Eliciting thematic reanalysis effects: The role of syntax-independent information during parsing

In this paper, we present experimental evidence for the existence of syntax-independent (viz. thematic) reanalysis effects. In an experiment using event-related brain potentials (ERPs), we manipulated the thematic structure of the verb in transitive, unambiguously case marked German verb-final clauses such that the processing of this verb either confirmed the 'canonical' hierarchical thematic ordering between the sentential arguments (active verbs) or required a reversal of this ordering (object-experiencer verbs). The latter elicited a parietal positivity between 300 and 600 ms post onset, which, as we argue, must be interpreted as reflecting a thematic reanalysis. The second experimental manipulation, i.e., a variation of word order (SO vs. OS), revealed an early positivity at the position of the second NP in dative-nominative (OS) structures. Again, we account for this effect in terms of a thematic reanalysis, which becomes necessary when the original interpretation of the initial argument as thematically highest-ranking must be revised. We conclude from our data that case marking languages such as German may employ non-syntactic processing routes to determine the thematic interpretation of a sentence.