Head NP Research Articles

The ordering of relative clauses and determiner phrases in Chinese interlanguage: a multifactorial study

In English, a relative clause (rc) follows the head noun phrase (np). Conversely, the rc in Chinese precedes the head np directly before it or is separated by a determiner phrase (dp). This is uncommon in the subject-verb-object order language and results in two types of constructions. For Chinese as foreign language (cfl) learners, this construction alternation is complex to acquire and is dependent on many factors. This study aims to explore the underlying factors influencing cfl learners’ outer modifier nominal (omn)/inner modifier nominal (imn) alternation and whether they have multiple interactions. A multifactorial exploration of the significant predictors of the omn/imn alternation in Chinese interlanguage data, taken from the International Chinese Interlanguage Corpus, was conducted. Conditional inference trees and random forests were used to analyse the data. The predictors studied consist of head np animacy (HeadNPAnimacy), head np length (HeadNPLength), grammatical roles of head nps in matrix clauses (HeadNPMatRole), grammatical roles of head nps in rcs (HeadNPRelRole), length of rcs (RCLength), types of native languages (NLType), and learners’ Chinese proficiency (CHProficiency). Examinations of omn/imn alternation show predictors’ significant effects in descending order of their effect size: HeadNPRelRole, HeadNPMatRole, RCLength, NLType, and HeadNPAnimacy.

When missing NPs make double center-embedding sentences acceptable

A number of languages, such as English, exhibit a grammaticality illusion in ungrammatical double center-embedding sentences where a VP is missing. This article shows that the illusion generalizes to ungrammatical Mandarin Chinese double center-embedding sentences where the head NP of a relative clause is missing.The Mandarin illusion raises interesting questions for existing accounts of center-embedding illusions. Mandarin missing NP sentences consist of three transitive verbs and only three NPs; the clear shortage of NPs should affect the thematic relations built for such sentences, with potential consequences for acceptability. We explore these issues with acceptability judgment experiments. We show that these illusory sentences receive distinct thematic interpretations compared to their better-studied missing VP counterparts, in ways not predicted by structural forgetting or interference accounts. A computational simulation further shows that the Mandarin illusion is problematic for accounts that attribute cross-linguistic variation in the illusion to differences in language experience.To capture cross-linguistic variation, we build on existing interference accounts, in which the parser mis-attaches a verb or NP to the main clause instead of a relative clause. We supplement this approach with a repair process, in which the parser tracks thematic relations, repairing them where necessary so no verb or noun is thematically “orphaned.” We suggest that the illusion of grammaticality arises when the parser can establish thematic relations between all verbs and nouns. This interference-and-repair approach provides a unified analysis of the missing VP and missing NP illusions, while accounting for the observed difference in thematic relations.

Agreement Mismatch in Partitive Relatives

Agreement Mismatch in Partitive Relatives

Integration of Verb Subcategorization Information in L2 English Sentence Processing by Korean Learners : An Eye-Tracking Study

The present study tested whether adult Korean learners of English are able to immediately integrate verb-specific structural information (i.e. subcategorization restrictions imposed by individual verbs) as they read sentences in English. Seventeen native speakers of English and 22 Korean learners of English participated in an eye-tracking experiment, in which they read English sentences that contained a wh-dependency between the head NP and the verb of a relative clause. The relative clause verbs consisted of three types that varied in terms of subcategorization properties: transitive verbs that take an NP complement more often than a PP complement, transitive verbs that take a PP complement more often than an NP complement, and unaccusative verbs that are strictly intransitive. The results suggest that whereas native speakers use verb subcategorization information in making initial parsing decisions regarding wh-dependency formation, Korean learners are only able to integrate the information in later stages of sentence processing. Possible accounts of this discrepancy in the time course of verb information integration are discussed.

