Lyn Frazier

My main interest is in adult language comprehension, including syntactic processing and the syntax-prosody and the syntax-semantics interfaces. In recent work, my colleague Professor Charles Clifton of the Department of Psychology and I have investigated the processing of ellipsis, especially those forms of ellipsis that can cross sentence boundaries. A collaborative project with Professor Keith Rayner focuseson language processes during reading. Together with Dr. Markus Bader,I am investigating incremental interpretation of sentences.

Selected Publications

Processing Ellipsis:
Frazier, L. (2008) Explorations in ellipsis: The grammar and processing of silence. In S.
Winkler and S. Featherston (eds) Linguistic Evidence 2008 Proceedings. Mouton de
Gruyter.

Frazier, L. (2008) Processing ellipsis: A processing solution to the undergeneration problem? In Charles B. Chang and Hannah J. Haynie (eds.) Proceedings of the 26th West Coast Conference on Formal Linguistics, p. 21-32. Cascadilla Press: Sommerville, Ma.
Arregui, A., Clifton, Jr., C., Frazier, L., and Moulton, K. (2006) Processing elided VPs with
flawed antecedents: The recycling hypothesis. Journal of Memory and Language, 55, 232-
246.
Frazier, L. & Clifton, Jr., C. (2006) Ellipsis and discourse coherence. Linguistics &
Philosophy, 29 (3), 315-346.
Frazier, L. & Clifton, Jr., C. (2005) The syntax-discourse divide: Processing ellipsis. Syntax,
8(2), 121-174.
Frazier, L. & Clifton, Jr.,C. (1998) Comprehension of sluiced sentences. Language and
Cognitive Processes, 13, 499-520.
Information-Structure:
Stolterfoht, B., Frazier, L., & Clifton, C. (2006) Information structure constraints on word
order in processing English In S. Featherston (ed.) Linguistic Evidence 2006 Proceedings.
Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
Frazier, L., Clifton, Jr., C., Rayner, K, Deevy, P., Koh, S., & Bader, M. (2005) Interface
problems: Structural constraints on interpretation? Journal of Psycholinguistic Research,
34, 193-223.
Bader, M. & Frazier, L. (2005) Interpreting leftward-moved constituents. Special issue of
Linguistics, 43(1), 49-87.
Clifton, Jr., C. & Frazier, L. (2004) Should given information appear before new? Yes and
no. Memory & Cognition, 32, 886-895.
Alonso-Ovalle, L., Fernandes-Solera, S., Frazier, L. & Clifton, Jr., C. (2002) Null vs. overt
pronouns and the Topic-Focus articulation in Spanish Rivista di Linguistica, 14(2), 1-19.
Semantic Processing:
Frazier, L., Clifton, C., and Schwarz, F. (In progress) Computing scalar implicatures.
Frazier, L., Clifton, C., and Stolterfoht, B. (2008) Scale structure: Processing minimum
standard and maximum standard adjectives. Cognition, 106 (1), 299-324.
Frisson, S. & Frazier, L. (2005) Carving up word meanings: Portioning and grinding.
Journal of Memory and Language, 53, 277-291
Carminati, M.N., Frazier, L. & Rayner, K. (2002) Bound variables and c-command. Journal
of Semantics, 19, 1-34.
Frazier, L. & Clifton, Jr., C. (2000) On bound variable interpretations: The LF-only
hypothesis. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, 29, 125-139.\
Frazier, L., Pacht, J. & Rayner, K. (1999) Taking on semantic commitments, II: collective
versus distributive readings. Cognition, 70, 87-104.
Prosodic Processing:
Clifton, C., Jr., Frazier, L., & Carlson, K. (2006) Tracking the What and Why of speakers'
choices: Prosodic boundaries and the length of constituents. Psychonomic Bulletin &
Review, 13, 854-861.
Clifton, C., K. Carlson & L. Frazier (2002) Informative prosodic boundaries. Language and
Speech 45(2), 87-114
Carlson, K., Clifton, C., & Frazier, L. (2001) Prosodic boundaries in adjunct attachment.
Journal of Memory and Language 45, 58-81.
Schafer, A., Carlson, K., Clifton, C. & Frazier, L. (2000) Focus and the interpretation of
pitch accent: Disambiguating embedded questions. Language and Speech, 43, 75-105.
Filler-Gap Processing:
Clifton, Jr., C., Fanselow, G., & Frazier, L. (2006) Amnestying superiority violations:
Processing multiple questions. Linguistic Inquiry, 37, 51-68.
Frazier, L. & Clifton, C., Jr. (2002) Processing d-linked phrases. Journal of Psycholinguistic
Research 31(6), 633-659.
Frazier, L. & Clifton, C., Jr. (1989) Successive cyclicity in the grammar and the parser.
Language and Cognitive Processes, 4(2), 93-126.
Frazier, L. & Flores d’Arcais, G.B. (1989) Filler-driven parsing: A study of gap filling in
Dutch. Journal of Memory and Language, 28, 331-344.
Phrase Structure Processing:
Traxler, M., & Frazier, L. (To appear) The role of pragmatic principles in resolving
attachment ambiguities: Evidence from eye movements. Memory & Cognition
Frazier, L. & Clifton, Jr., C. (1996) Construal. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Frazier, L. (1993) Processing Dutch sentence structures. Journal of Psycholinguistic
Research, 22, 85-108.
Frazier, L. & Rayner, K. (1982) Making and correcting errors during sentence
comprehension: Eye movements in the analysis of structurally ambiguous sentences.
Cognitive Psychology 14, 178-210.
Frazier, L. & Fodor, J.D. (1978) The sausage machine: A new two-stage parsing model.
Cognition 6, 291-325.

