Spatial agency bias and word order flexibility: A comparison of 14 European languages

Caterina Suitner; Anne Maass; Eduardo Navarrete; Magdalena Formanowicz; Boyka Bratanova; Carmen Cervone; Juho Eemeli Hakoköngäs; Toon Kuppens; Eleni Lipourli; Tamara Rakić; Andrea Scatolon; Catia P. Teixeira; Zhenlan Wang; Maria Pedro Sobral; Antonin Carrier

doi:10.1017/S0142716420000831

Spatial agency bias and word order flexibility: A comparison of 14 European languages

Caterina Suitner, Anne Maass, Eduardo Navarrete, Magdalena Formanowicz, Boyka Bratanova, Carmen Cervone, Juho Eemeli Hakoköngäs, Toon Kuppens, Eleni Lipourli, Tamara Rakić, Andrea Scatolon, Catia P. Teixeira, Zhenlan Wang, Maria Pedro Sobral, Antonin Carrier

Psychology

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

The spatial agency bias predicts that people whose native language is rightward written will predominantly envisage action along the same direction. Two mechanisms contribute jointly to this asymmetry: (a) an embodied process related to writing/reading; (b) a linguistic regularity according to which sentence subjects (typically the agent) tend to precede objects (typically the recipient). Here we test a novel hypothesis in relation to the second mechanism, namely, that this asymmetry will be most pronounced in languages with rigid word order. A preregistered study on 14 European languages (n = 420) varying in word order flexibility confirmed a rightward bias in drawings of interactions between two people (agent and recipient). This bias was weaker in more flexible languages, confirming that embodied and linguistic features of language interact in producing it.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	657-671
Number of pages	15
Journal	Applied Psycholinguistics
Volume	42
Issue number	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1017/S0142716420000831
State	Published - May 2021

Keywords

cross-linguistic
spatial agency bias
word order

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
Language and Linguistics
Linguistics and Language
General Psychology

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10.1017/S0142716420000831

Cite this

Suitner, C., Maass, A., Navarrete, E., Formanowicz, M., Bratanova, B., Cervone, C., Hakoköngäs, J. E., Kuppens, T., Lipourli, E., Rakić, T., Scatolon, A., Teixeira, C. P., Wang, Z., Sobral, M. P., & Carrier, A. (2021). Spatial agency bias and word order flexibility: A comparison of 14 European languages. Applied Psycholinguistics, 42(3), 657-671. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0142716420000831

Suitner, C, Maass, A, Navarrete, E, Formanowicz, M, Bratanova, B, Cervone, C, Hakoköngäs, JE, Kuppens, T, Lipourli, E, Rakić, T, Scatolon, A, Teixeira, CP, Wang, Z, Sobral, MP & Carrier, A 2021, 'Spatial agency bias and word order flexibility: A comparison of 14 European languages', Applied Psycholinguistics, vol. 42, no. 3, pp. 657-671. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0142716420000831

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abstract = "The spatial agency bias predicts that people whose native language is rightward written will predominantly envisage action along the same direction. Two mechanisms contribute jointly to this asymmetry: (a) an embodied process related to writing/reading; (b) a linguistic regularity according to which sentence subjects (typically the agent) tend to precede objects (typically the recipient). Here we test a novel hypothesis in relation to the second mechanism, namely, that this asymmetry will be most pronounced in languages with rigid word order. A preregistered study on 14 European languages (n = 420) varying in word order flexibility confirmed a rightward bias in drawings of interactions between two people (agent and recipient). This bias was weaker in more flexible languages, confirming that embodied and linguistic features of language interact in producing it.",

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doi = "10.1017/S0142716420000831",

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AU - Cervone, Carmen

AU - Hakoköngäs, Juho Eemeli

AU - Kuppens, Toon

AU - Lipourli, Eleni

AU - Rakić, Tamara

AU - Scatolon, Andrea

AU - Teixeira, Catia P.

AU - Wang, Zhenlan

AU - Sobral, Maria Pedro

AU - Carrier, Antonin

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Spatial agency bias and word order flexibility: A comparison of 14 European languages

Abstract

Keywords

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