Idiomaticity, familiarity and preceding information in BP idioms processing

Authors

  • Sara de Oliveira Gomes Barreto Universidade Salgado de Oliveira - Juiz de Fora
  • Mercedes Marcilese Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora, http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9058-8367
  • Ágata Jéssica Avelar de Oliveira Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora,

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15448/1984-7726.2018.1.28680

Keywords:

Idioms, Idiomacity, Familiarity, Preceding information, Language processing

Abstract

Idioms are typically characterized as non-compositional strings of words in
which figurative meaning cannot be derived from the interpretation of its parts; the degree of compositionality, however, is variable. This paper investigates the comprehension of verb + complement idioms in Brazilian Portuguese (e.g. “passar a bola”, “pintar o sete”). Our research intends to explore to what extent internal and external factors affect the comprehension of idioms. We report the results of a maze task (self-paced reading experiment) in which the critical
segment was related to the verb complement: idiomatic vs. literal complement (e.g. open the heart/ the door). The results revealed significant effects of the three investigated variables, suggesting that the degree of idiomaticity, the speaker's familiarity with the idiom and the previous context affect the processing of the idioms and, therefore, should be considered in a model that aims to explain the representation, access and comprehension of these tructures.

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Author Biographies

Sara de Oliveira Gomes Barreto, Universidade Salgado de Oliveira - Juiz de Fora

Mestre em Linguística pela Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora, possui graduação em Psicologia pela Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora e em Letras, pela Fundação Universidade do Tocantins. Atua como professora do departamento de Psicologia da Universidade Salgado de Oliveira - Juiz de Fora. 

Mercedes Marcilese, Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora,

Professora Adjunta do Departamento de Letras da Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora e do Programa de Pós-Graduação em Linguística da mesma instituição. Doutora e Mestre em Letras pela PUC-Rio. Tem experiência na área de Linguística, com ênfase em Psicolinguística e Aquisição da Linguagem. Atualmente investiga: (i) tópicos na interface entre língua e outros domínios cognitivos; (ii) a dimensão cognitiva da variação linguística; e (iii) o processamento de linguagem não literal. Pesquisadora do Núcleo de Estudos em Aquisição da Linguagem e Psicolinguística da UFJF (NEALP).

Ágata Jéssica Avelar de Oliveira, Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora,

Mestranda em Letras no Programa de Pós-Graduação em Linguística da UFJF. Licenciada em Letras/Português pela mesma instituição. Membro do Núcleo de Estudos em Aquisição da Linguagem e Psicolinguística da UFJF (NEALP).

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Published

2018-06-05

How to Cite

de Oliveira Gomes Barreto, S., Marcilese, M., & Avelar de Oliveira, Ágata J. (2018). Idiomaticity, familiarity and preceding information in BP idioms processing. Letras De Hoje, 53(1), 119–129. https://doi.org/10.15448/1984-7726.2018.1.28680

Issue

Vol. 53 No. 1 (2018): Language in a Psycho/Neurolinguistic and Cognitive Neuroscience perspective

Section

Linguagem na perspectiva da Psico/Neurolinguística e da Neurociência Cognitiva

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