Experiments in Linguistic Meaning

The global interpretation of a focus marked sentence with a particle like only arises due to the interplay of several formal components: F-marking, the semantics of the particle, the nature of contrastive alternatives, and a dependence on context. In this paper, we argue that on-line reading measures can be used to probe which of these com- ponents are computed when. In order to isolate which components give rise to reading slowdowns typically observed on foci (Birch & Rayner 1997, Benatar & Clifton 2014, Lowder & Gordon 2015, Hoeks et al. 2023), a Maze reading study tested whether such slowdowns still arise on second-occurrence foci (SOF)—foci whose inferences have already been computed in prior discourse and are therefore entirely predictable—and on foci whose size and location can only be determined via a previously introduced contrast. Results indeed showed slowdowns on such foci, suggesting that these cannot solely be attributed to readers computing focal inferences anew, nor to comprehenders initiating their reasoning about the relevant alternatives.