The Structure and Acquisition of Relative Clauses in Serbo-Croatian

Abstract

Serbo-Croatian is a language with a dual system of relative clause formation. By the test of obedience to subjacency, sto and koji relatives are formed by successive cyclic movement, whereas za koga relatives are formed by pronominal linkage. Elicited production and comprehension experiments were conducted with preschool children. We interpret the results as evidence that children initially treat sto relatives as nonmovement relatives, contrary to the facts of the adult grammar. Za koga relatives are mastered by only a small number of children. We discuss our results in the context of the cross-linguistic typology of relative clauses and previous studies of the acquisition of relative clauses, arguing that a nonmovement analysis of relatives is unmarked for relative clause formation (in comparison to wh-question formation) and that a nonmovement analysis may represent a common first stage in the acquisition of relative clauses.