Incremental processing of postverbal negation: ERP evidence from Korean

IF 1.2 3区心理学 Q2 LINGUISTICS

Journal of Neurolinguistics Pub Date : 2025-03-26 DOI:10.1016/j.jneuroling.2025.101259

Miseon Lee , Hyoung Sun Kim , Gayoung Lee , Yuree Noh , Say Young Kim

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

This study examines the processing of sentential negation in Korean, a head-final language, within pragmatically felicitous contexts. Using an ERP truth-value judgment task, we found evidence suggesting that when the negator follows a clause-final verb in Korean, the negation is processed incrementally after the affirmative representation has been formed. Fifty-six Korean speakers judged true affirmatives faster and more accurately than false affirmatives, while negative sentences elicited slower and less accurate responses for both true and false trials. Notably, ERP results revealed that only negative sentences elicited enhanced neural activity during the 300–500 ms time window, indicating increased processing costs compared to affirmatives. These results suggest that postverbal negation in Korean involves two-step processing: the negative marker is processed sequentially after the verb, following the initial formation of the affirmative representation of the clause, even in pragmatically licensed contexts. This underscores the significance of language-specific attributes such as the placement of a negator relative to the verb in understanding how negation is processed.

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来源期刊

Journal of Neurolinguistics 医学-神经科学

CiteScore

3.90

自引率

5.00%

发文量

审稿时长

17.2 weeks

期刊介绍： The Journal of Neurolinguistics is an international forum for the integration of the neurosciences and language sciences. JNL provides for rapid publication of novel, peer-reviewed research into the interaction between language, communication and brain processes. The focus is on rigorous studies of an empirical or theoretical nature and which make an original contribution to our knowledge about the involvement of the nervous system in communication and its breakdowns. Contributions from neurology, communication disorders, linguistics, neuropsychology and cognitive science in general are welcome. Published articles will typically address issues relating some aspect of language or speech function to its neurological substrates with clear theoretical import. Interdisciplinary work on any aspect of the biological foundations of language and its disorders resulting from brain damage is encouraged. Studies of normal subjects, with clear reference to brain functions, are appropriate. Group-studies on well defined samples and case studies with well documented lesion or nervous system dysfunction are acceptable. The journal is open to empirical reports and review articles. Special issues on aspects of the relation between language and the structure and function of the nervous system are also welcome.