Syntactic Category Processing Takes Precedence over Semantic Integration in Sentence Comprehension: An ERP study in Chinese

Whether syntax (word category information) is processed prior to semantics in language comprehension remains an open question. The present study investigated this question through manipulation of the sentential context preceding the target verb. Specifically, by introducing the Mandarin possessive marker de in Chinese passive sentences (i.e., Chinese bèi-construction), we created correct sentences and sentences that contained a syntactic category violation, a semantic violation, or combined violations based on the template < NP₁ (Patient) + bèi + NP₂ (Agent) + target verb + le + verbal classifier phrase/resultative complement >. The sentences with a syntactic violation were generated by inserting de between the NP₂ (agent) and the monosyllabic target verb, thereby producing a word category violation. The sentences consisting of a semantic violation were constructed by having mismatches in animacy or world knowledge between the NP₂ (agent) and the target verb. We combined these two manipulations to yield sentences with both syntactic and semantic violations. In our study, sentences containing a syntactic violation elicited an attenuated early negativity and an enhanced P600 (but no N400), whereas sentences with a semantic violation elicited both an enhanced N400 and a P600. These findings suggest that word
category information (syntax) is processed at an initial stage and that disrupted syntactic processing subsequently impedes semantic integration, which provide evidence for serial, syntax-first accounts of sentence processing in Mandarin Chinese (Friederici, 2002). Moreover, our results support the findings of Lau et al. (2006), as we also observed an early attenuated negativity reflecting the violation of syntactic category prediction. Early syntactic category prediction serves as a rapid diagnosis of syntactic information during first-pass language processing. The violation of this prediction leads to an earlier onset of the P600 during second-pass syntactic-semantic processing.

References
Friederici, A. D. (2002). Towards a neural basis of auditory sentence processing. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 6(2), 78–84.
Lau, E., Stroud, C., Plesch, S., & Phillips, C. (2006). The role of structural prediction in rapid syntactic analysis. Brain and Language, 98(1), 74–88.