Project description
How the mind resolves ambiguity in language comprehension
Understanding spoken or written language requires the brain to resolve ambiguity constantly and at remarkable speed. One underexplored source of ambiguity is ‘form syncretism’ – where a single word form carries multiple grammatical meanings, as in many Slavic languages. With the support of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the ProSync project aims to investigate how syncretism affects agreement processing and why syncretism matters. Integrating insights from formal morphology and memory-based processing theories and using eye-tracking, self-paced reading and speeded judgement experiments, ProSync will build a unified theoretical and computational framework of how ambiguity is overcome in real-time language processing.
Objective
When we try to understand others, we need to process language. This means building sentences hidden in the speech signal back up. In this task, we face a fundamental obstacle rooted deep in the structure of human language—ambiguity. A type of ambiguity known as form syncretism is seen in formal features. For example, in the Slavic language Czech, the form ‘kočk-y’ (‘cat’, ‘cats’ or ‘of a cat’) corresponds to three different combinations of case and number. In these languages, understudied within the psycholinguistics, syncretism is ever present and has substantial effects on processing. It is the crucial factor in the emergence of agreement attraction, a prolifically studied effect used to test how the language processor links words within sentences together. A prominent theory of agreement attraction is the cue-based retrieval model, which captures how language structure and working memory jointly achieve the task of agreement. However, this approach cannot yet explain why syncretism matters. On the other hand, several theories of formal morphology such as nanosyntax have recently been able to successfully describe patterns of syncretism, appealing to a hierarchical structure within word forms. The goal of ProSync is to discover under what exact conditions syncretism influences agreement processing and by integrating insights from formal morphology and cue-based retrieval to explain and capture why syncretism matters both theoretically and within a computational model. ProSync will use methods capable of tapping into both representations and processes in the minds of comprehenders, in particular self-paced reading, eye-tracking, and speeded judgements. Overall, this research will bring together knowledge from established psycholinguistic effects and from current morphological theories to better understand how our minds can process language rapidly and overcome ambiguity inherent in the signal, allowing for efficient communication between speakers and hearers.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
This project's classification has been human-validated.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
This project's classification has been human-validated.
- humanities languages and literature linguistics
- social sciences psychology cognitive psychology mental processes
- natural sciences computer and information sciences data science natural language processing
- natural sciences computer and information sciences computational science
- social sciences psychology psycholinguistics
Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
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Topic(s)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
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Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
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Call for proposal
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(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2025-PF
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601 77 Brno
Czechia
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