Manner-of-Speaking Island Effects: Experimental Data

@cite{lu-pan-degen-2025}

Empirical data from @cite{lu-pan-degen-2025}, "Evidence for a discourse account of manner-of-speaking islands," Language 101(4): 627–659.

Five acceptability judgment experiments testing the causal relationship between discourse backgroundedness and the manner-of-speaking (MoS) island effect.

Key Findings

1. Prosodic focus on the embedded object ameliorates the MoS island (Exp 1)
2. The same manipulation creates island effects with the bridge verb say (Exp 2a)
3. MoS verbs default-background their complements more than say (Exp 2b)
4. Adding manner adverbs to say replicates the MoS island effect (Exp 3a)
5. The say+adverb island is also sensitive to prosodic manipulation (Exp 3b)
6. Verb-frame frequency does NOT predict the effect (all experiments)

All acceptability ratings coded as Nat (mean × 100, 0 = completely unacceptable, 100 = completely acceptable). Backgroundedness proportions coded as Nat (× 100).

Verb Inventory

inductive Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.MoSVerb : Type

Manner-of-speaking verbs used in the experiments (12 verbs). These verbs lexically encode the manner of verbal communication.

• whisper : MoSVerb
• mutter : MoSVerb
• shout : MoSVerb
• yell : MoSVerb
• scream : MoSVerb
• mumble : MoSVerb
• stammer : MoSVerb
• whine : MoSVerb
• groan : MoSVerb
• moan : MoSVerb
• shriek : MoSVerb
• murmur : MoSVerb

@[implicit_reducible]

instance Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.instDecidableEqMoSVerb : DecidableEq MoSVerb

Equations

• Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.instDecidableEqMoSVerb x✝ y✝ = if h : x✝.ctorIdx = y✝.ctorIdx then isTrue ⋯ else isFalse ⋯

def Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.instReprMoSVerb.repr : MoSVerb → ℕ → Std.Format

Equations

• One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.

@[implicit_reducible]

instance Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.instReprMoSVerb : Repr MoSVerb

Equations

• Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.instReprMoSVerb = { reprPrec := Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.instReprMoSVerb.repr }

inductive Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.FocusCondition : Type

Focus conditions manipulated via prosodic capitalization/bolding.

• verbFocus : FocusCondition

  Matrix verb capitalized: foregrounds verb, backgrounds complement

• embeddedFocus : FocusCondition

  Embedded object capitalized: foregrounds embedded object

• adverbFocus : FocusCondition

  Manner adverb capitalized (Exp 3b only)

@[implicit_reducible]

instance Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.instDecidableEqFocusCondition : DecidableEq FocusCondition

Equations

• Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.instDecidableEqFocusCondition x✝ y✝ = if h : x✝.ctorIdx = y✝.ctorIdx then isTrue ⋯ else isFalse ⋯

def Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.instReprFocusCondition.repr : FocusCondition → ℕ → Std.Format

Equations

• One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.

@[implicit_reducible]

instance Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.instReprFocusCondition : Repr FocusCondition

Equations

• Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.instReprFocusCondition = { reprPrec := Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.instReprFocusCondition.repr }

inductive Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.VerbType : Type

Verb types compared across experiments.

• mos : VerbType
• say : VerbType
• sayAdverb : VerbType

@[implicit_reducible]

instance Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.instDecidableEqVerbType : DecidableEq VerbType

Equations

• Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.instDecidableEqVerbType x✝ y✝ = if h : x✝.ctorIdx = y✝.ctorIdx then isTrue ⋯ else isFalse ⋯

@[implicit_reducible]

instance Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.instReprVerbType : Repr VerbType

Equations

• Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.instReprVerbType = { reprPrec := Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.instReprVerbType.repr }

def Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.instReprVerbType.repr : VerbType → ℕ → Std.Format

Equations

• One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.

Experiment 1: Discourse Effects on MoS Islands

Prosodic focus on the embedded object ameliorates the MoS island effect. N = 94 (after exclusions). Within-subjects: 2 focus conditions × MoS verbs.

Example stimuli (9):

• Verb-focus: "John didn't WHISPER that Mary met with the lawyer." "Then who did John whisper that Mary met with?"
• Embedded-focus: "John didn't whisper that Mary met with the LAWYER." "Then who did John whisper that Mary met with?"

(Figure 4)

def Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.exp1_acceptability_embeddedFocus : ℕ

Exp 1 mean acceptability (× 100). Figure 4b.

Equations

• Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.exp1_acceptability_embeddedFocus = 68

def Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.exp1_acceptability_verbFocus : ℕ

Equations

• Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.exp1_acceptability_verbFocus = 57

def Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.exp1_acceptability_goodFiller : ℕ

Equations

• Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.exp1_acceptability_goodFiller = 79

def Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.exp1_acceptability_badFiller : ℕ

Equations

• Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.exp1_acceptability_badFiller = 14

def Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.exp1_backgrounded_embeddedFocus : ℕ

Exp 1 backgroundedness proportion (× 100). Figure 4a.

