Typology of relative clauses: the case of Berber

2014 ◽  
Vol 67 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lionel Galand
Keyword(s):  
Relative Clause ◽  
Relative Clauses ◽  
Grammatical Function ◽  
Double Constraint ◽  
Typological Classification

AbstractA relative clause is subordinate to a nominal element (noun or pronoun) called ``antecedent'', in order to define or complete its meaning. Therefore any language making use of relative clauses must: 1) make clear that the relative clause is indeed subordinate; 2) show which type of relation exists between the relative clause and the antecedent, i.e. what would be the grammatical function of the antecedent, should the clause be independent and include it. The different ways of answering that double constraint provide criteria for a typological classification of relative clauses. The article describes the choices made by a few Berber languages.

Infinitival relative clauses in spoken discourse

1998 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christer Geisler
Keyword(s):  
Quantitative Analysis ◽  
Relative Clause ◽  
Information Structure ◽  
Relative Clauses ◽  
Grammatical Function ◽  
Matrix Clause ◽  
British English ◽  
Spoken Discourse ◽  
Spoken English ◽  
The Matrix

ABSTRACTThis article concerns infinitival relative clauses, such as Mary is the person to ask, and their distribution in spoken English. It analyzes the correlation between the function of the antecedent in the relative clause and the function of the whole postmodified NP (the relative complex) in the matrix clause. On the basis of a quantitative analysis of a corpus of spoken British English, I show that the grammatical function of the antecedent in the infinitival relative clause depends on the function of the antecedent in the matrix clause. I argue that the distribution of antecedent functions in the matrix clause can be explained in terms of thematic properties and information structure of the clauses in which the infinitival relatives occur. A key notion is that speakers center their discourse around information that they assume to be important for the communicative event.

Japanese EFL Learners' Sensitivity To Configurational Distinction In English Relative Clause Comprehension

2005 ◽  
Vol 147-148 ◽  
pp. 45-61
Author(s):  
Akihiro Ito
Keyword(s):  
Relative Clause ◽  
Relative Clauses ◽  
Noun Phrases ◽  
Clause Structure ◽  
Grammatical Function ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Japanese Learners Of English ◽  
Grammaticality Judgment ◽  
Grammatical Relation ◽  
Japanese Learners

A variety of studies have reported that the order of Noun Phrase Accessibility Hierarchy can be a valid predictor of difficulty of relative clauses, but it is unclear whether the difficulty of relative clauses should be attributed to the grammatical function of noun phrases (grammatical relation) or to configurational differences in the relative clause structure. A few articles have reported that learners of English are more sensitive to configurational distinctions than grammatical relation distinctions in relative clause production. However, not much research on this issue has been conducted. The results of a grammaticality judgment test conducted with 77 Japanese learners of English point toward a stronger sensitivity to configuration than to grammatical relation, favoring the configurational account.

The Generalization of Instruction on Genitive Relative Clause in the Acquisition of English as a Foreign Language

2006 ◽  
Vol 151 ◽  
pp. 99-113
Author(s):  
Akihiro Ito
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Relative Clause ◽  
Relative Clauses ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Test Results ◽  
Japanese Learners Of English ◽  
Special Instruction ◽  
Japanese Learners

This study examines the generalization of instruction in foreign language learning. A group of Japanese learners of English served as participants and received special instruction in the structure of genitive relative clauses. The participants were given a pre-test on combining two sentences into one containing a genitive relative clause wherein the relativized noun phrase following the genitive marker "whose" is either the subject, direct object, or object of preposition. Based on the TOEFL and the pre-test results, four equal groups were formed; three of these served as experimental groups, and one as the control group. Each experimental group was given instruction on the formation of only one type of genitive relative clause. The participants were then given two post-tests. The results indicated that the generalization of learning begins from structures that are typologically more marked genitive relative clauses to those structures that are typologically less marked, and not vice versa.

scholarly journals Revisiting obligatory relatives in German

2020 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-39
Author(s):  
Andreas Blümel ◽  
Mingya Liu
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Relative Clause ◽  
Relative Clauses ◽  
Semantic Analysis ◽  
Intuitive Appeal ◽  
Compositional Semantic ◽  
The One

