6 Experimental investigations of the V2-Reconstruction Hypothesis

Abstract

In this chapter, I present four self-paced reading experiments on German that test the predictions of the V2-Reconstruction Hypothesis. The first two experiments make use of a verbal NPI to identify the temporal locus of interpretation. In an environment that does not licenseNPIs, the interpretation of such anNPIwill lead to ungrammaticality which will result in increased reading times. The second experiment, in Section 6.2 is a follow-up studywhich eliminates potential confounds in the first experiment’s design. The third experiment in Section 6.3makes use of two verb groups that differ in their selectional requirements of infinitives. Violation of the selectional requirements will result in ungrammaticality which indicates the point at which these requirements are evaluated. The fourth experiment in Section 6.4 investigates argument order preferences dependent on the type of verb in the V2-position. The results of the first three experiments confirm the predictions of the V2-Reconstruction Hypothesis. The results of the fourth experiment are compatible with the V2-Reconstruction Hypothesis. Due to the fact that the last experiment does not involve a sharp contrast in grammaticality but only preferences, the results are less clear-cut and the interpretation is less evident.