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Parameters in the theory of sentence processing: Minimal Commitment theory goes east

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Abstract

This paper introduces the Minimal Commitment theory. This theory is a subspecies of deterministic parsers. The theory builds representations where immediate dominance and precedence relations are unspecified. Justification that this approach is psycholinguistically justified comes from its ability to provide a cross-linguistically valid theory of Garden path sentences in English and Japanese.

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This work was supported by BNS902154-02 from the NSF.

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Weinberg, A. Parameters in the theory of sentence processing: Minimal Commitment theory goes east. J Psycholinguist Res 22, 339–364 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01068016

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