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Article published In: Continuative and contrastive discourse relations across discourse domains: Cognitive and cross-linguistic approaches
Edited by Matthias Klumm, Anita Fetzer and Evelien Keizer
[Functions of Language 30:1] 2023
► pp. 110–135

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Adjustment, mismatches and accommodation of procedural and conceptual meaning

Experimental evidence around connectives

ORCiD logo with link | Heidelberg University
ORCiD logo with link | Heidelberg University
 | Heidelberg University
Published online: 30 January 2023
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/fol.22020.rec
Abstract
This contribution aims to set out the effects of discourse marking on processing. On the basis of examples from Spanish, we try to show the principles governing the interplay between the procedural meaning of discourse markers (connectives) and the conceptual meaning of the discourse segments linked by them. To determine these principles, two types of experiments were performed: one comparing marked and unmarked utterances, and a second one comparing utterances that activate mental representations that pragmatically match or clash with the instruction encoded by the connective. Evidence shows that (a) discourse marking by means of a connective generates a new route for accessing information; (b) procedural meaning is a definitory feature of connectives; (c) the procedural meaning of connectives introduces asymmetry and rigidity into discourse as to conceptual meanings; (d) in mismatches between the assumption activated by the instructions of a connective and mind-stored assumptions, accommodation processes may take place, which are effortful but seek to guarantee the retrieval of cognitive effects from the utterance.
Article outline
  • 1.Procedural meaning, connectives and the construction of discourse
  • 2.Continuous and discontinuous discourse relations: Causal, additive and counter-argumentative connectives in Spanish
  • 3.Methodology
    • 3.1Materials and design
    • 3.2Eye movement measures
    • 3.3Participants
    • 3.4Apparatus and procedure
    • 3.5Data preparation and outlier handling
    • 3.6Statistical treatment
  • 4.The impact of marking discourse: Results and discussion
  • 5.Managing mismatches in argumentative relations: Results and discussion
  • 6.Conclusions
  • Notes
  • References
References (77)
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