ABSTRACT

Three experimental studies are presented testing the choice of a left or a right dislocation in Catalan, depending on the bridging relation between the dislocate and its antecedent. We make the hypothesis that the stronger the anaphoric link between the dislocate and its antecedent, the more appropriate a right dislocation is, whereas the opposite is true for left dislocation. The results of two acceptability judgment experiments partially support our hypothesis: Ratings with right dislocation decrease proportionally to the strength of the anaphoric link; however, it is ratings of canonical sentences (without dislocation at all), rather than of left dislocation, that display the opposite direction. For left dislocation, the picture is more complex and reflects the pragmatic function of this construction as a topic shifter or marker of contrast. A third experiment tests the monotonicity hypothesis, according to which a left dislocation is chosen when the anaphoric relation with the antecedent is either downward monotonic or nonmonotonic, whereas a right dislocation is preferred with an upward monotonic relation. The results partially support such a hypothesis but also further support the importance of taking the pragmatic function of left dislocation into account to explain its choice in discourse by speakers.

摘要

提出了三项实验研究，以测试加泰罗尼亚语中左位或右位错的选择，具体取决于位错与其前身之间的桥接关系。我们提出这样的假设，即位错与其先行词之间的隐喻联系越强，右位错越合适，而左位错则相反。两次可接受性判断实验的结果部分支持了我们的假设：右错位的评分与照应链接的强度成正比降低；但是，显示相反方向的是标准句子的评分（根本没有位错），而不是左位错。对于左脱位，图片更为复杂，反映出此构造作为主题移动器或对比标记的实用功能。第三个实验测试了单调性假设，根据该假设，当与前身的照应关系为向下单调或非单调时，选择左位错，而对于向上单调关系则优选为右位错。结果部分支持了这种假设，但也进一步支持了考虑左位错位的语用功能来解释其在说话者话语中的选择的重要性。