Foregrounding of subordinate clauses by word order: Psycholinguistic evidence of the function of V>Adv (V2) word order in Danish

Marie Herget Christensen; Tanya Karoli Christensen; Torben Juel Jensen

doi:10.1515/ling-2019-0040

Published by De Gruyter Mouton January 8, 2020

Foregrounding of subordinate clauses by word order: Psycholinguistic evidence of the function of V>Adv (V2) word order in Danish

Marie Herget Christensen , Tanya Karoli Christensen and Torben Juel Jensen

From the journal Linguistics

https://doi.org/10.1515/ling-2019-0040

Showing a limited preview of this publication:

Abstract

In modern Danish, main clauses have the word order X>Verb>Adverb (i. e., V2) whereas subordinate clauses are generally characterized by the “subordinate clause” word order Subject>Adverb>Verb. Spoken Danish has a high frequency of “main clause” word order in subordinate clauses, however, and in the article we argue that this “Main Clause Phenomena” (cf. Aelbrecht et al. 2012) functions as a foregrounding device, signaling that the more important information of the clause complex is to be found in the subordinate clause instead of in its matrix clause.

A prediction from the foregrounding hypothesis is that a subordinate clause with Verb>Adverb word order will attract more attention than a clause with Adverb>Verb word order. To test this, we conducted an experiment under the text change paradigm. 59 students each read 24 constructions twice, each containing a subordinate clause with either Verb>Adverb or Adverb>Verb word order. Half of the subordinate clauses were governed by a semifactive predicate (open to both word orders) and the other half by a semantically secondary sentence (in itself strongly favoring Verb>Adverb word order). Attention to the subordinate clause was tested by measuring how disinclined the participants were to notice change of a word in the subordinate clause when re-reading it.

Results showed significantly more attention to Verb>Adverb clauses than to Adverb>Verb clauses (though only under semifactive predicates), and more attention to subordinate clauses under semantically secondary than semifactive predicates. We consider this as strongly supporting the hypothesis that Verb>Adv word order functions as a foregrounding signal in subordinate clauses.

Keywords: change blindness; subordinate clauses; Danish; foregrounding; word order

Appendix

Table of all sentences in list 1 (excluding fillers). Note that the word order is opposite in the corresponding sentences in list 2. The word that is changed is underlined. The word that the word is changed into in the second presentation is showed in the rightmost column.

