Activation of Alternatives by Mandarin Sentence-initial and Sentence-internal Foci: A Semantic Priming Study

Tsun Ming Ma; Yu-yin Hsu; Tianyi Han; Daria Tack

doi:10.1007/978-3-031-06703-7_20

Activation of Alternatives by Mandarin Sentence-initial and Sentence-internal Foci: A Semantic Priming Study

Tsun Ming Ma, Yu-yin Hsu (Corresponding Author), Tianyi Han, Daria Tack

Research output: Chapter in book / Conference proceeding › Chapter in an edited book (as author) › Academic research › peer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

This paper reports results of a semantic priming study on the activation of semantic alternatives by focus phrases in Mandarin introduced by focus-operators – zhiyou ‘only’ and lian ‘even’ – located in two sentence positions (initial and internal). In this study, we used a lexical semantic priming paradigm to study how native mature readers of Mandarin Chinese response to three types of semantic associations (alternative, non-contrastive, and unrelated) through ratings of 7-point Likert Scales. According to Rooth’s Alternative Semantics, focus units activate a set of alternative units semantically. Our results show that the activation of semantic alternatives was indeed sustainably more prominent for words occurring in focus constructions than when they occurred in canonical, non-focus, sentences. However, neither the focus type nor the focus position had specific effects on the activation of alternatives.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Chinese Lexical Semantics
Subtitle of host publication	22nd Workshop, CLSW 2021 Nanjing, China, May 15–16, 2021 Revised Selected Papers, Part I
Editors	Minghui Dong, Yanhui Gu, Jia-Fei Hong
Publisher	Springer Cham
Pages	263-270
ISBN (Electronic)	9783031067037
ISBN (Print)	9783031067020
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-06703-7_20
Publication status	Published - 16 Jun 2022
Event	22nd Chinese Lexical Semantic Workshop (CLSW 2021) - Online, Nanjing Normal University Duration: 15 May 2021 → 16 May 2021 https://clsw2021.kurenai.me/index_en

Publication series

Name	Lecture Notes in Computer Science
Publisher	Springer
Volume	13249
ISSN (Print)	0302-9743
ISSN (Electronic)	1611-3349

Name	Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence
ISSN (Print)	2945-9133
ISSN (Electronic)	2945-9141

Workshop

Workshop	22nd Chinese Lexical Semantic Workshop (CLSW 2021)
Period	15/05/21 → 16/05/21
Internet address	https://clsw2021.kurenai.me/index_en

Keywords

Semantic priming
Focus alternative
zhiyou ‘only’
lian ‘even’
Sentence-initial focus
Sentence-internal focus
Mandarin

More information

10.1007/978-3-031-06703-7_20

Cite this

Ma, T. M., Hsu, Y., Han, T., & Tack, D. (2022). Activation of Alternatives by Mandarin Sentence-initial and Sentence-internal Foci: A Semantic Priming Study. In M. Dong, Y. Gu, & J.-F. Hong (Eds.), Chinese Lexical Semantics: 22nd Workshop, CLSW 2021 Nanjing, China, May 15–16, 2021 Revised Selected Papers, Part I (pp. 263-270). (Lecture Notes in Computer Science; Vol. 13249), (Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence). Springer Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-06703-7_20

Ma, Tsun Ming ; Hsu, Yu-yin ; Han, Tianyi et al. / Activation of Alternatives by Mandarin Sentence-initial and Sentence-internal Foci : A Semantic Priming Study. Chinese Lexical Semantics: 22nd Workshop, CLSW 2021 Nanjing, China, May 15–16, 2021 Revised Selected Papers, Part I. editor / Minghui Dong ; Yanhui Gu ; Jia-Fei Hong. Springer Cham, 2022. pp. 263-270 (Lecture Notes in Computer Science). (Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence).

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title = "Activation of Alternatives by Mandarin Sentence-initial and Sentence-internal Foci: A Semantic Priming Study",

abstract = "This paper reports results of a semantic priming study on the activation of semantic alternatives by focus phrases in Mandarin introduced by focus-operators – zhiyou {\textquoteleft}only{\textquoteright} and lian {\textquoteleft}even{\textquoteright} – located in two sentence positions (initial and internal). In this study, we used a lexical semantic priming paradigm to study how native mature readers of Mandarin Chinese response to three types of semantic associations (alternative, non-contrastive, and unrelated) through ratings of 7-point Likert Scales. According to Rooth{\textquoteright}s Alternative Semantics, focus units activate a set of alternative units semantically. Our results show that the activation of semantic alternatives was indeed sustainably more prominent for words occurring in focus constructions than when they occurred in canonical, non-focus, sentences. However, neither the focus type nor the focus position had specific effects on the activation of alternatives.",