Equations

• Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.exp1_backgrounded_embeddedFocus = 14

def Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.exp1_backgrounded_verbFocus : ℕ

Equations

• Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.exp1_backgrounded_verbFocus = 76

theorem Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.exp1_focus_changes_backgroundedness : exp1_backgrounded_embeddedFocus < exp1_backgrounded_verbFocus

Focus manipulation changed backgroundedness (manipulation check). β = −2.46, SE = 0.40, z = −6.14, p < 0.001.

theorem Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.exp1_focus_ameliorates_island : exp1_acceptability_embeddedFocus > exp1_acceptability_verbFocus

Main result: Foregrounding the embedded object ameliorates the island. β = 0.23, SE = 0.03, t = 7.10, p < 0.001.

theorem Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.exp1_island_degraded : exp1_acceptability_verbFocus < exp1_acceptability_goodFiller

MoS island sentences are degraded relative to grammatical fillers.

theorem Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.exp1_ameliorated_still_degraded : exp1_acceptability_embeddedFocus < exp1_acceptability_goodFiller

Even ameliorated MoS islands remain below grammatical filler level.

Experiment 2a: MoS Verbs and Say

Both verb types show focus effects, but MoS verbs are overall more degraded. The same prosodic manipulation that ameliorates MoS islands can CREATE island-like effects for the bridge verb say. N = 97. 2 focus × 2 verb type.

(Figure 7)

def Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.exp2a_acc_mos_embeddedFocus : ℕ

Exp 2a acceptability (× 100). Figure 7b.

Equations

• Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.exp2a_acc_mos_embeddedFocus = 58

def Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.exp2a_acc_mos_verbFocus : ℕ

Equations

• Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.exp2a_acc_mos_verbFocus = 50

def Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.exp2a_acc_say_embeddedFocus : ℕ

Equations

• Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.exp2a_acc_say_embeddedFocus = 80

def Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.exp2a_acc_say_verbFocus : ℕ

Equations

• Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.exp2a_acc_say_verbFocus = 73

def Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.exp2a_acc_goodFiller : ℕ

Equations

• Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.exp2a_acc_goodFiller = 85

def Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.exp2a_acc_badFiller : ℕ

Equations

• Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.exp2a_acc_badFiller = 16

def Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.exp2a_bg_mos_embeddedFocus : ℕ

Exp 2a backgroundedness (× 100). Figure 7a.

Equations

• Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.exp2a_bg_mos_embeddedFocus = 12

def Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.exp2a_bg_mos_verbFocus : ℕ

Equations

• Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.exp2a_bg_mos_verbFocus = 77

def Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.exp2a_bg_say_embeddedFocus : ℕ

Equations

• Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.exp2a_bg_say_embeddedFocus = 10

def Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.exp2a_bg_say_verbFocus : ℕ

Equations

• Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.exp2a_bg_say_verbFocus = 20

theorem Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.exp2a_mos_focus_effect : exp2a_acc_mos_embeddedFocus > exp2a_acc_mos_verbFocus

MoS verbs show focus effect. β = 0.14, SE = 0.02, t = 9.14, p < 0.001.

theorem Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.exp2a_say_focus_effect : exp2a_acc_say_embeddedFocus > exp2a_acc_say_verbFocus

Say also shows focus effect (can create island-like degradation). Focus × verb-type interaction NOT significant (β = 0.005, p = 0.509).

theorem Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.exp2a_mos_lt_say : exp2a_acc_mos_verbFocus < exp2a_acc_say_verbFocus ∧ exp2a_acc_mos_embeddedFocus < exp2a_acc_say_embeddedFocus

MoS verbs are overall more degraded than say. β = −0.08, SE = 0.01, t = −5.49, p < 0.001.

theorem Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.exp2a_mos_more_backgrounded : exp2a_bg_mos_verbFocus > exp2a_bg_say_verbFocus

MoS verb complements are more backgrounded than say complements. β = 0.59, SE = 0.14, z = 4.27, p < 0.001.

Experiment 2b: Default Backgroundedness

Without focus manipulation, MoS verbs default-background their complements more than say. This is the crucial baseline measurement. N = 94. MoS vs Say, no focus manipulation.

(Figure 10)

def Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.exp2b_acc_mos : ℕ

Exp 2b acceptability (× 100). Figure 10b.