	Pred.	First presentation												Change word
1	SF	Til mødet	forklarede	han	dem	at	han	vidste	ikke	noget	om			før ‘before’
		At meeting-DEF	explained	he	them	that	he	knew	not	anything	about
		udnævnelsen	inden	han	kiggede	i	telefonbogen
		nomination-DEF	prior.to	he	looked	in	telephone.directory-DEF
		‘At the meeting he explained that he did not know anything about the nomination before he looked in the phone directory’
2	SS	Men det	har	noget	at	gøre	med	at	du	ikke	tager			ind ‘into’
		But that	has	something	to	do	with	that	you	not	bring
		sådan	en	temmelig	lille	fyr	med	i	kirken	når	der
		such	a	pretty	small	guy	with	in	church-DEF	when	there
		er	begravelse	vel
		is	funeral	right
		‘but that has to do with the fact that you do not take such a small kid with you to church during a funeral’
3	SF	Efterhånden	har	hun	accepteret	at	jeg	har	ikke	nogen				en ‘a’
		Eventually	has	she	accepted	that	I	have	not	any
		forsikring	til	mine	ældre	dage	hvis	man	kan	sige	det	sådan
		insurance	for	my	older	days	if	you	could	say	it	so
		‘By now she has accepted that I do not have any insurance for my older days so to speak’
4	SS	Så	tænkte	jeg	at	det	ikke	skulle	være	det	job	alligevel		mit ‘my’
		Then	thought	I	that	it	not	should	be	that	job	anyway
		hvis	det	skulle	være	på	den	måde
		if	it	should	be	in	that	way
		‘then I thought that it should not be that job anyway if that was what it was like’
5	SF	Så	må	han	overbevise	dem	om	at	vi	ikke	er			den ‘this’
		Then	must	he	convince	them	about	that	we	not	are
		sådan	alle	os	fra	denne	her	bebyggelse
		like.that	all	us	from	this	here	building
		‘Then he will have to convince them that we are not like that all of us from this building’
6	SS	Jeg	kan	godt	mærke	at	jeg	snakker	ikke	specielt	meget			særlig
		I	can	well	feel	that	I	speak	not	particularly	much			‘particular’
		mindre	jysk	nu	end	jeg	gjorde	tidligere
		less	Jutlandish	now	than	I	did	previously
		‘I do feel that I do not speak particularly less Jutlandish now than I did before’
7	SF	Og	pludselig	gik	det	op	for	hende	at	jeg	ikke			så ‘such’
		And	suddenly	went	it	up	to	her	that	I	not
		gik	i	skole	og	sådan	noget	men	rendte	rundt
		went	to	school	and	such	some	but	ran	around
		og	spiste	is	nede	på	Langelinie
		and	ate	ice.cream	down	at	Langelinie
		‘and suddenly she realized that I did not attend school and stuff but ran about eating ice cream at Langelinie’
8	SS	Det	kan	være	at	det	er	ikke	kommunens	eller				nabos
		It	can	be	that	it	is	not	municipality-DEF-s	or				‘neighbor’s’
		min	genbos	eller	hvem	ved	jeg	men
		my	opposite.neighbor’s	or	who	know	I	but
		min	grund	de	har	med	at	gøre
		my	property	they	have	with	to	do
		‘It is possible that it is not the property of the municipality or of my neighbor opposite or of who knows who but my property which they are dealing with’
9	SF	Han	har	gjort	hende	klart	at	han	kan	ikke	klare	alle		begge
		He	has	made	her	clear	that	he	can	not	manage	all		‘both’
		børnene	og	huset	og	ombygningen	og	det	hele
		children-DEF	and	house-DEF	and	renovation-DEF	and	it	all
		vel
		right
		‘He has made it clear to her that he cannot manage all of the children and the house and the renovation and everything, right’
10	SS	Altså	det	korte	af	det	lange	er	at	der	ikke	var	søgt	allerede
		So	the	short	of	the	long	is	that	there	not	was	looked.for	‘already’
		kamerafolk	til	TV	og	film	alligevel	og	nu	søgte	de
		cameramen	for	tv	and	films	anyway	and	now	looked.for	they
		to
		two
		‘well in short the thing is that they had not been looking for cameramen for tv and film before and now they were looking for two’
11	SF	Altså	på	sidste	lønseddel	opdagede	han	at	han	var				cirka
		So	on	last	paycheck	discovered	he	that	he	was				‘around’
		ikke	steget	de	der	omtrent	halvtreds	kroner	i	tillæg
		not	risen	those	there	about	fifty	kroner	in	bonus
		som	han	havde	krav	på
		which	he	had	demand	on
		‘well on his last paycheck he discovered that he had not received that fifty kroner bonus that he was entitled to’
12	SS	Og	så	var	det	sådan	noget	med	at	vi	ikke kunne	få	afsat	solgt ‘sold’
		And	then	was	it	such	some	with	that	we	not could	get	sold
		gården	til	den	rigtige	pris
		farm-DEF	for	the	right	price
		‘And then it was something like we could not sell the farm for the right price’
