradigm implemented in Czypionka & Kupisch (2019)’s investigation on German, the goal of the present study is to check the suitability of their test on article semantics, by establishing to what extent native speakers of Italian interpret ambiguous definite plural DPs as generic or specific in the presence of a nonlinguistic picture context. We present judgment and reaction time data monitoring the preferred reading of sentences introduced by different kinds of noun phrases (e.g., Le rane/Queste rane/Le rane di solito sono verdi/gialle ‘The/These/Usually frogs are green/yellow’), while looking at pictures showing prototypical or non-prototypical properties (e.g., green vs. yellow frogs). Our results show that both possible interpretations of definite plural articles are routinely considered in Italian, despite the presence of a picture with specific referents, validating the “polar bear” paradigm as a suitable test of article semantics.en_US
dc.identifier.citationRedolfi, Pereira Soares, Czypionka A, Kupisch T. Experimental evidence for the interpretation of definite plural articles as markers of genericity – How Italian can help. Glossa: a journal of general linguistics. 2021;6(1)
dc.identifier.cristinIDFRIDAID 1889911
dc.identifier.doi10.5334/gjgl.1165
dc.identifier.issn2397-1835
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10037/21703
dc.language.isoengen_US
dc.publisherUbiquity Pressen_US
dc.relation.journalGlossa: a journal of general linguistics
dc.rights.holderCopyright 2021 The Author(s)en_US
dc.subjectVDP::Humanities: 000::Linguistics: 010::Italian language: 025en_US
dc.subjectVDP::Humaniora: 000::Språkvitenskapelige fag: 010::Italiensk språk: 025en_US
dc.titleExperimental evidence for the interpretation of definite plural articles as markers of genericity – How Italian can helpen_US
dc.type.versionpublishedVersionen_US
dc.typeJournal articleen_US
dc.typeTidsskriftartikkelen_US
dc.typePeer revieweden_US


File(s) in this item

Thumbnail

This item appears in the following collection(s)

Show simple item record