Constituent Order in Language and Thought: A Case Study in Field-Based Psycholinguistics

The study of neurocognition in endangered object-before-subject languages, such as Kaqchikel and Seediq, is explored in this book, which uses a variety of methods to investigate preferred constituent orders in both language and thought. It emphasizes the importance of field-based cross-linguistic cognitive neuroscientific research in understanding the universal and language-specific aspects of the human language faculty and the interaction between language and thought.

Format: Hardback
Length: 280 pages
Publication date: 19 January 2023
Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Traditionally, psycholinguistic research has primarily focused on Western languages, owing to the availability of technology. However, this focus has recently shifted towards a more diverse range of languages, whose structures often challenge many previous assumptions in syntactic theory and language processing. This pioneering book, based on a case study in field-based comparative psycholinguistics, is the first to explore the neurocognition of endangered object-before-subject languages, such as Kaqchikel and Seediq. Drawing on a wide range of methods, including linguistic fieldwork, theoretical linguistic analysis, corpus research, questionnaire surveys, behavioral experiments, eye tracking, event-related brain potentials, functional magnetic resonance imaging, and near-infrared spectroscopy, it examines preferred constituent orders in both language and thought, exploring comprehension and production. In doing so, it underscores the significance of field-based cross-linguistic cognitive neuroscientific research in uncovering universal and language-specific aspects of the human language faculty and the interplay between language and thought.

Weight: 528g
Dimension: 158 x 236 x 22 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781108844031