13	SF	Det	-tog	mange	år	for	hende	at	indse	at	jeg	ville	ikke	komme
		It	took	many	years	for	her	to	realize	that	I	would	not	‘come’
		vende	tilbage	til	vores	forhold	nogensinde	igen
		return	back	to	our	relationship	ever	again
		‘It took her many years before she realized that I would not return to our relationship ever again’
14	SS	Jeg	kunne	forestille	mig	at	personen	ikke	var	ret	meget			ældre
		I	could	imagine	me	that	person-DEF	not	was	much	more			‘older’
		yngre	end	den	aldrende	taler	i	lydprøve	tre
		younger	than	the	older	speaker	in	sound.sample	three
		fordi	lyden	er	meget	moden
		because	sound-DEF	is	very	mature
		‘I could imagine that the person was not very much younger than the older speaker in sound sample number three because the sound is very mature’
15	SF	Her	den	anden	dag	hørte	han	at	de	kan	ikke	afskedige		derindefra
		Here	the	other	day	heard	he	that	they	can	not	lay.off		‘from in
		folk	og	sådan	noget	derudefra	på	grund	af	nogle				there’
		people	and	such	some	from.out.there	on	grounds	of	some
		bestemte	ting
		specific	things
		‘The other day he heard that they cannot lay off people and stuff like that from there because of some specific matters’
16	SS	Og	så	ved	jeg	at	de	ikke	er	så	hårde	imod	børn	overfor
		And	then	know	I	that	they	not	are	so	tough	against	children	‘towards’
		men	det	kommer an	på	hvad	de	har	stjålet
		but	it	depends	on	what	they	have	stolen
		‘And I know that they are not tough against children but it depends on what they have stolen’
17	SF	Og	der	kan	hun	jo	forstå	at	vi	ikke	har	ligget	og	siddet ‘sit’
		And	there	can	she	well	understand	that	we	not	have	lain	and
		grædt	over	at	der	ikke	var	nogen	familie	til	vores
		cried	about	that	there	not	was	any	family	at	our
		sølvbryllup	vel
		silver.wedding	right
		‘and she must then understand that we have not been crying about the fact that there was not any family present at our silver wedding’
18	SS	Man	skal	tænke	på	at	der	er	ikke	varme	med			han ‘he’
		You	should	think	about	that	there	is	not	heating	included
		i	det	hun	betaler	i	husleje	vel
		in	that	she	pays	in	rent	right
		‘You have to consider that heating is not included in what she pays in rent right’
19	SF	Og	ret	hurtigt	viser	det	sig	at	hun	ikke	kan	tåle		sin ‘her’
		And	pretty	soon	appears	it	REFL	that	she	not	can	tolerate
		hendes	kat	og	skal	tage	piller	og	jeg	ved	ikke	hvad
		her	cat	and	must	take	pills	and	I	know	not	what
		‘And pretty soon it turns out that she is allergic to her cat and needs to take pills and what not’
20	SS	Men	ellers	vil	jeg	mene	at	jeg	snakker	ikke	sådan	særlig		vores ‘our’
		But	otherwise	will	I	think	that	I	speak	not	so	very
		anderledes	end	min	faster	der	også	er	københavner
		differently	than	my	aunt	who	also	is	Copenhagener
		‘but besides from that I do feel that I do not speak very different from my aunt who is also a Copenhagener’
21	SF	Men	hun	har	fundet	ud	af	at	hun	ikke	har	helt	så	lige ‘just’
		But	she	has	found	out	of	that	she	not	has	just	as
		nemt	ved	at	læse	og	stave	som	Tommy
		easy	with	to	read	and	spell	as	Tommy
		‘But she has found out that reading and spelling does not come to her as easy as for Tommy’
22	SS	Nu	har	jeg	det	med	at	min	dreng	er	ikke	fyldt	seks	nuværende
		Now	have	I	it	with	that	my	boy	is	not	turned	six	‘this’
		år	i	indeværende	skoleår	vel	så	er	han	altså	for
		years	in	this	schol.year	right	then	is	he	really	too
		lille
		small
		‘For me it is like my son is not yet six years this school year right, so he is simply too small’
23	SF	Min	søster	var	jo	kommet	hjem	og	altså	skulle				mere ‘any
		My	sister	was	as.you.know	returned	home	and	so	should				longer’
		han	vænne	sig	til	at	han	ikke	var	den	ældste	længere	og
		he	get.used	REFL	to	that	he	not	was	the	oldest	anymore	and
		alt	det	her	fis	kke
		all	this	here	crap	right		i
		‘As you know my sister had returned and then he had to get used to the fact that he was not the oldest kid anymore and all that crap right’
24	SS	Nu	vil	jeg	sige	at	jeg	har	ikke	nogen	intentioner			måde ‘way’
		Now	will	say	that	I	have	not	any	intentions
		på	nogen	vis	om	at	blande	mig	i	det	kunstneriske
		in	any	way	about	to	interfere	REFL	in	the	artistic
		‘Now I must stress that I have no intentions of interfering with the artistic matters in any ways’