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author = "Ma, {Tsun Ming} and Yu-yin Hsu and Tianyi Han and Daria Tack",

year = "2022",

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doi = "10.1007/978-3-031-06703-7_20",

language = "English",

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editor = "Minghui Dong and Yanhui Gu and Jia-Fei Hong",

booktitle = "Chinese Lexical Semantics",

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Ma, TM, Hsu, Y, Han, T & Tack, D 2022, Activation of Alternatives by Mandarin Sentence-initial and Sentence-internal Foci: A Semantic Priming Study. in M Dong, Y Gu & J-F Hong (eds), Chinese Lexical Semantics: 22nd Workshop, CLSW 2021 Nanjing, China, May 15–16, 2021 Revised Selected Papers, Part I. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol. 13249, Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence, Springer Cham, pp. 263-270, 22nd Chinese Lexical Semantic Workshop
(CLSW 2021)
, 15/05/21. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-06703-7_20

Activation of Alternatives by Mandarin Sentence-initial and Sentence-internal Foci: A Semantic Priming Study. / Ma, Tsun Ming; Hsu, Yu-yin (Corresponding Author); Han, Tianyi et al.
Chinese Lexical Semantics: 22nd Workshop, CLSW 2021 Nanjing, China, May 15–16, 2021 Revised Selected Papers, Part I. ed. / Minghui Dong; Yanhui Gu; Jia-Fei Hong. Springer Cham, 2022. p. 263-270 (Lecture Notes in Computer Science; Vol. 13249), (Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence).

Research output: Chapter in book / Conference proceeding › Chapter in an edited book (as author) › Academic research › peer-review

TY - CHAP

T1 - Activation of Alternatives by Mandarin Sentence-initial and Sentence-internal Foci

T2 - 22nd Chinese Lexical Semantic Workshop <br/>(CLSW 2021)<br/>

AU - Ma, Tsun Ming

AU - Hsu, Yu-yin

AU - Han, Tianyi

AU - Tack, Daria

PY - 2022/6/16

Y1 - 2022/6/16

N2 - This paper reports results of a semantic priming study on the activation of semantic alternatives by focus phrases in Mandarin introduced by focus-operators – zhiyou ‘only’ and lian ‘even’ – located in two sentence positions (initial and internal). In this study, we used a lexical semantic priming paradigm to study how native mature readers of Mandarin Chinese response to three types of semantic associations (alternative, non-contrastive, and unrelated) through ratings of 7-point Likert Scales. According to Rooth’s Alternative Semantics, focus units activate a set of alternative units semantically. Our results show that the activation of semantic alternatives was indeed sustainably more prominent for words occurring in focus constructions than when they occurred in canonical, non-focus, sentences. However, neither the focus type nor the focus position had specific effects on the activation of alternatives.

AB - This paper reports results of a semantic priming study on the activation of semantic alternatives by focus phrases in Mandarin introduced by focus-operators – zhiyou ‘only’ and lian ‘even’ – located in two sentence positions (initial and internal). In this study, we used a lexical semantic priming paradigm to study how native mature readers of Mandarin Chinese response to three types of semantic associations (alternative, non-contrastive, and unrelated) through ratings of 7-point Likert Scales. According to Rooth’s Alternative Semantics, focus units activate a set of alternative units semantically. Our results show that the activation of semantic alternatives was indeed sustainably more prominent for words occurring in focus constructions than when they occurred in canonical, non-focus, sentences. However, neither the focus type nor the focus position had specific effects on the activation of alternatives.

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KW - lian ‘even’

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PB - Springer Cham

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ER -

Ma TM, Hsu Y, Han T, Tack D. Activation of Alternatives by Mandarin Sentence-initial and Sentence-internal Foci: A Semantic Priming Study. In Dong M, Gu Y, Hong JF, editors, Chinese Lexical Semantics: 22nd Workshop, CLSW 2021 Nanjing, China, May 15–16, 2021 Revised Selected Papers, Part I. Springer Cham. 2022. p. 263-270. (Lecture Notes in Computer Science). (Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence). doi: 10.1007/978-3-031-06703-7_20

Activation of Alternatives by Mandarin Sentence-initial and Sentence-internal Foci: A Semantic Priming Study

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