Constituent Order in Language and Thought
A Case Study in Field-Based Psycholinguistics

Based on a field-based comparative psycholinguistics case study, this is the first book to explore neurocognition in endangered languages.

Masatoshi Koizumi (Author)

9781108844031, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 19 January 2023

280 pages
23.5 x 15.8 x 2 cm, 0.52 kg

Traditionally, due to the availability of technology, psycholinguistic research has focused mainly on Western languages. However, this focus has recently shifted towards a more diverse range of languages, whose structures often throw into question many previous assumptions in syntactic theory and language processing. Based on a case study in field-based comparative psycholinguistics, this pioneering book is the first to explore the neurocognition of endangered 'object-before-subject' languages, such as Kaqchikel and Seediq. It draws on a range of methods - including linguistic fieldwork, theoretical linguistic analysis, corpus research, questionnaire surveys, behavioural experiments, eye tracking, event-related brain potentials, functional magnetic resonance imaging, and near-infrared spectroscopy – to consider preferred constituent orders in both language and thought, examining comprehension as well as production. In doing so, it highlights the importance of field-based cross-linguistic cognitive neuroscientific research in uncovering universal and language-particular aspects of the human language faculty, and the interaction between language and thought.

Preface
1. Introduction
2. Kaqchikel Mayan
3. Word order preference in sentence comprehension I: behavioral studies
4. Word order preference in sentence comprehension II: fMRI studies
5. Word order preference in sentence comprehension III: ERP studies without context
6. Word order preference in sentence comprehension IV: ERP studies with context
7. Basic word order in language and natural order of thought
8. Constituent order preference in event representation
9. Word order preference in sentence production I: production frequency
10. Word order preference in sentence production II: time course and cognitive load
11. Grammatical processing and event apprehension
12. Syntactic structure of Kaqchikel revisited
13. Syntax and processing load
14. Concluding remarks
Appendix A: spatial frames of reference of Kaqchikel speakers
Appendix B: syntax and processing in Seediq: a behavioral study.

Subject Areas: Psychology [JM], Anthropology [JHM], Grammar, syntax & morphology [CFK], Psycholinguistics [CFD], Linguistics [CF]