Abstract: The distributive errors of subject-verb agreement are made when the verbs that speakers produce agree with the conceptual number of the subject instead of its grammatical number. In earlier research, there is an assumption that the production of verbs in languages with rich morphology, i.e. Spanish and French, are more sensitive to the notional number of the subject, and therefore more distributive errors are made. This is called the maximalist view. However, recent research support an opposite model that the production of verbs in languages with rich morphology are less sensitive to the notional number of the subject, and less distributive errors are made. This is called the minimalist view. A direct paradigm is needed in future studies to investigate the influence of notional number on distributive errors. Furthermore, the difference of the paradigms used in various studies should be considered when interpreting the results of the study.

Key words: subject-verb agreement, distributive effects, inflection of words

摘要： 主-谓数一致是言语产出过程中的一种重要现象。主-谓数一致产出中的分布性效应是指产出句子时,谓语数受中心名词概念数影响而出现的错误。早期的研究发现,词汇屈折变化越丰富的语言,分布性效应越大,并用最大化的理论观点进行解释;近期的研究发现,词汇屈折变化越丰富的语言,分布性效应越小,并用最小化的理论观点进行解释。今后的研究应采用更为直接的方法考察中心名词概念数对分布性效应的影响,进一步考察研究方法的差异等因素对结果的影响。

关键词: 主-谓数一致, 分布性效应, 屈折变化