Equations

• Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.exp2b_acc_mos = 68

def Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.exp2b_acc_say : ℕ

Equations

• Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.exp2b_acc_say = 77

def Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.exp2b_acc_goodFiller : ℕ

Equations

• Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.exp2b_acc_goodFiller = 81

def Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.exp2b_acc_badFiller : ℕ

Equations

• Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.exp2b_acc_badFiller = 13

def Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.exp2b_bg_mos : ℕ

Exp 2b backgroundedness (× 100). Figure 10a.

Equations

• Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.exp2b_bg_mos = 62

def Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.exp2b_bg_say : ℕ

Equations

• Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.exp2b_bg_say = 28

theorem Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.exp2b_mos_more_backgrounded : exp2b_bg_mos > exp2b_bg_say

MoS verbs default-background complements more than say. β = 0.96, SE = 0.16, z = 6.06, p < 0.001.

theorem Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.exp2b_mos_less_acceptable : exp2b_acc_mos < exp2b_acc_say

MoS extraction is less acceptable than say extraction. β = −0.14, SE = 0.02, t = −9.26, p < 0.001.

theorem Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.exp2b_backgroundedness_predicts_acceptability : exp2b_bg_mos > exp2b_bg_say ∧ exp2b_acc_mos < exp2b_acc_say

Core correlation: more backgrounded → less acceptable extraction. This is the key link between backgroundedness and islandhood.

theorem Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.exp2b_say_near_grammatical : exp2b_acc_say < exp2b_acc_goodFiller

Say extraction approaches grammatical-filler level. β = −0.02, SE = 0.01, t = −1.83, p = 0.067 (n.s.).

Experiment 3a: Say + Manner Adverb Creates Islands

The paper's key novel prediction: adding manner adverbs to say replicates the MoS island effect. This is predicted ONLY by the backgroundedness account. N = 93. Say vs Say+Adverb.

Example stimuli (18):

• Say: "John didn't say that Mary met with the lawyer." "Then who did John say that Mary met with?"
• Say+Adverb: "John didn't say softly that Mary met with the lawyer." "Then who did John say softly that Mary met with?"

(Figure 14)

def Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.exp3a_acc_say : ℕ

Exp 3a acceptability (× 100). Figure 14.

Equations

• Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.exp3a_acc_say = 77

def Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.exp3a_acc_sayAdverb : ℕ

Equations

• Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.exp3a_acc_sayAdverb = 53

def Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.exp3a_acc_goodFiller : ℕ

Equations

• Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.exp3a_acc_goodFiller = 80

def Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.exp3a_acc_badFiller : ℕ

Equations

• Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.exp3a_acc_badFiller = 11

theorem Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.exp3a_adverb_creates_island : exp3a_acc_sayAdverb < exp3a_acc_say

KEY RESULT: Adding a manner adverb to say degrades extraction. β = −0.24, SE = 0.02, t = −12.4, p < 0.001.

Predicted by backgroundedness account (manner adverb adds manner weight). NOT predicted by subjacency (same CP structure ± adverb). NOT predicted by frequency (predicate-frame frequency n.s., p = 0.664).

theorem Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.exp3a_adverb_degraded : exp3a_acc_sayAdverb < exp3a_acc_goodFiller

Say+adverb is substantially degraded relative to grammatical fillers.

theorem Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.exp3a_say_near_grammatical : exp3a_acc_goodFiller - exp3a_acc_say < exp3a_acc_say - exp3a_acc_sayAdverb

Say alone patterns with grammatical fillers.

Experiment 3b: Discourse Effect on Say+Adverb Islands

Prosodic focus ameliorates the say+adverb island, confirming that the effect in Experiment 3a is discourse-driven, not a structural complexity artifact. N = 94. 2 focus conditions (adverb-focus vs embedded-focus).

Example stimuli (20):

• Adverb-focus: "John didn't say SOFTLY that Mary met with the lawyer." "Then who did John say softly that Mary met with?"
• Embedded-focus: "John didn't say softly that Mary met with the LAWYER." "Then who did John say softly that Mary met with?"

(Figure 17)

def Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.exp3b_acc_embeddedFocus : ℕ

Exp 3b acceptability (× 100). Figure 17b.

Equations

• Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.exp3b_acc_embeddedFocus = 68

def Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.exp3b_acc_adverbFocus : ℕ

Equations

• Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.exp3b_acc_adverbFocus = 50

def Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.exp3b_acc_goodFiller : ℕ

Equations

• Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.exp3b_acc_goodFiller = 78

def Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.exp3b_acc_badFiller : ℕ

Equations

• Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.exp3b_acc_badFiller = 15

def Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.exp3b_bg_embeddedFocus : ℕ

Exp 3b backgroundedness (× 100). Figure 17a.

