The cognitive pathways of gender: A cross-linguistic electrophysiological assessment (GenPath)

• Applicant: Ana Rita Sa Leite Dias, Ph.D.
• Subject Area: General and Comparative Linguistics, Experimental Linguistics, Typology, Non-European Languages
• Term: since 2024
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 550842679

Grammatical gender is a fundamental property of many languages. However, they differ in the extent to which gender is expressed in the surface form of their nouns. To formalize such variation, previous descriptive work in Linguistics proposed a continuum of gender transparency. This continuum reflects how systematically gender can be predicted from the distributional regularities available in noun form in each language. Yet, the cognitive consequences for language processing related to the transparency continuum have not been experimentally studied in adult readers. Current psycholinguistic models of gender retrieval do not readily accommodate cross-linguistic variation. Additionally, it is unknown whether the cross-linguistic differences in transparency have similar effects on language processing for first and second language populations. GenPath is a comprehensive project that addresses these gaps by identifying the cognitive mechanisms of gender retrieval while capturing variability in gender-form correspondences across languages. It bridges theoretical linguistics and psycholinguistics by comparing languages at different points of the transparency continuum: Spanish (a highly transparent language), German (a moderately transparent language), and Norwegian (a low transparent language). To ensure comparability across languages, GenPath uses a unified testing method across languages, combining behavioral with electroencephalographic measurements. The project pursues four key goals: (a) to generate novel empirical data that turns the gender transparency continuum into a useful resource to generate psycholinguistic predictions; (b) to update current models of word recognition to account for crosslinguistic variation in the transparency continuum; (c) to identify functional differences between first and second language gender processing; (d) to explore the social implications of gender (e.g., stereotypes). The findings of GenPath are societally relevant. First, considering the persistent challenges in mastering grammatical gender in a foreign language, GenPath addresses how gender could be taught more efficiently by capitalizing on form regularities. Second, the desirability of gender-neutral language is currently being discussed in social, political, and scientific circles. GenPath seeks to determine the impact of grammatical gender on stereotyping and to explore novel approaches for neutralizing sex stereotypes in language.

• DFG Programme: Independent Junior Research Groups