AbstractIn the literature on relative clauses (e. g. Alexiadou et al.2000: 4), it is occasionally observed that the German complex definite determiner d-jenige (roughly ‘the one’) must share company with a restrictive relative clause, in contrast to bare determiners der/die/das (Roehrs2006: 213–215; Gunkel2006; Gunkel2007). Previous works such as Sternefeld (2008: 378–379) and Blümel (2011) treat the relative clause as a complement of D to account for its mandatory occurrence. While such syntactic analyses have intuitive appeal, they pose problems for a compositional semantic analysis.The goal of this paper is twofold. First, we report on two rating studies providing empirical evidence for the obligatoriness of relative clauses in German DPs introduced by the complex determiner d-jenige. Secondly, following Simonenko (2014, 2015), we provide an analysis of the phenomenon at the syntax-semantics interface that captures familiar (Blümel2011) as well as novel related observations. Particularly, the analysis accounts for the facts that postnominal modifiers can figure in d-jenige-DPs and that the element can have anaphoric demonstrative pronominal uses.

scholarly journals Cyclicity and Connectivity in Nez Perce Relative Clauses

2016 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 427-470 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amy Rose Deal
Keyword(s):  
Word Order ◽  
Relative Clause ◽  
Crucial Role ◽  
Relative Clauses ◽  
Head Noun ◽  
Intermediate Position ◽  
Nez Perce ◽  
The Core ◽  
New Evidence ◽  
Relative Pronouns

This article studies two aspects of movement in relative clauses, focusing on evidence from Nez Perce. First, I argue that relativization involves cyclic Ā-movement, even in monoclausal relatives: the relative operator moves to Spec,CP via an intermediate position in an Ā outer specifier of TP. The core arguments draw on word order, complementizer choice, and a pattern of case attraction for relative pronouns. Ā cyclicity of this type suggests that the TP sister of relative C constitutes a phase—a result whose implications extend to an ill-understood corner of the English that-trace effect. Second, I argue that Nez Perce relativization provides new evidence for an ambiguity thesis for relative clauses, according to which some but not all relatives are derived by head raising. The argument comes from connectivity and anticonnectivity in morphological case. A crucial role is played by a pattern of inverse case attraction, wherein the head noun surfaces in a case determined internal to the relative clause. These new data complement the range of existing arguments concerning head raising, which draw primarily on connectivity effects at the syntax-semantics interface.

Attribute theorems as a prtotypic type of relative clauses in contemporary German

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (138) ◽  
pp. 23-32
Author(s):  
UDAY HATTIM MAHMOD
Keyword(s):  
Relative Clause ◽  
Relative Clauses ◽  
German Language ◽  
Semantic Level

In this project, we try to do justice to the grammatical phenomenon of the current German language, which we want to explain in this research. This study deals with the topic of attribute theorems as a prtotypic type of relative clauses in contemporary German, not only from the grammatical or syntactic level, but also from the semantic level. The presented work thus covers the most important rules of the relative clause as an attribute with regard to: a) Construction and formation of the attribute theorem as a prototypical type of relative clauses in German. b) Meaning and use of attribute theorem as a prototypical type of relative clauses in German.

scholarly journals Lexicalized structural priming in second language online sentence comprehension

2017 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 395-416 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hang Wei ◽  
Julie E. Boland ◽  
Jonathan Brennan ◽  
Fang Yuan ◽  
Min Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Adult Learners ◽  
Relative Clause ◽  
Relative Clauses ◽  
Sentence Comprehension ◽  
First Language ◽  
Structural Priming ◽  
Chinese Adult ◽  
Education Levels ◽  
L1 And L2

Prior work has shown intriguing differences between first language (L1) and second language (L2) comprehension priming of relative clauses. We investigated English reduced relative clause priming in Chinese adult learners of English. Participants of different education levels read sentences in a self-paced, moving window paradigm. Critical sentences had a temporarily ambiguous reduced relative clause. Across lists, critical sentences were rotated, so that they occurred either as prime or as target, and had either the same or different verb as the critical sentence with which they were paired. Prime/target pairs were separated by several filler sentences, which never contained a relative clause. Mean reading times for the disambiguating region in the target sentences were faster than in the prime sentences, but only in the same-verb condition, not in the different-verb condition. This pattern of results is consistent with L1 comprehension priming research, suggesting that similar lexically specific mechanisms are involved in L1 and L2 comprehension priming of reduced relative clauses. These findings are in line with lexicalist accounts of sentence comprehension (e.g. MacDonald et al., 1994), according to which syntactic information is bound to specific words. In addition, these findings argue against theories that postulate fundamental differences in processing of L1 and L2 (e.g. Clahsen and Felser, 2006a, 2006b).

scholarly journals Similarity-based interference and relative clauses in second language processing

