Kempe, Vera

Taraban, Roman

English

eScholarship - University of California

UC MercedProceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science SocietyTitleProcessing Effects For Russian GenderPermalinkhttps://escholarship.org/uc/item/0qw96706JournalProceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society, 18(0)AuthorsTaraban, RomanKempe, VeraPublication Date1996 Peer reviewedeScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital LibraryUniversity of CaliforniaProcessin g Effect s F o r  Russ ia n G e n d e r R o m an Taraba n Departmen t  o f  Psycholog y Texas Tec h Universit y Lubbock .  T X 79409-205 1 tcl :  80 6 742-174 4 email :  tinnt@ttacs.ttu.ed u Ver a K e m p e Departmen t  o f  Psycholog y Universit y  o f  Toled o Toledo .  O H 4360 6 tel :  41 9 530-241 7 email :  vkempe@uoft02.utoledo.ed u The presen t  stud y investigate d th e processin g o f  linguisti c gende r  i n Russian .  Fo r  th e majorit y o f  Russia n nouns , gende r  i s marke d i n a  relativel y regula r  manne r  throug h th e endin g o f  th e nou n (suffixe s fo r  feminin e an d neute r nouns ,  th e nul l  morphem e fo r  masculin e nouns) .  A subse t  o f  Russia n noun s end s i n palatalize d consonant s whic h d o no t  provid e reliabl e gende r  marking .  W e wil l refe r  t o th e noun s wit h end-palatalizatio n a s ambiguousl y marke d nouns .  A  self-pace d readin g experimen t  wa s use d t o examin e h o w gender-markin g an d languag e experienc e affec t  spee d o f  processin g an d accuracy .  Twenty-si x nativ e speaker s o f  Russia n an d 1 8 fluen t  non-nativ e speaker s (typicall y colleg e professor s an d graduat e student s i n Russian )  rea d 4 8 targe t  sentence s i n whic h subject-noun s ha d eithe r  regula r  (e.g .  muka )  o r  ambiguou s gende r  markin g (e.g .  sol' )  an d 6 0 fillers .  Th e overal l sentenc e structur e wa s Introductor y Phrase—Optiona l Adjective—Subjec t  Noun—Adverb—Correc t  vs .  Incorrec t Verb-Prepositiona l  Phrase .  Hal f  o f  th e subject-noun s wer e precede d b y a n adjectiv e an d hal f  appeare d withou t an adjective .  Th e adjective s reliabl y marke d th e gender s of  th e subjec t  nouns .  Participant s mad e a  forced-choic e betwee n tw o ver b form s ~  on e tha t  wa s correctl y inflecte d so a s t o agre e wit h th e gende r  o f  th e subject-N P an d on e tha t  di d no t  agre e wit h th e gende r  o f  th e subject-̂ fP .  W e examine d erro r  rate s fo r  choosin g th e correc t  ver b form , readin g time s fo r  individua l  word s u p t o th e verb ,  an d ver b choic e times ,  whic h include d th e readin g time s fo r th e verb s an d prepositiona l  phrases .  Significanc e wa s se t at p <  .05 ,  b y subject s an d items ,  i n analyse s usin g Grou p (nativ e vs .  non-native) .  Adjectiv e (presen t  vs .  absent) ,  an d Endin g (regula r  vs .  ambiguou s gende r  marking )  a s factors . For  sentence s wit h regula r  nouns ,  nativ e an d non-nativ e speaker s wer e highl y accurat e i n th e ver b choice s (erro r rat e <  3 % ) .  regardles s o f  whethe r  th e subject-nou n wa s precede d b y a n adjectiv e o r  not .  Fo r  sentence s wit h ambiguou s subject-nouns ,  th e non-native s mad e significantl y mor e error s tha n th e natives .  Non-native s had extrem e difficult y correctl y choosin g th e ver b whe n ther e wa s n o adjectiv e modifie r  (erro r  rat e =  2 9 % ) .  