A corpus-based analysis of word order variation in Yami relative clause construction

AbstractYami relative clauses (RCs) can either precede the head noun, for example,kanakan‘child,’ as inko ni-ma-cita o [ji yákneng] a kanakan‘I saw the child who cannot hold still’, functioning as restrictive RCs ([RC] + a + Head NP), or follow it as inko ni-ma-cita o kanakan a [ji yákneng]‘I saw that child, who cannot hold still’, functioning as nonrestrictive RCs for complementation strategy (Head NP + a + [RC]). The VARBRUL results demonstrate that head final RCs are predominant in Yami, and Yami speakers use them to connect the given referent with the previous discourse to convey given information. The study found that Subject head nouns outnumber other grammatical roles of head NPs, and that Subject head noun with Subject RC construction is produced more than any other RC constructions, which indicates that Yami RCs are used to modify the Subject for topic continuity.

Internally and externally headed relative clauses in Tagalog

Head nominals in Tagalog relative clauses can surface in three distinct positions: preceding the clause, immediately following the embedded verb, and in argument position within the clause. This paper accounts for these possibilities by positing that the head nominal is base generated within the clause as a property-denoting NP rather than a full DP and identifying the gap position by means of complex predicate formation between this NP and the rest of the clause. If the head NP raises to [Spec, CP], it forms a complex predicate with the embedded TP in that position and is spelled out preceding the clause. If the head NP does not raise to [Spec, CP], it either remains in its base position in the embedded clause and undergoes complex predicate formation with the embedded verb in situ, or it undergoes head movement and forms a complex predicate with the embedded verb via incorporation. I also account for the distribution of linkers in Tagalog relative clauses by proposing that all unsaturated categories within a Tagalog DP are headed by linkers. Consequently, both the relative clause and the head nominal are preceded by a linker, accounting for the fact that a linker always appears between the clause and head NP, regardless of their relative order. Finally, analyzing the head nominal as an NP rather than a DP also accounts for the locality restriction in Tagalog relativization such that genitive DPs are ineligible for movement. This is prevented on my analysis by ensuring that the head NP is not merged in a position which would be assigned inherent case.This article is part of the special collection: Internally-Headed Relative Clauses

On the Syntactic Structure of the Transparent Relative Clause

The aim of this paper is to investigate the syntactic structure of the so-called transparent relative clause. What in the standard free relative clause has been treated as a unit including a head NP and a relative pronoun together. In the case of transparent free relatives, however, a what-clause reveals some peculiar characteristics different from standard relative clauses. To explain those characteristics, many linguists have suggested several different analyses. The analyses can be categorized into three groups: Backward Deletion, Shared Structure analysis, (Rightward) Movement and Deletion analysis. Because of their drawbacks, I have suggested Leftward Movement and Deletion analysis, and adopted Winkler`s(2005) D(rivational)-Model of Grammar to explain the interactions between the PF deletion and LF interpretation.

Processing Strategies of Relative Clause Attachment in Korean as a Second Language

This study investigates whether L2 learners employ similar processing strategies as native speakers when disambiguating attachment of a relative clause (RC) in Korean as a second language (KSL). Different processing strategies were tested with temporarily ambiguous sentences containing RCs when the head NP is a complex NP (NP1 of NP2), in which either NP1 (low attachment, LA) or NP2 (high attachment, HA) can be an antecedent. The RCs were controlled for length (short vs. long) and position-sentence initial (scrambled word order) vs. sentence medial (canonical word order). Native speakers consistently showed a clear HA preference regardless of the length or the position of the RCs, whereas KSL learners showed a clear LA preference. The attachment differences between L1 and L2 are discussed in terms of transfer and prosodic sensitivity.

