Neurolinguistic Processing at the Interface of Syntax, Semantics and Prosody

Petra B. Schumacher
IDSL1, University of Cologne

The talk provides an overview of recent electrophysiological research on the time course of referential processing. Referential expressions are essential ingredients for information packaging. Speakers use different referential forms but also prosodic or syntactic cues to convey different information structural functions.
Using event-related brain potentials (ERPs), we can investigate the time course of reference resolution and examine how comprehenders utilize multiple cues during the construction of a mental representation. I present a series of ERP studies on the processing of information status which can be realized i) by different semantic relations with the preceding context or ii) prosodically. iii) Positional information also plays a role during reference resolution. Taken together, the data indicate that reference resolution is guided by two core mechanisms associated with i) referential accessibility and expectation (N400) and ii) mental model updating (Late Positivity).