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The First Noun Principle and Ambitransitive Verbs

This study explored native English speakers’ interpretations of second-language Spanish sentences featuring an animate subject and an ambitransitive verb (e.g., Escuchan bien los niños ‘The children listen well’). First- (N=37), third- (N=39), and fifth-semester (N=23) participants heard eight subject-verb (SV) and eight verb-subject (VS) sentences and selected from two English translations. Paired-samples t-tests indicated all levels scored significantly higher (p<.01) for SV than VS sentences. A one-way ANOVA also showed significant differences (p<.01) across levels for VS sentences, with fifth-semester learners significantly outperforming first- (p=.02) and third-semester (p<.01) learners. Findings reveal a tendency to interpret the first noun as an object in the VS sentences, contrary to the First Noun Principle.