The effect of marked topic on memory in Hebrew and English

Abstract

This study examines and compares the effect of marked sentence structure on cognition and memory in English and Hebrew. It has been shown elsewhere that marked topic constructions in English have a significant effect on memory. Now, since Hebrew, like English, is an SV(O) (Subject-Verb-Object) language, the cognitive effect of marking the topic in Hebrew could be expected to be similar to the effect witnessed in English. However, the study presents data which attest unequivocally to the prevalence of marked topic constructions in Hebrew in comparison to English. In addition, through psycholinguistic experimentation, it is shown that in Hebrew deviations from the SV(O) structure are not as prominently marked as they are in English.

Do Marked Topics Enhance Memory?

“…Thus, unlike in English, in Hebrew OF is not misconstrued as SVO, and therefore the recomputation process required in English OF is not required in Hebrew. And indeed, Netz and Kuzar (2010) have found that in Hebrew, in contrast to English, there is no difference in recall between the topics of LD and OF.…”

“…Like English, Hebrew is also an SVO language. However, as Netz and Kuzar (2010) point out, in Hebrew in the fronting of a definite direct object (e.g. et Tomer, Shoshi matz'a [Tomer, Shoshi found]), the fronted object is marked by the accusative case marker et.…”

“…more entrenched, than is the use of OF (for further discussion of "lexical strength"/ "entrenchment" see Bybee, 1985: 117, andLangacker, 1987: 59, respectively). Netz and Kuzar (2010) have conducted an equivalent experiment of the same marked topic constructions in Hebrew. Like English, Hebrew is also an SVO language.…”