Angela D. Friederici Language Comprehension: A Biological Perspective

Transcription

1 Angela D. Friederici Language Comprehension: A Biological Perspective

2 Springer Berlin Heidelberg New York Barcelona Hong Kong London Milan Paris Singapore Tokyo

3 Angela D. Friederici Language Comprebension: A Biological Perspective Second Edition With 5 Figures, Springer

4 PROF. DR. ANGELA D. FRIEDERICI Max Planck Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience Stephanstr. 1 a D Leipzig ISBN -13: : / e-isbn-13: Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Language comprehension: a biological perspective I [edited by] Angela D. Friederici. - 2nd ed. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13: Neurolinguistics. 2. Psycholinguistics. 1. Friederici, Angela D. QP399.L '8-dc CIP This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilm or in any other way, and storage in data banks. Duplication of this publication or parts thereof is permitted only under the provisions of the German Copyright Law of September 9, 1965, in its current version, and permission for use must always be obtained from Springer-Verlag. Violations are liable for prosecution under the German Copyright Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 1999 Solleover reprint ofthe hardcover 2nd edition 1999 The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. Product liability: The publisher cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information about dosage and application thereof contained in this book. In every individual case the user must check such information by consulting the relevant literature. Cover design: design & production GmbH, Heidelberg Typesetting: Camera ready by the editor SPIN / Printed on acid-free paper

5 Preface to the second edition The second edition of the book on language comprehension in honor of Pim Levelt's sixtieth birthday has been released before he turns sixty-one. Some things move faster than the years of age. This seems to be especially true for advances in science. Therefore, the present edition entails changes in some of the chapters and incorporates an update of the current literature. I would like to thank all contributors for their cooperation in making a second edition possible such a short time after the completion of the first one. Angela D. Friederici Leipzig, November 23, 1998.

6 Preface to the first edition Language comprehension and production is a uniquely human capability. We know little about the evolution of language as a human trait, possibly because our direct ancestors lived several million years ago. This fact certainly impedes the desirable advances in the biological basis of any theory of language evolution. Our knowledge about language as an existing species-specific biological system, however, has advanced dramatically over the last two decades. New experimental techniques have allowed the investigation of language and language use within the methodological framework of the natural sciences. The present book provides an overview of the experimental research in the area of language comprehension in particular. A biological perspective on language appears to be the common ground for all the contributors. Their research view is based on the conviction that knowledge about the language system can be gained on the basis of empirical research guided by modifiable theories. Each of the contributors reports and discusses the relevant work in hers or his specific field of research. Each of the nine chapters in this book focuses on a different level or aspect of language comprehension thereby covering the level of input processes and word recognition, the level of sentence processing as well as the level of text processing. Aspects of structural representation, and access to this representation are also discussed. One chapter finally attempts to describe the neurobiological basis of the different aspects of the language comprehension process. When trying to bring together a group of people who were willing to participate in this project, I realized that the first list of people I had contacted as possible contributors read like a list of good friends and close scientific colleagues of Pim Levelt, director of the Max-Planck-Institute for Psycholinguistics in Nijmegen. This was the moment when the idea was born to publish a book on language comprehension 'in honor ofpim LeveIt'. Coincidentally, I realized that Pim was about to reach his sixtieth birthday. Upon being infonned of this, all contributors agreed to go with an almost impossible deadline in order to meet the time constraints actually set sixty years ago, but remembered almost too late. They did it for you, Pim.

7 VIII Preface Pim, you know everything one can possibly know about language production. Here we have collected what we know about language comprehension. With this book we would like to thank you, each in her and his own way, for your scientific discussions, guidance, and support throughout the past years. Angela D. Friederici Leipzig, January 6, 1998.

8 Authors Anne Cutler Max -Planck-Institute for Psycho linguistics PO Box Kranenburg Johannes Engelkamp Fachrichtung Psychologie im FB-6 der Universitat des Saarlandes Universitatscampus Bau Saarbrticken Evelyn C. Ferstl Max-Planck-Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience PO Box Leipzig Caroline F10ccia Department de Psychologie 3, Place de l'universite 1211 Geneve 4 Switzerland Giovanni Flores d'arcais Max-Planck-Institute for Psycholinguistics PO Box Kranenburg

9 x Authors Ulrich H. Frauenfelder Department de Psychologie 3, Place de l'universite 1211 Geneve 4 Switzerland Angela D. Friederici Max-Planck-Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience PO Box Leipzig Gerard A.M. Kempen Graduate Research Institute for Experimental Psychology Department for Psychology Leiden University PO Box RB Leiden Netherlands Leo G.M. Noordman Department of Linguistics Til burg University PO Box LE Tilburg Netherlands RaifRummer Fachrichtung Psychologie im FB-6 der Universitat des Saarlandes Universitatscampus Bau Saarbrucken Herbert Schriefers Nijmegen Institute for Cognition and Information PO Box HE Nijmegen Netherlands

10 Authors XI Wietske Vonk Max-Planck-Institute for Psycholinguistics Nijmegen University PO Box AH Nijmegen Netherlands Pienie Zwitserlood Westfalische Wilhelms-Universitat Munster Psychologisches Institut IV FliednerstraBe Munster

11 Acknowledgments A book project like this can not evol ve without the help of many. In the first place I thank Herbert Schriefers, who supported the idea for this book from the beginning to its final realization. Technical assistance in shaping the manuscripts and the making up of the index was provided by Katja Kuhn and Claudia Misch. The final appearance of the text is due to the aesthetic intuitions and technical knowledge of Andrea Gast-Sandmann. I would like to thank each of them for their ideal cooperation. Angela D. Friederici

12 Contents Chapter 1 The Recognition of Spoken Words Ulrich H. Frauenfelder & Caroline Floccia Chapter 2 Prosodic Structure and Word Recognition Anne Cutler Chapter 3 Spoken Words in Sentence Contexts Pienie Zwitserlood Chapter 4 Morphology and Word Recognition Herbert Schriefers Chapter 5 The Architecture of the Mental Lexicon Johannes Engelkamp & Ralf Rummer Chapter 6 The Reading of Words and Sentences Evelyn C. Ferstl & Giovanni Flores d'arcais Chapter 7 Sentence Parsing Gerard A.M. Kempen

13 XVI Chapter 8 Discourse Comprehension Leo G.M. Noordman & Wietske Vonk Chapter 9 The Neurobiology of Language Processing Angela D. Friederici Contents Index 305