Syntax and Meaning: Analyzing the Relationship Between Sentence Structure, Word Order, and Interpretation in Literature and Everyday Speech

Abstract

This paper examines the effects of sentence structure and word order on meaning in two registers: literary writing and spoken language. The mixed-methods design allows us to perform a corpus study of both scholarly and spoken balanced data first to determine the prevalence of major constructions (canonical vs. marked order, clefts, inversion, and active/passive voice) as well as to find common patterns of ambiguity (attachment, scope, coordination and reference). We then experiment with interpretive consequences by carrying out an interpretation test whereby the participants are tested to give a judgment on the meaning alternatives, rate emphasis and agency and to give a report on perceived ambiguity with and without short context support. Findings indicate that literature prefers marked constructions with foregrounded style and perspective, whereas the vernacular speech is based on less ellipsis and more context-based completion. In tasks, marked word order enhances perceived emphasis, facilitates focus readings, and decreases perceived agent responsibility. Both registers experience less ambiguity when context is used, though speech-like items are more strongly disambiguated by it, a result of the shared situation and interactive inference disambiguating forces. In general, the evidence favors a single explanation, according to which interpretation is formed through the interaction of syntactic form, information structure, and pragmatic context.

Keywords: Syntax–Semantics Interface; Word Order; Information Structure; Pragmatics; Ambiguity Resolution; Literary Stylistics; Spoken Discourse