pone.0330620.t011 -

The role of language in the narrative self is well-known, but does it also affect the minimal self? We investigated whether variations in sentence structure affect the speaker’s sense of the minimal self. Previous research has examined how third-person subject expressions influence interpretations of agency, particularly in causal contexts. We examined whether expressing the first-person subject’s involvement in causation or perception events influences the speaker’s sense of agency and ownership, key components of the minimal self. Participants completed an online experiment using psychological rating scales to evaluate Japanese sentences with varying degrees of speaker involvement, as if they had uttered them. Each sentence varied in whether and how it encoded causation or perception. We analyzed Japanese data since, in addition to perceiver-prominent sentences (e.g., [watashi ga] hoshi o mita, “I saw a star”), Japanese has perceiver-stimulus-prominent sentences (e.g., [watashi ni] hoshi ga mieta, “A star was visible to me”/ “I could see a star”), which also foreground the first-person perceiver in a double subject construction. We found that the speaker’s sense of agency was significantly lower in sentences where either causation or perception was absent (e.g., hoshi ga deteita, “A star was out”) compared to sentences where either was present. Agency was also significantly higher for perceiver-prominent sentences than for perceiver-stimulus-prominent sentences. Regarding ownership, it was also significantly higher for perceiver-prominent sentences. Whether ownership was significantly higher for perceiver-stimulus-prominent sentences than for those lacking causation or perception varied with the perceived stimulus. These results suggest that variations in linguistic structure can distinctly impact the senses of agency and ownership. In cognitive linguistics, certain sentence structures are analyzed to reflect how subjectively the speaker is construed. Our findings suggest that differences in agency and ownership provide an empirical basis for this argument, grounded in embodied experience.语言在叙事自我（narrative self）中的作用已广为人知，但其是否同样会对极小自我（minimal self）产生影响？我们探究了句子结构的变化是否会影响说话者的极小自我意识。既往研究已针对第三人称主语表达如何影响能动性（agency）的解读展开考察，尤其聚焦于因果语境。我们考察了第一人称主语对因果或知觉事件的参与表达，是否会影响说话者的能动性与拥有感（ownership）——这二者是极小自我的核心构成要素。参与者借助心理评定量表完成一项线上实验，对不同说话者参与程度的日语句子进行评估，模拟自身说出该句子的场景。每句句子在是否编码因果或知觉事件，以及如何编码此类事件两方面存在差异。我们选择日语语料进行分析，原因在于日语除了有知觉凸显句（例如「[watashi ga] hoshi o mita」，意为“我看见了一颗星星”），还存在知觉-刺激凸显句（例如「[watashi ni] hoshi ga mieta」，意为“星星在我眼前可见/我能看见一颗星星”），这类句子通过双主语结构同样凸显了第一人称知觉者。我们发现，当句子未涉及因果或知觉事件时（例如「hoshi ga deteita」，意为“星星出现了”），说话者的能动性得分显著低于涉及此类事件的句子。知觉凸显句的能动性得分也显著高于知觉-刺激凸显句。就拥有感而言，知觉凸显句的得分同样显著更高。而知觉-刺激凸显句相较于未涉及因果或知觉事件的句子，其拥有感是否显著更高，则取决于所知觉到的刺激类型。上述结果表明，语言结构的变化能够对能动性与拥有感产生显著影响。在认知语言学领域，部分句子结构被用于分析说话者的主观识解程度。我们的研究结果表明，能动性与拥有感的差异为这一基于具身经验的论点提供了实证依据。