Abstract

Garden path sentences refers to the sentences that can easily cause  ambiguity and make people feel confused. It is a complicated and interesting phenomenon in the process of language comprehension. GP sentences have always been paid more attention to by linguists. Research of the garden path sentences contributes to avoiding mistakes when readers meet them during the process of language comprehension. For decades, linguists have proposed different opinions and studies to explain the comprehension of GP sentences.

This treatise introduces and analyzes this kind of sentence with the hope of doing people a favor to deal with mistakes. It focuses on the factors which can bring about garden-path phenomenon and strategies of GP sentence comprehension. Also, it contains a lot of classical theories and strategies done by researchers before. By the means of the paper, I hope the readers can have a better understanding of such type of sentence that creates a momentary ambiguous interpretation. The solution will be referred to in the discourse.

Key words: garden path sentences; language comprehension; ambiguity; factors and strategies

Contents

Abstract

摘要

1. Introduction-1

2. Literature Review-1

3. Classification and Traits of GP Sentences-2

4. Syntactic and Semantic Factors in Garden-Path Phenomenon-4

4.1 GP sentences caused by syntactic factors-4

4.2 GP sentences caused by semantic factors-5

5. Strategies of GP Sentence Comprehension-7

5.1 Recovery strategies-7

5.2 Parsing strategies-9

5.3 Late Closure Strategy and Minimal Attachment Strategy-10

6. Conclusion-12

Works Cited-14