Different Multiword Verb Categories are Processed Differentially in the Brain: An Evidence from EEG Analysis and Decoding

The mental representation of multiword verb constructions is a central question in neurolinguistics: are they stored as single lexical units or completely compositional items? This study investigates the neurocognitive processing of two multiword verb types: phrasal verbs (e.g., look up) and prepositional verbs (e.g., decide on). Taking in consideration verb-to-infinitive constructions (e.g., want to go) as a control group. We analyse event-related potentials from eleven native English speakers who completed a listening task while EEG data were recorded. Grand-averaged waveforms and root-mean-square amplitudes were analysed across four-time windows. Therefore, statistical comparisons showed a significantly larger N400 amplitudes for prepositional verbs compared to phrasal verbs, while no significant differences were found between prepositional and to-infinitive constructions. Multivariate pattern analyses confirmed neural discriminability between phrasal and prepositional verbs, but not between prepositional and verb-to-infinitive structures. These results confirm that prepositional and verb-to-infinitive constructions are processed compositionally via valency-based integration, whereas phrasal verbs are stored as lexicalized units. The findings support a theoretical model in which multiword verb constructions differ in their degree of lexicalization, with measurable consequences for real-time neural processing.