Thi s conditio n wa s significantl y differen t  from  al l  th e others . The difficult y wa s significantl y reduce d whe n ther e wa s an adjectiv e modifie r  (erro r  rat e =  6 % ) .  Readin g time s wer e generall y slowe r  fo r  non-nativ e speaker s tha n fo r nativ e speakers .  A s signale d b y a  significan t  Grou p X Adjectiv e interactio n a t  th e subject-noun ,  native s wer e somewhat  slowe d d o w n i n readin g th e nou n whe n ther e was a n adjectiv e modifie r  (66 6 ms. )  tha n whe n ther e wa s no adjectiv e (61 3 ms.) .  Th e effect s fo r  non-native s wer e i n th e opposit e directio n -  98 8 ms .  wit h a n adjectiv e an d 112 1 ms .  withou t  a n adjective .  W e attribut e thi s interactio n t o difference s i n expertise .  Natives ,  w h o hav e excellen t  knowledg e o f  nou n genders ,  ma y spen d tim e verifyin g th e gende r  agreemen t  o f  noun s an d adjectives . Thi s tendenc y ma y b e a  consequenc e o f  greate r  sensitivit y t o th e dissociatio n o f  referentia l  an d grammatica l  gende r occurrin g i n som e Russia n noun s (e.g .  tolsty j  muzhchina) . Non-native s compensat e fo r  thei r  uncertai n knowledg e o f nou n gende r  b y strategi c us e o f  th e adjectiv e gende r marking .  Moreover ,  non-native s too k significantl y longe r t o rea d masculin e versu s feminin e gende r  nouns ,  whic h m ay i n par t  b e a  consequenc e o f  greate r  variabilit y  i n th e consonan t  ending s o f  masculin e nouns ,  whic h non-native s hav e no t  ye t  mastere d a s completel y a s th e feminin e endings .  Fo r  th e adver b followin g th e subjec t  noun ,  ther e wer e n o effect s fo r  th e natives .  Th e non-native s showe d significantl y slowe r  readin g time s i f  a n ambiguousl y marke d nou n ha d no t  bee n precede d b y a n adjective . Choic e time s wer e significantl y slowe r  fo r  non-native s when th e subject-N P di d no t  hav e a n adjectiv e (240 1 ms. ) compare d t o whe n i t  di d (192 7 ms. )  Th e slowdow n wa s amplifie d whe n th e subjec t  nou n wa s ambiguousl y marke d fo r  gende r  (n o adjective ,  regula r  noun :  214 1 ms. ;  n o adjective ,  ambiguou s noun :  266 1 ms.) .  I n separat e analyse s o f  th e nativ e speakers '  dat a (wit h lowe r  overal l variance) ,  w e agai n foun d tha t  th e subjec t  nou n wa s rea d mor e slowl y whe n ther e wa s a n adjectiv e modifier ,  bu t readin g an d choic e time s i n th e ver b regio n wer e significantl y faster .  Thes e dat a indicat e tha t  gende r  acces s i n nativ e speaker s doe s no t  depen d o n regula r  markin g o n th e noun ,  bu t  gende r  acces s ca n b e aide d b y additiona l cue s lik e gende r  markin g o n a n earlie r  adjective .  Gende r acces s i n non-native s i s aide d b y additiona l  cue s too ,  bu t als o b y th e regularit y o f  morphologica l  marking .  Th e dat a sugges t  tha t  learnin g grammatica l  gende r  i s facilitate d b y regula r  morphologica l  marking .  Thes e dat a als o provid e a set  o f  processin g effect s tha t  constrai n possibl e model s o f processin g Russia n gender .  W e conside r  h o w notion s o f cu e validity ,  competition ,  an d connectionis t  processin g coul d b e usefu l  towar d thi s end . 853 

Processing Effects For Russian Gender

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Processing Effects For Russian Gender

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