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line. We propose the memory recency effect and principles of attention allocation as functional explanations for the ordering ofaffective and sensory, as well as syntactic (end-weight) and discourse (given-before-new) information.Chigusa Kurumada (Stanford University) Session 29Meredith Brown (University of Rochester)Michael K. Tanenhaus (University of Rochester)Rapid adaptation in the pragmatic interpretation of contrastive prosodyThe realization of prosody varies across speakers, accents, and speech conditions. Listeners must navigate this variability tosystematically converge on intended prosodic interpretations. However, the cognitive mechanisms for this process have onlybegun to be investigated (Dennison & Schafer, 2010; Watson et al., 2008). Building on studies on phoneme perception (e.g., Mayeet al., 2002; Norris et al., 2003), we propose that listeners rapidly adapt their prosodic interpretations to speaker-specific prosodiccues in accordance with distributional properties of the input. Implications for children’s acquisition of contrastive prosody aswell as for adult listeners’ online language comprehension are discussed.Dave Kush (University of Maryland) Session 34Colin Phillips (University of Maryland)Jeff Lidz (University of Maryland)Online sensitivity to Strong Crossover (and Principle C)Previous studies suggested comprehenders respect Principle C, displaying immunity to interference from structurally-inaccessibleNPs, in contrast to Principle B and subject-verb agreement which are prone to interference. We tested on-line application ofStrong Crossover (SCO), a constraint attributed to Principle C. We used a form of SCO with antecedent-pronoun order that hencerequires retrospective retrieval. Results from a self-paced reading experiment show that the constraint does not preclude retrievalof structurally-inaccessible matching NPs. These results suggest the robustness previously observed reflects a time-courseconfound, rather than inherent special status of the constraint.Jorge Emilio Rosés Labrada (University of Western Ontario) Session 96Patterns of language use in four Venezuelan Mako communitiesMako [wpc], a Sáliban language spoken in the Venezuelan Amazon, has been reported variably as (critically) endangered andthreatened. These reports, however, are based on second-hand information and/or self-reported census data. This talk presents afirst-hand vitality assessment of four Mako villages in the Middle Ventuari River area. Data from sociolinguistic interviews –gathered over six months of fieldwork in 2011 and 2012 – is coded and analysed with the statistical software SPSS to determinethe demographic composition of the communities and their patterns of language use. These results are complemented withqualitative observations of language use noted during the fieldwork period.Nicholas LaCara (University of Massachusetts Amherst) Session 17*On the table lay a book, and on the sofa did too: ellipsis, inversion, and why they are bad togetherSince Merchant 2001, the standard picture of ellipsis has been that a functional head bearing a feature [E] licenses the deletion ofits complement at PF. Certain kinds of inversion structures, like locative inversion, pose a problem for such an approach. Thetheory as currently understood predicts that VP ellipsis should be possible in sentences containing such structures, but as the titleof this poster shows, they are ungrammatical. This poster presents an account of these facts, and investigates solutions that do notcontravene Merchant-like theories.Amy LaCross (University of Arizona) Session 22Sayoko Takano (University of Arizona)Ian J. Kidder (University of Arizona)Peter J. Watson (University of Minnesota)E. Fiona Bailey (University of Arizona)Single motor unit activity in the genioglossus during speech productionThe aim of a large body of phonetic research has been to clarify the lingual gestures used in speech. However, much is unknownabout the motor unit activities that underlie those gestures. Using electromyography, we are able to test the hypothesis that firingrate and firing rate variability of lingual motor units vary as a function of phonological feature and manner of articulation. Werecorded single motor units during subjects’ articulation of [a] and [ae] in two manners of articulation: phonation and whisper.Besides supporting our hypothesis, this research presents new insight regarding the control of lingual musculature in speech.173