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Questions and Answers
What is a garden-path sentence?
What is a garden-path sentence?
A garden-path sentence is a grammatically correct sentence that starts in such a way that a reader's most likely interpretation will be incorrect; the reader is lured into a parse that turns out to be a dead end or yields a clearly unintended meaning.
What does the phrase 'to be led down the garden path' mean?
What does the phrase 'to be led down the garden path' mean?
The phrase 'to be led down the garden path' means to be deceived, tricked, or seduced.
How does Fowler describe garden-path sentences in A Dictionary of Modern English Usage?
How does Fowler describe garden-path sentences in A Dictionary of Modern English Usage?
Fowler describes garden-path sentences as unwittingly laying a 'false scent'.
What effect does a garden-path sentence have on the reader?
What effect does a garden-path sentence have on the reader?
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Why is a garden-path sentence difficult to understand?
Why is a garden-path sentence difficult to understand?
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What is the most common word order preference among natural languages?
What is the most common word order preference among natural languages?
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Which language structure does English follow?
Which language structure does English follow?
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What are some examples of Indo-Iranian languages that follow the SOV structure?
What are some examples of Indo-Iranian languages that follow the SOV structure?
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Which type of languages account for more than 87% of natural languages with a preferred order?
Which type of languages account for more than 87% of natural languages with a preferred order?
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What does the term 'subject-object-verb' (SOV) refer to in linguistic typology?
What does the term 'subject-object-verb' (SOV) refer to in linguistic typology?
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Study Notes
Garden-Path Sentences
- A garden-path sentence is a sentence that is structured in a way that leads the reader down a mistaken syntactic path, making it difficult to understand.
- The phrase "to be led down the garden path" means to be deceived or misled.
Linguistic Structures
- Fowler's A Dictionary of Modern English Usage describes garden-path sentences as sentences that are " grammatically correct but syntactically ambiguous".
- A garden-path sentence has the effect of confusing the reader, making it difficult to understand the intended meaning.
Language Structures
- The most common word order preference among natural languages is Subject-Verb-Object (SVO).
- English follows the Subject-Verb-Object (SVO) language structure.
Indo-Iranian Languages
- Examples of Indo-Iranian languages that follow the Subject-Object-Verb (SOV) structure include Hindi, Urdu, and Persian.
Linguistic Typology
- The term 'subject-object-verb' (SOV) refers to a language structure where the subject is followed by the object and then the verb.
- More than 87% of natural languages with a preferred order are Subject-Object-Verb (SOV) languages.
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Description
Test your language skills with this quiz on garden-path sentences! Can you decipher the misleading phrases and uncover their true meanings? Challenge yourself and see if you can avoid being led down the garden path in this tricky language quiz.