References

Aelbrecht, Lobke, Liliane Haegeman & Rachel Nye. 2012. Main clause phenomena. Amsterdam & Philadelphia: John Benjamins.10.1075/la.190Search in Google Scholar

Andersson, Lars-Gunnar. 1975. Form and function of subordinate clauses. Gothenburg: Department of linguistics, University of Gothenburg.Search in Google Scholar

Baayen, R. Harald. 2008. Analyzing linguistic data. A practical introduction to statistics using R. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.10.1017/CBO9780511801686Search in Google Scholar

Bentzen, Kristine. 2010. Exploring embedded main clause phenomena: The irrelevance of factivity and some challenges from V2 languages. Theoretical Linguistics 36. 163–172.10.1515/thli.2010.010Search in Google Scholar

Boye, Kasper & Peter Harder. 2007. Complement-taking predicates: Usage and linguistic structure. Studies in Language 31. 569–606.10.1075/sl.31.3.03boySearch in Google Scholar

Boye, Kasper & Peter Harder. 2012. A usage-based theory of grammatical status and grammaticalization. Language 88. 1–44.10.1353/lan.2012.0020Search in Google Scholar

Christensen, Marie Herget. 2015. Ændringsblindhed i sætningsprocessering i skriftlig dansk [Change blindness in sentence processing of written Danish]. MUDS 15. 83–96.Search in Google Scholar

Christensen, Tanya Karoli & Torben Juel Jensen. 2015. Word order variation and foregrounding of complement clauses. In Eivind Thorgersen, Stian Hårstad, Brit Mæhlum & Unn Røyneland (eds.), Language variation – European perspectives V: Selected papers from the Seventh International Conference on Language Variation in Europe (ICLaVE 7), Trondheim June 2013, 69–86. Amsterdam & Philadelphia: John Benjamins.10.1075/silv.17.06karSearch in Google Scholar

Christensen, Tanya Karoli, Torben Juel Jensen & Marie Herget Christensen. 2015. Adverbielle ledsætningers ledstilling i dansk talesprog [Word order of adverbial subclauses in spoken Danish]. MUDS 15. 97–115.Search in Google Scholar

Cristofaro, Sonia. 2005. Subordination. Oxford: Oxford University Press.10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199282005.001.0001Search in Google Scholar

Diderichsen, Paul. 1946. Elementær Dansk Grammatik. Copenhagen: Gyldendal.Search in Google Scholar

Ferreira, Fernanda, Karl G. D. Bailey & Vittoria Ferraro. 2002. Good-enough representations in language comprehension. Current Directions in Psychological Science 11. 11–15.10.1111/1467-8721.00158Search in Google Scholar

Glismann, Otto. 1978. On factives and semi-factives. In John Weinstock (ed.), The Nordic languages and modern linguistics, Vol. 3, 360–365. Austin: University of Texas.Search in Google Scholar

Green, Georgia M. 1976. Main clause phenomena in subordinate clauses. Language 52. 382–397.10.2307/412566Search in Google Scholar

