Comprehension of object relatives in Spanish: the role of frequency and transparency in acquisition and adult grammar

This study investigates the relative roles of frequency and transparency in native speakers' comprehension of Spanish object relative sentences by comparing performance with two variants of the construction that differ in these properties. Experiment 1 suggests that seven- to eight-year-old...

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Detalhes bibliográficos
Autores: Llompart, Miquel, Fernández Santos, Sara, Dąbrowska, Ewa
Formato: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2025
País:España
Recursos:Universitat Pompeu Fabra
Repositorio:Repositorio Digital de la UPF
OAI Identifier:oai:dnet:rdupf_______::99e2918e70e5ca07d7291af1ed1f726b
Acesso em linha:https://hdl.handle.net/10230/73614
http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/cog-2024-0016
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palavra-chave:Relative clauses
Spanish
First language acquisition
Object relatives
Construction grammar
Descrição
Resumo:This study investigates the relative roles of frequency and transparency in native speakers' comprehension of Spanish object relative sentences by comparing performance with two variants of the construction that differ in these properties. Experiment 1 suggests that seven- to eight-year-old children's processing of object relative sentences is consistently facilitated by variant frequency and likely relies on separate representations for each variant as two different, although related constructions. Experiment 2 turns to adult comprehension of the two variants, showing similar accuracy and reaction time patterns for both variants for this population. This second outcome could be interpreted as a decrease in frequency effects over time, in line with the power law of practice, as an experience-based increase in the ability to make use of redundant markers, or both.