Abstract
If a language user decides to tell a story, she uses a whole palette of linguistic elements, which are unwittingly chosen to match the mental concept of the situation that is being described. On the basis of these elements, the speaker also creates a "temporal package" of the situation. (e.g.
Givón, 1992) Some studies show that this construction already evolves during online processing, thanks to instantly accessible language processing cues (Altman & Kamide, 1999; Ferretti, McRae & Hatherell, 2001; McRae, Ferretti & Amyote, 1997). These cues arise from the interplay of the three basic linguistic components (form, meaning and function) and as such are consistent with a constructional view of language (e.g.
Fillmore, 1988). Two examples of grammatical markers and lexical categories from which these linguistic cues arise are grammatical and lexical aspect.
By means of those categories, we create mental concepts which are used to refer to the spatiotemporal observations on the world around us. Even subtle changes in linguistic cues can lead to changes in mental representation.
My study investigates the interaction of lexical and grammatical aspect and how it is reflected in eye movements. Twenty Dutch native speakers were measured as they listened to sets of Dutch sentences that differed in terms of lexical and grammatical aspect, while looking at a blank white screen.
The distinctive use of a blank screen paradigm (Altmann, 2004) constitutes a methodological contribution made by this study. As such, the proposed experimental paradigm mirrors real-world passive listening circumstances.
This study provides evidence that grammatical and lexical aspect can diversely influence spontaneous eye movements in a situation without an explicit visual task. These results, obtained using an understudied language, contribute to an ongoing discussion in linguistics about whether linguistic components as abstract as grammar are able to modulate sensorimotor representations.