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Configurationality and Mental Grammars: Sentences in Sinhala with Re- Duplicated Expressions

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dc.contributor.author Prabath, K.B.
dc.contributor.author Ananda, L.M.G.
dc.date.accessioned 2017-10-19T11:28:03Z
dc.date.available 2017-10-19T11:28:03Z
dc.date.issued 2016
dc.identifier.citation Prabath, K.B., Ananda, L.M.G. (2016). "Configurationality and Mental Grammars: Sentences in Sinhala with Re- Duplicated Expressions", International Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies (IJMS), Vol. 3 (2), pp. 25-34 en_US, si_LK
dc.identifier.uri http://dr.lib.sjp.ac.lk/handle/123456789/5923
dc.description.abstract Attached en_US, si_LK
dc.description.abstract Studies on Sinhala language (Indo-Aryan (SOV), spoken in Sri Lanka by the majority Sinhalese) concerning word order have posited different arguments where some researchers concluded that Sinhala is a nonconfigurational language, while some others argue fo r its configurational structure. The arguments fo r nonconfiguraionality can be attributed to the scrambling effects (free word-order possibility) in Sinhala which shows different ordering o f constituents without affecting grammatically. However, due to different semanticpragmatic inferences provided by differently ordered sentences, Sinhala language may possess a configurational structure despite the surface manifestation o f the free-word-order phenomenon. Using the nature o f scrambling effects, this experimental study examined whether sentences in the canonical word order containing re-duplicated expressions could be processed faster than those with different word orders, and therefore to what extent such orders form an integral part o f one’s mental grammar, the I-language. The sample consisted o f 20 native speakers o f Sinhala and the data consisted o f 60 Sinhala sentences with such reduplicated expressions. The presentation o f the stimulus was controlled by a computer program DMDX (version 5.1.0.0). Both "yes” responses, and “no” responses were presented in randomly in the centre o f the computer screen 600ms after the appearance o f a line o f asterisks •******’ at the eye fixation point on the screen. The analysis confirmed that the reaction times were incongruent between different word orders: Subject-Object-Verb ordered (SOV/canonical) sentences were processed faster. Therefore, this study concluded that Sinhala sentences consisting o f reduplicated expressions possess a configurational syntactic structure in terms o f speed ofprocessing and thus form part o f one's mental grammar whereas non-canonical word orders are the result o f conscious syntactic transformations.
dc.language.iso en_US en_US, si_LK
dc.publisher International Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies (IJMS) en_US, si_LK
dc.subject Configurationality en_US, si_LK
dc.subject scrambling en_US, si_LK
dc.subject mental grammar en_US, si_LK
dc.title Configurationality and Mental Grammars: Sentences in Sinhala with Re- Duplicated Expressions en_US, si_LK
dc.type Article en_US, si_LK


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