Getting a Grip on Non-Literal Meaning: The Dynamics of Understanding Idiomatic Expressions in Language Learners (B09*)

• Subject Area: General and Comparative Linguistics, Experimental Linguistics, Typology, Non-European Languages ; General, Cognitive and Mathematical Psychology ; Developmental and Educational Psychology
• Term: from 2017 to 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 75650358

Project B9 investigates idiom comprehension in first and second language learners. Idioms provide a prominent example of language that appears to be both compositional and non-compositional. One core issue this raises is whether idioms are represented and accessed holistically or in tandem with composition of the meaning of individual constituents. The preliminary hypothesis of Project B9 is that early activation of figurative meaning along with literal meaning is a hallmark of cognitively and linguistically experienced language users and is preceded by serial processing mechanisms in devel-opment.

• DFG Programme: Collaborative Research Centres
• Subproject of: SFB 833: Emergence of Meaning: The Dynamics and Adaptivity of Linguistic Structures
• Applicant Institution: Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen
• Project Heads: Professorin Dr. Claudia Friedrich; Professorin Dr. Andrea Weber