A statistical analysis of wh-scope responses to embedded wh-phrases in Gyeongsang Korean

This study investigates the fixed and random factors affecting response patterns of wh-scope interpretations in Gyeongsang Korean. It employed logistic mixed-effects regression models to analyze responses from 24 participants who listened to 40 pre-recorded stimuli from 40 different speakers. The stimuli consisted of an embedded wh-phrase and an interrogative ending marker, "-nkiko," thereby forming a wh-question, specifically a matrix wh-scope. Participants repeated the test three times. The study found that the prominence level of a prosodic phrase composed of an embedded verb and a complementizer was inversely related to responses with wh-questions, as demonstrated through multiple regression analysis in Yun. The test trial significantly impacted the number of responses with wh-questions, increasing from 50.3% in the first trial to 58.8% and 61.2% in subsequent trials. Examination of random subject effects revealed two main factors influencing responses: morpho-syntactic constraints and prosodic structural integrity. These two factors demonstrated the potential to be inversely weighted. Analysis of random stimulus effects suggested that the prominence level had limited effects on response patterns with each stimulus primarily eliciting one type of responses across trials.