Antecedent (grammar)

About: Antecedent (grammar) is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 1392 publications have been published within this topic receiving 41824 citations.

Temporal course of activation of the antecedent by the reflexive in syntactically ambiguous sentences in Japanese

Abstract: Three experiments examined the temporal course of the activation of an antecedent triggered by a reflexive,jibun, in syntactically ambiguous sentences in Japanese. Twenty-two students in Experiment 1 were tested for sentences where a subject word occupied the first position and an indirect object word the second, with the probe given for each word either immediately after the reflexive or at the end of the sentence. Reaction times (RTs) were faster when the probe was for subject (S-probe) than when it was for indirect object (IO-probe) irrespective of the probe position. Experiment 2 tested 22 students to determine the effect of order of mention of participant on the probe recognition time. RTs were faster for the S-probe than for the IO-probe, although the difference between the two probes was smaller when the probe was given immediately after the reflexive. Experiment 3 tested 22 students to examine the effect of context on an activation pattern. RTs were lower for the S-probe than for the IO-probe, though no difference was found between them for the probe given at the end of the sentence. Findings were interpreted as supporting the single-interpretation model for on-line analysis of syntactically ambiguous sentences and also the immediate-activation model in an assignment of the reflexive to its antecedent.

Anaphoric Resolution and Text Comprehension for Readers of German

Abstract: In the most basic sense, comprehension requires the integration of successive discourse elements within a text into a coherent conceptual representation. Garrod and Sanford note that integrating textual information accurately involves "appreciating relationships between various objects, people, or events mentioned in the text" (77). Discourse features that clarify or obscure such relationships within texts must be interpreted correctly if comprehension is to be successful. One such discourse feature is anaphora, a common referencing device employed in both spoken and written texts. Anaphora is technically defined by Lust as the relationship between a "proform," called an "anaphor" (e.g., "he," "she," or "they"), and another term called an "antecedent" or "coreferent" (e.g., "John," "the little girl," or "the old books"). Lust states that "the interpretation of the anaphor is in some way determined by the interpretation of the antecedent" (9). In other words, anaphoric forms are coreferential; they make reference to something else for their interpretation and can not be interpreted semantically in their own right (Halliday and Hasan). Bloom and Hays claim that in addition to being coreferential, anaphora also allows authors to employ semantic variation when referencing previously introduced concepts within a discourse. For example, in the sentence "John came home late and he was very tired," the author uses "he" as an anaphoric alternative for "John." In German, anaphoric structures serve essentially the same reference variation function as they do in English, as Drosdowski demonstrates:

Exploring the antecedents of innovation performance: the roles of entrepreneurial orientation, learning orientation and organisational learning

Abstract: This paper analyses the effect of entrepreneurial orientation (EO) on learning orientation (LO), the relationship between them and their effect on organisational learning (OL) and innovation performance (IP) in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). A cross-sectional research design, drawing on a questionnaire survey, was employed to collect data from a sample of Iranian SMEs. The results obtained from structural equation modelling analyses revealed that EO positively affects the LO and OL levels in SMEs. In addition, OL was found to be a significant antecedent of innovation performance. These findings have important implications for academies, practitioners, and economic policy makers.

Chapter 1 Antecedents of action

Abstract: Publisher Summary In seeking to understand the control of motor behavior, it is natural to inquire into the antecedents of action. This chapter describes the representations formed before movements are carried out and that are vital for the successful realization of the actor's intentions. Such representations have been called “plans” or “motor programs.” The chapter discusses discrete movements involving more than one mechanical degree of freedom. The chapter discusses the entire series of motor acts involving many degrees of freedom. It also considers those factors that can be taken to suggest antecedent representations and that seem not to admit of purely physical determinations of action selection or control.