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Word Order in Sentence Processing: An Experimental Study of Verb Placement in German

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Abstract

We examine the question of whether the human comprehension device exhibits word-order preferences during on-line sentence comprehension. The focus is on the positioning of finite verbs and auxiliaries relative to subjects and objects in German. Results from three experiments (using self-paced reading and event-related brain potentials) show that native speakers of German prefer to process finite verbs in second position (i.e., immediately after the subject and before the object). We will account for this order preference in terms of the relative processing costs associated with SVfO and SOVf. Our finding that word-order preferences play an important role in the on-line comprehension of German sentences is compatible with results from previous studies on English and other languages.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Linguistics, University of Düsseldorf, Germany

    Helga Weyerts & Martina Penke

  2. Department of Neuropsychology, University of Magdeburg, Germany

    Thomas F. Münte

  3. Department of Neurology II, University of Magdeburg, Germany

    Hans-Jochen Heinze

  4. Department of Linguistics, University of Essex, UK

    Harald Clahsen

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  1. Helga Weyerts
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  2. Martina Penke
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  3. Thomas F. Münte
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  4. Hans-Jochen Heinze
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  5. Harald Clahsen
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Correspondence to Harald Clahsen.

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Weyerts, H., Penke, M., Münte, T.F. et al. Word Order in Sentence Processing: An Experimental Study of Verb Placement in German. J Psycholinguist Res 31, 211–268 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1015588012457

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