Equations

• Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.exp3b_bg_embeddedFocus = 35

def Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.exp3b_bg_adverbFocus : ℕ

Equations

• Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.exp3b_bg_adverbFocus = 72

theorem Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.exp3b_focus_changes_backgroundedness : exp3b_bg_embeddedFocus < exp3b_bg_adverbFocus

Focus manipulation changes backgroundedness in say+adverb construction. β = −3.99, SE = 0.74, z = −5.42, p < 0.001.

theorem Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.exp3b_focus_ameliorates : exp3b_acc_embeddedFocus > exp3b_acc_adverbFocus

Foregrounding embedded object ameliorates the say+adverb island. β = 0.21, SE = 0.03, t = 6.90, p < 0.001.

Negative Results: Frequency Does Not Predict

Verb-frame frequency and sentence complement ratio (SCR) do not significantly predict the MoS island effect in ANY experiment. This rules out the verb-frame frequency account.

def Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.frequencyNullCount : Fin 9

Frequency null results: verb-frame frequency and sentence complement ratio (SCR) are n.s. in every experiment that tested them.

• Exp 1: freq β = −0.003, p = 0.874; SCR β = −0.0002, p = 0.987
• Exp 2b: freq β = −0.001, p = 0.981; SCR β = 0.008, p = 0.754
• Exp 3a: freq β = −0.005, p = 0.664; SCR β = −0.003, p = 0.793
• Exp 3b: freq β = 0.01, p = 0.712; SCR β = 0.01, p = 0.587

Total: 0/8 significant (all p > 0.05).

Equations

• Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.frequencyNullCount = 0

Cross-Experiment Generalizations

theorem Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.focus_amelioration_consistent : exp1_acceptability_embeddedFocus > exp1_acceptability_verbFocus ∧ exp2a_acc_mos_embeddedFocus > exp2a_acc_mos_verbFocus ∧ exp2a_acc_say_embeddedFocus > exp2a_acc_say_verbFocus ∧ exp3b_acc_embeddedFocus > exp3b_acc_adverbFocus

Focus amelioration is consistent across all tested configurations.

theorem Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.backgroundedness_anticorrelates_with_acceptability : (exp1_backgrounded_verbFocus > exp1_backgrounded_embeddedFocus ∧ exp1_acceptability_verbFocus < exp1_acceptability_embeddedFocus) ∧ (exp2b_bg_mos > exp2b_bg_say ∧ exp2b_acc_mos < exp2b_acc_say) ∧ exp3b_bg_adverbFocus > exp3b_bg_embeddedFocus ∧ exp3b_acc_adverbFocus < exp3b_acc_embeddedFocus

More backgrounded → lower extraction acceptability, consistently.

theorem Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.mos_effect_not_verb_class_artifact : exp3a_acc_say > exp3a_acc_sayAdverb ∧ exp2b_acc_say > exp2b_acc_mos

The MoS island effect is NOT an artifact of verb-class confounds: the say+adverb construction replicates it with the same bridge verb.

Island Source Derivation

The MoS island effect is classified as a weak, discourse-sourced island. The source classification is DERIVED from the experimental evidence above, not stipulated in a global lookup table:

1. Not syntactic: prosodic focus ameliorates the effect (Exps 1, 3b). Syntactic constraints (PIC, subjacency) are insensitive to prosodic focus.
2. Not processing: verb-frame frequency is non-predictive (0/8 tests). Processing accounts predict frequency effects.
3. Discourse: say+adverb replicates the effect without structural change (Exp 3a). Only the backgroundedness account predicts this — adding a manner adverb to a bridge verb increases manner salience, shifting the QUD and backgrounding the complement.

def Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.mosIslandSources : List IslandSource

MoS islands are discourse-sourced. Derived from three empirical dissociations (above) that rule out syntactic and processing sources.

Equations

• Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.mosIslandSources = [Phenomena.Islands.IslandSource.discourse]

def Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.mosIslandStrength : ConstraintStrength

MoS islands are weak: ameliorated by prosodic focus. Derived from Experiments 1 and 3b: embedded-focus conditions are significantly more acceptable than verb-focus conditions.

Equations

• Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.mosIslandStrength = Phenomena.Islands.ConstraintStrength.weak

theorem Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.weak_classification_justified : mosIslandStrength = ConstraintStrength.weak ∧ exp1_acceptability_embeddedFocus > exp1_acceptability_verbFocus ∧ exp3b_acc_embeddedFocus > exp3b_acc_adverbFocus

The strength classification is empirically supported: prosodic focus improves extraction across all tested configurations.

theorem Phenomena.Islands.MannerOfSpeaking.mos_vs_wh_same_strength_different_source : mosIslandStrength = ConstraintStrength.weak ∧ mosIslandSources ≠ [IslandSource.syntactic]

MoS islands and wh-islands are both weak (ameliorable), but by DIFFERENT mechanisms: MoS by prosodic focus (information structure), wh-islands by D-linking (filler complexity). Same strength label, different sources, different amelioration strategies.