Beschreibung:
<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title>
<jats:p>It is self-evident that language changes across time; how this process of language change takes place has been investigated for specific domains, such as the genitive case. Language change may induce a heterogeneity of verbal competences. However, in differential psychology theoretical models on verbal intelligence imply that verbal competence is a rather homogeneous. Accordingly, the question of homogeneity and heterogeneity of verbal competences is a rather open one. Therefore, this study investigates the competence of differentiating sentences with genitive verbs from other object types and of evaluating the familiarity with these object types. It was examined whether homogeneous or heterogeneous linguistic competences are relevant for the evaluation of the grammatical correctness of sentences. The methodological basis for the linguistic and differential psychological study was a questionnaire of 22 groups of sentences with verbs requiring the genitive as an object case and/or verbs requiring another object case. Participants (<jats:italic toggle="yes">N</jats:italic> = 177 students) were asked to evaluate the grammatical correctness of the sentences (correct vs. incorrect) and the familiarity of content of the sentences on a six point Likert scale. Based on a statistical method termed principal component analysis, the relevance of homogenous vs. heterogeneous linguistic competences was investigated. This analysis led to six principal components which can be differentiated with regard to their relevance for linguistic competences. In addition, it could be demonstrated that the mother tongue (German vs. non-German) and the course of study (German studies or Psychology) influenced the evaluation of correctness. The findings indicate that relations between specific linguistic competences and verbal intelligence should be analyzed with regard to language and socialization processes.</jats:p>