On the role of frequency and similarity in the acquisition of subject and non-subject relative clauses

2009 ◽  
pp. 251-276 ◽  
Author(s):  
Holger Diessel
Keyword(s):  
Relative Clauses

The Role of Memory in Processing Relative Clauses in Children With Specific Language Impairment

2015 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-59 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pauline Frizelle ◽  
Paul Fletcher
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Language Impairment ◽  
Specific Language Impairment ◽  
Relative Clauses ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Matrix Clause ◽  
Specific Language ◽  
Almost All

Purpose This study investigated the relationship between 2 components of memory—phonological short-term memory (pSTM) and working memory (WM)—and the control of relative clause constructions in children with specific language impairment (SLI). Method Children with SLI and 2 control groups—an age-matched and a younger group of children with typical development—repeated sentences, including relative clauses, representing 5 syntactic roles and 2 levels of matrix clause complexity. The Working Memory Test Battery for Children was administered. Results All 3 groups showed significant associations between pSTM and both types of matrix clause construction. For children with SLI, significant associations emerged between (a) WM and more complex matrix clause constructions, (b) WM and relative clauses including a range of syntactic roles, and (c) pSTM and the least difficult syntactic role. In contrast, the age-matched control group could repeat almost all syntactic roles without invoking the use of either memory component. Conclusions The role of pSTM and WM in the production of relative clauses by children with SLI is influenced by the degree of difficulty of the structure to be recalled. In therapy, the effect of WM limitations can be minimized by approaching each structure within the context of a simple matrix clause.

Wh-agreement in Ojibwe relative clauses: Evidence for CP Structure

2013 ◽  
Vol 58 (2) ◽  
pp. 293-318 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bethany Lochbihler ◽  
Eric Mathieu
Keyword(s):  
Relative Clauses ◽  
Syntactic Structure ◽  
Show Evidence ◽  
Special Morphology ◽  
Feature Inheritance

AbstractThis article discusses the morphological and syntactic structure of relative clauses in Ojibwe (Algonquian), in particular their status as wh-constructions. Relatives in this language are full clauses that bear special morphology, show evidence of A′-movement of a wh-operator, and consequently exhibit wh-agreement also found in interrogatives and certain types of focus constructions. Ojibwe shows the possibility of wh-agreement realized on T (in addition to C and v for other languages), as it appears on tense prefixes. We account for the realization of wh-agreement on T in Ojibwe via the mechanism of feature inheritance. We propose that while declarative matrix clauses are canonical in that C introduces φ-features in Ojibwe, the role of C in embedded or wh-contexts is to introduce δ-features (discourse features), such as [uwh], rather than φ-features. These δ-features can be introduced by C, but are transferred down to T where they spell out as wh-agreement.

scholarly journals Gli usi dell’articolo e del pro-aggettivo in alcuni tipi di sintagmi nominali italiani a confronto con lo sloveno

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 127-146
Author(s):  
Mirjam Premrl Podobnik
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Analysis ◽  
Relative Clauses ◽  
Noun Phrases ◽  
Indefinite Article ◽  
Descriptive Information ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Universal Category ◽  
The Relationship

The article focuses on the relationship between postmodifiers in the form of noun phrases, relative and content clauses, and the use of articles or pro-adjectives in the nominal heads. The results of a qualitative analysis of Slovene and Italian texts and their translations into Italian and Slovene are presented, the main purpose of which was to identify markers of definiteness in Slovene and to predict the use of articles in Italian, thus showing the possibilities for Slovenes to express themselves appropriately in Italian. Assuming that definiteness is a universal category and therefore recognisable also in languages without articles (Slovene), and considering the author and the translator ideal speakers of Slovene and/or Italian, the Slovene texts served as the starting point of each analysis, while the Italian texts played the role of control. An article use is defined as cataphoric if the content of the postmodifier contributes to the definite interpretation of its head. Subordinate noun phrases can be divided into conceptual and argumentative. In Italian, the former, expressing a non-entity, are marked by a zero article and form a semantic unit with their heads, whereas the latter, expressing an entity, are marked by an article (included the zero one) and do not form a semantic unit with their heads. Related to definiteness is the restrictiveness of the clause, which consists in the article or pro-adjective determining the head including its postmodifier. Such heads can be both definite or indefinite. The analyses have shown instances of relative clauses that are placed between restrictive and non-restrictive ones. Conveying descriptive information, they occur after the heads preceded by an indefinite article. The definiteness of nominal heads preceded by a pro-adjective or without a determiner in Slovene texts is also discussed.

Amharic Relatives and Possessives: Definiteness, Agreement, and the Linker

2007 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 302-320 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcel den Dikken
Keyword(s):  
Noun Phrase ◽  
Head Movement ◽  
Relative Clauses ◽  
Noun Phrases

Ouhalla's (2004) valuable discussion of relativized and possessed noun phrases in Amharic leaves a number of questions open. Foremost among these is the placement of the linker element yä-. Starting from an analysis of relative clauses and possessors as predicates of their “heads,” this article develops a syntax of complex noun phrases in Amharic that explains the raison d'être and placement of yä-, and also accommodates facts about definiteness marking and agreement in the Amharic complex noun phrase that have hitherto largely escaped attention or analysis. The analysis emphasizes the role of Predicate Inversion and head movement in syntax, and it confirms and extends the minimalist Agree- and phase-based approach to syntactic relationships.

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