Word order priming in written and spoken sentence production

An experiment is reported that showed priming of the word order of auxiliar y verb and past participle in Dutch subordinate clauses, both in speaking a nd in writing. Participants completed sentence fragments to full sentences. Prime sentence fragments were constrained so as to be completed with only one possible word order. Target sentence fragments, presented immediately a fter the prime fragments, could be completed with the same word order as th at of the prime and an alternative order with the two words exchanged. Sign ificant priming effects were obtained, so that the same word orders tended to be used in prime and target. We interpret this as evidence for a distinc t process of constituent structure linearization during sentence production , which serves to ensure the fluency of speech and writing. (C) 2000 Elsevi er Science B.V, All rights reserved.