2021 ◽  
pp. 026765832110635
Author(s):  
Ian Cunnings ◽  
Hiroki Fujita
Keyword(s):  
Language Processing ◽  
Relative Clause ◽  
Relative Clauses ◽  
Large Body ◽  
Interference Effects ◽  
Second Language Processing ◽  
L2 Processing ◽  
Relative Disadvantage ◽  
L1 And L2 ◽  
Object Relative

Relative clauses have long been examined in research on first (L1) and second (L2) language acquisition and processing, and a large body of research has shown that object relative clauses (e.g. ‘The boy that the girl saw’) are more difficult to process than subject relative clauses (e.g. ‘The boy that saw the girl’). Although there are different accounts of this finding, memory-based factors have been argued to play a role in explaining the object relative disadvantage. Evidence of memory-based factors in relative clause processing comes from studies indicating that representational similarity influences the difficulty associated with object relatives as a result of a phenomenon known as similarity-based interference. Although similarity-based interference has been well studied in L1 processing, less is known about how it influences L2 processing. We report two studies – an eye-tracking experiment and a comprehension task – investigating interference in the comprehension of relative clauses in L1 and L2 readers. Our results indicated similarity-based interference in the processing of object relative clauses in both L1 and L2 readers, with no significant differences in the size of interference effects between the two groups. These results highlight the importance of considering memory-based factors when examining L2 processing.

scholarly journals Relativiser Alternation and Relative Clause Complexity: Insights from Nigerian and American Varieties

2020 ◽  
pp. 91-113
Author(s):  
Mayowa Akinlotan
Keyword(s):  
Relative Clause ◽  
Relative Clauses ◽  
The Other ◽  
Construction Site ◽  
Simple Construction ◽  
Syntactic Form ◽  
Complex Versus ◽  
New Varieties ◽  
Syntactic Function ◽  
Independent Effects

Idiosyncrasies and peculiarities distinguishing new Englishes from the established ones are often identified and measured by examining the extent to which structural choices and patterns vary across the board. The competition between relativisers wh- and that in the construction of relative clause, which itself is a structurally complex-versus-simple construction site, allows for showing the extent to which choice of a relativiser relates to the construction of a complex or simple relative clause, given different factors. On the other hand, such investigation can also shed some light on the extent to which structural com- plexity characterises new varieties of English. Relying on 628 relative clauses drawn from written academic corpus, the study shows that WH-relativiser is preferred to THAT-relativiser by the Nigerian speakers, and vice versa by the American speakers. It is also found that WH-relative clause is more likely to be complex-structured while THAT-relative clause is more likely to be simple-structured. Among eight factors tested for independent effects, the factors representing relativiser posterior syntactic form, syntactic function, and syntactic positioning of the relative clause appeared to be strong predictors of where we might (not) find a certain relativiser and whether a complex or simple relative clause will emerge.

scholarly journals PENGGUNAAN KLAUSA RELATIF PADA PEMBELAJAR BIPA DI UNIT PELAKSANA TEKNIS (UPT) BAHASA UNIVERSITAS SEBELAS MARET SURAKARTA

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 45
Author(s):  
Anggun Melati Sari ◽  
Andayani Andayani ◽  
Sumarlam Sumarlam
Keyword(s):  
Relative Clause ◽  
Grade Level ◽  
Relative Clauses ◽  
Advanced Technique ◽  
Academic Scholarship ◽  
Mastery Level ◽  
Oral Speech ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Level Of Difficulty ◽  
Foreign Speakers

Anggun Melati Sari1, Andayani2, Sumarlam31Universitas Sebelas Maret [email protected] 2Universitas Sebelas Maret [email protected] 3Universitas Sebelas Maret [email protected]  AbstractThis study aimed to describe the use of relative clauses Indonesian learners for Foreign Speakers (BIPA) grade-level academic scholarship at the Technical Implementation Unit (UPT) Language of Sebelas Maret University. The subject matter is the form of the use of relative clauses and the types of errors in relative clause. The data used in this study is the form of oral’s data and writing’s data. The data derived from the oral-speech BIPA’s learners in which there is relative clause while the writing’s data derived from the sentences in BIPA learner’s essay in which there is relative clause. The data were analyzed using agih methods and advanced technique of agih methods. The results of this study indicate that the use of relative clauses in BIPA learners using the perelative words “yang”. Acquisition of the relative clauses that relativize the thermic elements and errors in the relative clause that removes the noun element occupying the highest level as well as describe the highest degree of mastery in relative clauses. This study concluded that the form of the use of relative clause also describe the mastery level of difficulty of each type of relative clause learners BIPA.Keywords: clause, relative clause, Indonesian for foreign speakers (BIPA)

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