Locative verbs in Turkish: A psycholinguistic analysis

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate whether native Turkish speakers find alternations in locative verbs acceptable and whether ground-frame constructions in Turkish are perceived as less acceptable, as claimed by Kim & Landau & Phillips (1999). As earlier studies in the relevant literature have predominantly investigated English and typologically-related languages, and since the claims concerning Turkish locative verbs have not been experimentally tested, the present study investigates the processing of Turkish locative verbs by means of an acceptability judgment task and a self-paced reading task. The results show that the majority of Turkish locative verbs tested are figure-oriented non-alternating verbs, and that ground-oriented non-alternating locative verbs and alternating locative verbs also exist in Turkish. These findings run counter to earlier claims that ground-oriented non-alternating locative verbs do not exist in Turkish.