Cognitive and Neural Constraints on Timing and Rhythm in Language
Abstract
In this chapter, we discuss research from behavior, event-related brain potentials, and neural oscillations that suggests that cognitive and neural constraints affect the timing of speech processing and language comprehension. Some of these constraints may even manifest as rhythmic patterns in linguistic behavior. We discuss two types of constraints: First, we review how the unfolding acoustic and abstract context affects the timing of incremental processing on different linguistic levels (e.g., prosody, syntax). Second, we consider context-invariant constraints (e.g., working-memory trace decay, period of electrophysiological activity) and how these limit the duration of our processing time windows, thus restricting our segmentation and composition abilities.
Fields of Study & Subjects
Language
Metaphor
and Cognition
Categorization
perception
and language
Publication details
- Journal / source
- Cambridge University Press eBooks
- Publisher
- Cambridge University Press
- Pages
- 316–331
- Publication date
- 31 March 2026
- Language
- EN
- Document type
- Book chapter