JOURNAL VOLUMES & ISSUES
RESEARCH ARTICLE

Trade-off effect in the processing of Korean case-drop sentences: An eye tracking investigation

Shaoyun Yu , Katsuo Tamaoka

5 June 2020
Vol. 1, Issue 2
DOI:
10.37716/HBAB.2020010203
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Abstract

Nominative and accusative case markers are frequently dropped in colloquial Korean. Prior studies demonstrate a nominative-accusative asymmetry in frequency and acceptability of case-drop sentences, which correlates well with the implications of the actor identification strategy (AIS) of the extended argument dependency model (eADM). This study investigated the reading of case-drop sentences by native Korean speakers using the eye tracking methodology. While the nominative-accusative asymmetry was only partially observed in the reading time data, our results showed an important trade-off effect in the processing of case-drop sentences: a decrease in reading time on the bare noun phrase (NP) was balanced by an increase in reading time on the case-marked NP. A critical exception to this trade-off effect suggested that extra processing costs can be avoided when the AIS works in an optimal condition.

Keywords: case marking, nominative-accusative asymmetry, Korean, eye tracking, word order, animacy

Cite this article
S. Yu, K. Tamaoka, Trade-off effect in the processing of Korean case-drop sentences: An eye tracking investigation, Human Behaviour and Brain 1(2), 49-57 (2020).


Received
4 March 2020
Accepted
23 May 2020
Published
 
5 June 2020