The effect of animacy on the agent preference: Self-paced reading evidence from Basque

Abstract

Language processing shows a tendency to prefer agents over other roles. For instance, when initial unmarked noun phrases (NPs) are ambiguous between agent and patient roles, there is a preference to interpret them as agents, with ensuing reanalysis effects if the NP later turns out to be a patient. Intriguingly, this preference also applies in languages where initial, unmarked (caseless) NPs would tend to be patients because agents are often dropped or marked by a distinct case, the ergative. However, an unresolved question is to what Show more