Abstract
This paper investigates the possibility of an effect of contextual information during the processing of sentences containing subject relative clauses (SRCs) and object relative clauses (ORCs) in Brazilian Portuguese. The predictions from one-stage models and from syntaxoriented approaches to sentence processing are outlined. An eye-tracking experiment is reported in which SRCs and ORC were presented when preceded by narrative contexts that could either favor a subject or an object relative clause analysis. The results suggest that ORCs are harder to process when compared to SRCs, no matter what discourse contexts they are inserted in. The contextual effect obtained here can be ascribed to a pre-syntactic priming, ie. a priming effect which arises during lexical access. The possibility of pre- and post-syntactic contextual effects in the processing of RCs is discussed.
Highlights
The asymmetry between subject relative clauses (SRCs) and object relative clauses (ORCs) has been widely reported, with higher processing costs for the latter
No evidence was obtained for ORC processing being facilitated by supportive contexts in such a way as to revert or neutralize the asymmetry between SRCs and ORCs (prediction (b))
Unlike Yang et al.’s results, longer times were not obtained in SRC in Context 2 in the RC region and no effect of context could be captured in the head noun region that could suggest that altering the referent of the subject of the main clause could have impact in the processing of SRCs
Summary
The asymmetry between subject relative clauses (SRCs) and object relative clauses (ORCs) has been widely reported, with higher processing costs for the latter WANNER; MARATSOS, 1978; KING; JUST, 1991; KING; KUTAS, 1995; GIBSON et al, 2005). This asymmetry has been ascribed to the transient memory load between the head of the RC (the filler) and the position in which it is recovered (the gap in the RC), in order for the processing of relativization to be accomplished (cf (1-2)). The need to hold the head noun in working memory as soon as the relative clause is identified and to process a subject-verb relation would account for the greater transient memory load between the filler and the gap of object RCs (CORRÊA, 1986, 1995). The structural properties of ORCs would account for the asymmetry
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