非表示:
キーワード:
sports commentary, rightward placement of subjects, Japanese, Persian,
speech production, functional linguistics
要旨:
In this exploratory study we test the hypothesis that the retrieval from memory of
proper noun Agents (PNAs) under processing pressure causes a greater proportion of
such semantic arguments to be placed to the right of the initial position in a clause
than would be the case if such retrieval from memory were not necessary. This effect
is manifest in sports commentary. Processing pressure on sports commentators is
modulated by the speed at which the sport is played and reported. Non-initial
placement is also facilitated by formulae which have slots in non-initial position. It
follows that the non-initial placement of PNAs is not always semantically or
pragmatically motivated. This finding therefore runs counter to a strong form of the
functionalist hypothesis that syntactic choices available in the systemic structure of
the syntax of a language offer solely semantic or pragmatic choices. It is an open
question in a weak functionalist account of language and language use how
processing and communicative functions interact in general.
