Universität zu Köln

Herrmann, Tobias-Alexander ORCID: 0000-0002-1756-7420, Kościołek, Iga ORCID: 0009-0003-7768-0497 and Bunčić, Daniel ORCID: 0000-0002-1090-8907 (2025). Agent demotion and patient promotion do not affect prominence in upcoming discourse: Results of a continuation task for Polish passives and impersonals. Zeitschrift für Slawistik, 70 (2). pp. 326-350. De Gruyter. ISSN 0044-3506

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Abstract

Both passives and impersonal constructions demote agents, and personal passives also promote patients. The present paper reports two questionnaire studies on Polish aimed at answering the question whether this has an effect on the prominence status of agent and patient referents in upcoming discourse. In a forced-choice scenario, participants had to pick one out of two possible continuations after a stimulus, one containing the (implicit) agent and one the (always explicitly mentioned) patient of the stimulus sentence. Additionally, they were asked to give an acceptability rating, and their reaction times were recorded. No matter whether the stimulus contained a short personal passive, a ‑no/‑to impersonal, or a personal active construction, participants invariably preferred the agent over the patient (at a rate of about 50% vs. 40%, with 10% opting for ‘neither’). The findings allow to conclude that agent demotion and patient promotion only have local effects within the sentence or clause but do not affect the prominence structure of upcoming discourse.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID ORCID Put Code Herrmann, Tobias-Alexander t.herrmann@uni-koeln.de orcid.org/0000-0002-1756-7420 UNSPECIFIED Kościołek, Iga UNSPECIFIED orcid.org/0009-0003-7768-0497 UNSPECIFIED Bunčić, Daniel daniel.buncic@uni-koeln.de orcid.org/0000-0002-1090-8907 UNSPECIFIED
URN:	urn:nbn:de:hbz:38-783595
DOI:	10.1515/slaw-2025-0020
Journal or Publication Title:	Zeitschrift für Slawistik
Volume:	70
Number:	2
Page Range:	pp. 326-350
Date:	2025
Publisher:	De Gruyter
ISSN:	0044-3506
Language:	English
Faculty:	Faculty of Arts and Humanities
Divisions:	Faculty of Arts and Humanities > Fächergruppe 5: Moderne Sprachen und Kulturen > Slavisches Institut
Subjects:	Language, Linguistics Other languages
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Keywords Language Polish; passive construction; impersonal construction; patient; agent English
Refereed:	Yes
URI:	http://kups.ub.uni-koeln.de/id/eprint/78359