Parsing Ambiguity in Mandarin Chinese: Garden Path Effects Induced by the Functional Particle "的" (DE)

Garden-path effects are well-documented in Indo-European languages, but remain less explored in Mandarin Chinese, a typologically distinct language where syntactic ambiguity is frequent due to the absence of rich morphology. This study investigates whether the functional particle “的” (de) triggers measurable garden-path effects during real-time sentence processing in Mandarin. Using a self-paced reading paradigm, we measured reaction times (RTs) and reading times for Active, Passive, and locally ambiguous Garden Path sentences followed by comprehension questions to assess processing costs and reanalysis. While group-level analyses didn't find different effect of sentence type on RTs or reading times, participant-level mixed-effects models showed considerable individual variability and a marginal trend for longer latencies in Garden Path sentences. These findings suggest that Mandarin readers may employ flexible parsing strategies, possibly involving rapid partial repairs when encountering local ambiguities involving “的” (de). This indicates that garden-path effects in Mandarin are more subtle than previously assumed, challenging the universality of strong disruption models and highlighting the importance of probabilistic parsing and cross-linguistic variation in sentence processing.