Same Sentences, Different Grammars, Different Brain Responses: An MEG study on Case and Agreement Encoding in Hindi and Nepali Split-Ergative Structures

Abstract

AbstractAt first glance, the brain’s language network appears to be universal, but languages clearly differ. How does the language network adapt to the specific details of individual grammatical systems? Here, we present an MEG study on case and agreement in Hindi and Nepali. Both languages use split-ergative case systems. However, these systems interact with verb agreement differently – in Hindi, case features conspire to determine which noun phrase (NP) the verb agrees with, but not in Nepali. We found that left inferior frontal and left anterior temporal regions are sensitive to case features in both languages. However, the left temporoparietal junction shows a unique sensitivity to specific combinations of subject and object case morphology. We suggest that this brain response unique to Hindi reflects the need to determine which NP agrees with the verb, a specific property of Hindi grammar. This shows that brain activity reflects psycholinguistic processes that are intimately tied to grammatical features.HighlightsLeft inferior frontal lobe and left anterior temporal lobe distinguish accusative objects versus bare object NPs in Hindi and NepaliLeft temporo-parietal junction shows sensitivity to object-agreement constructions in Hindi that is absent in NepaliBoth left temporo-parietal junction and left inferior frontal lobe may support prediction and encoding of agreement relations in HindiMEG can reveal differences in neural activity that reflect specific requirements of different grammatical systems