Recent Talks

“Processing sentences with multiple prosodic boundaries” Carlson, K., Clifton,C., and Frazier, L.
Linguistic Society of America Annual Meeting, January, 2006.
“Information structure constraints on word order in processing English” Stolterfoht, B., Frazier, L.,
and Clifton,C. Conference on linguistic evidence, Tubingen, February 2-4, 2006. (Also CUNY
Conference on Human Sentence Processing, March, 2006.)
“Effects of constituent length on boundary informativeness” Carlson, K., Clifton, C., and Frazier, L.
Talk at the CUNY Conference on Human Sentence Processing, March, 2006.
“Pitch accents affect ambiguity resolution” Carlson, K., Frazier, L., and Clifton, C. Poster at the
CUNY Conference on Human Sentence Processing, March, 2006.
“Ambiguity resolution and dynamic interpretation” Invited talk at workshop on ambiguity
resolution, University of Southern California, April 1, 2006.
“Processing scales: Processing absolute scalar adjectives” Colloquium at Department of
Linguistics, University of Southern California, April 3, 2006. (Also at workshop on scalar
adjectives, University of Chicago, May, 2006).
“Processing accommodation: The big fish in a small pond” Workshop on accommodation (Invited
talk), The Ohio State University, October 13-15, 2006.
“Focus in sluicing interpretation” Carlson, K., Walsh Dickey, M., Frazier, L. and Clifton, C. CUNY, San
Diego. March 2007.
“Attachment preferences revisited.” (Invited talk) Chieti, Italy. January 18, 2007.
“Processing Ellipsis: A Processing solution the the undergeneration problem?” (Invited talk) West
Coast Conference on Formal Linguistics, Berkeley, Ca. April, 2007.
“Explorations in ellipsis: The grammar and processing of silence” (Invited talk) Linguistic Evidence
2008. Tubingen, Germany. January, 31, 2008.
"The puzzle of processing any in subtrigging contexts" (with H. Majewski, P. Menendez-Benito and K. Rayner) CUNY Conference on Human Sentence Processing, Chapel Hill. March, 2008.
“Computing scalar implicatures.” (Invited talk) Semantics and Linguistic Theory 18. March 22,
2008.