Gregersen, Frans. 2009. The data and design of the LANCHART study. Acta Linguistica Hafniensia 41. 3–29.10.1080/03740460903364003Search in Google Scholar

Hansen, Erik & Lars Heltoft. 2011. Grammatik over det Danske Sprog. Copenhagfen: Det Danske Sprog- og Litteraturselskab.Search in Google Scholar

Hooper, Joan B. & Sandra A. Thompson. 1973. On the applicability of root transformations. Linguistic Inquiry 4. 465–497.Search in Google Scholar

Jensen, Torben Juel & Tanya Karoli Christensen. 2013. Promoting the demoted: The distribution and semantics of “main clause word order” in spoken Danish complement clauses. Lingua 137. 38–58.10.1016/j.lingua.2013.08.005Search in Google Scholar

Julien, Marit. 2007. Embedded V2 in Norwegian and Swedish. Working Papers in Scandinavian Syntax 80. 103–161.Search in Google Scholar

Peirce, JW. 2007. PsychoPy - Psychophysics software in Python. Journal of Neuroscience Methods 162. 8–13.10.1016/j.jneumeth.2006.11.017Search in Google Scholar

Price, Jessica M. 2008. The use of Focus Cues in Healthy Ageing. Dissertation, University of Glasgow.Search in Google Scholar

Sanford, Alison JS, Anthony J Sanford, Ruth Filik & Jo Molle. 2005. Depth of lexical-semantic processing and sentential load. Journal of Memory and Language 53. 378–396.10.1016/j.jml.2005.05.004Search in Google Scholar

Sanford, Alison J. S., Anthony J. Sanford, Jo Molle & Catherine Emmott. 2006. Shallow processing and attention capture in written and spoken discourse. Discourse Processes 42. 109–130.10.1207/s15326950dp4202_2Search in Google Scholar

Simons, Mandy. 2007. Observations on embedding verbs, evidentiality, and presupposition. Lingua 117. 1034–1056.10.1016/j.lingua.2006.05.006Search in Google Scholar

Sturt, Patrick, Anthony J Sanford, Andrew Stewart & Eugene Dawydiak. 2004. Linguistic focus and good-enough representations: An application of the change-detection paradigm. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review 11. 882–888.10.3758/BF03196716Search in Google Scholar

Tagliamonte, Sali A. & R. Harald Baayen. 2012. Models, forests, and trees of York English: Was/were variation as a case study for statistical practice. Language Variation and Change 24. 135–178.10.1017/S0954394512000129Search in Google Scholar

Teleman, Ulf. 1967. Bisatser i talad svenska [Subordinate clauses in spoken Swedish]. In Gösta Holm (ed.), Svenskt talspråk, 160–203. Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell.Search in Google Scholar

Thompson, Sandra A. & Anthony Mulac. 1991a. The discourse conditions for the use of the complementizer that in conversational English. Journal of Pragmatics 15. 237–251.10.1016/0378-2166(91)90012-MSearch in Google Scholar

Thompson, Sandra A. & Anthony Mulac. 1991b. A quantitative perspective on the grammaticalization of epistemic parentheticals in English. In Elizabeth Closs Traugott & Bernd Heine (eds.), Approaches to grammaticalization, 313–329. Amsterdam & Philadelphia: John Benjamins.Search in Google Scholar

Wiklund, Anna-Lena, Kristine Bentzen, Gunnar Hrafn Hrafnbjargarson & Thorbjörg Hróarsdóttir. 2009. On the distribution and illocution of V2 in Scandinavian that-clauses. Lingua 119. 1914–1938.10.1016/j.lingua.2009.03.006Search in Google Scholar

Published Online: 2020-01-08

Published in Print: 2020-02-25

Foregrounding of subordinate clauses by word order: Psycholinguistic evidence of the function of V>Adv (V2) word order in Danish

Abstract

Appendix

References

Journal and Issue

Articles in the same Issue