Social and Linguistic Constraints on Relativizer Omission in Canadian English

This study addresses the social and linguistic constraints on relativizer omission in restrictive relative clauses in a mainstream urban variety of Canadian English. Drawing on the framework of variationist sociolinguistics, the authors test an array of factors that have been traditionally implicated in the choice of relative marker (e.g., syntactic function of the relative marker; animacy and definiteness of the antecedent head NP; length of the relative clause), in addition to investigating less widely researched factors, such as the informational content of the matrix clause and the lexical specificity of the head NP. A variable rule analysis of nonsubject relative clauses extracted from 19 speakers stratified by age, sex, and education reveals that relativizer omission is socially sensitive and that properties of the matrix clause and adjacency effects are key determinants in the selection of the zero variant. Recurrent structural configurations exhibited by zero marked relative clauses in vernacular discourse are indicative of grammaticalization. Comparison with other varieties of English reveals that relativizer omission fails to pattern uniformly, suggesting that there is no vernacular norm in this area of the grammar. This absence of uniformity calls into question recent attempts by researchers to formulate a unitary account of relativizer omission by appealing to putatively general language processing constraints.

L2 Unaccusative Relative Clauses

This paper argues against an assumption in relative clause (RC) acquisition (1) that direct object (DO) RC is more difficult than subject (SUB) RC in L2 as well as L1 (Hsu, Hermon, & Zukowski, 2009; Kwon, Peter, Lee, Kluender, & Polinsky, 2010) and (2) that the distance between head NP and gap in RC determines processing difficulty born in RCs (the Structural Distance Hypothesis; the SDH) (O’Grady, Lee, & Choo, 2003). According to the SDH, the structural distance is deeper in DO RC than in SUB RC. This paper raises a concern that unaccusative (UNA) RC can pose a problem to this assumption because UNA RC is a SUB RC but its structural distance is the same with DO RC. A cross-sectional oral-translation elicitation task was employed to investigate this contradiction with sixty-seven adult L1 Korean learners of English. The findings reveal that (1) UNA RC is more difficult than SUB RC and DO RC and (2) that UNA RC and DO RC bear different processing difficulties despite the same structural distance. This paper proposes that the source of difficulty born in UNA RC lies with the probe T in search of its matching goal, having a different featural agreement route from SUB RC and DO RC.

Relative clauses in Asheninka Perene (Arawak)

We argue that existing syntactic typologies of relative clauses which distinguish between two categories of relatives, i.e. headed and headless relative clauses, based on the presence or absence of head NP in the main clause, do not include externally headed relative clauses with reduced and light heads such as demonstratives, pronominal person clitics, classifiers, plural number markers, etc. The Ashéninka Perené data show that the third syntactic category of intermediate heads such as demonstratives, indefinite terms, numerals, pronominal verbal clitics and classifiers should be included in syntactic typology of relatives to more accurately represent variability of headed relatives in individual languages.

A discourse-pragmatic study of the word order variation in Chinese relative clauses

In Mandarin Chinese, a relative clause (RC) can either immediately precede the head NP, or may be separated from its head by a numeral-classifier sequence (NCL). This word order variation results in two types of indefinite nominal constructions: the OMN with the RC+NCL+NP order (e.g., [tā xiě Øde]RC [yī–běn]NCLshū, ‘a book (that) he wrote’) and the IMN with NCL+RC+NP order (e.g., [yī–běn]NCL [tā xiě Øde]RCshū, ‘a book (that) he wrote’). In this paper, we use a corpus-linguistic perspective to explore the conditioning factors that influence the variation of these two constructions in discourse. In particular, grammatical roles of relativized NPs; information status, animacy, and discourse salience of head NPs; grounding mechanisms; and discourse functions of relative clauses are analyzed. Examinations of the distribution and occurrence of these two constructions show that they are deployed in discourse to serve different discourse purposes. The OMN is mainly used in connection with abstract entities with low discourse salience, and serves the discourse function of identifying the new head NP. In contrast, the IMN is mainly used in conjunction with concrete (human and concrete object) entities with high discourse salience to serve the discourse function of characterization. It will be argued that the variation of these two constructions can be explained with regard to the cognitive and communicative principles of relevance (Sperber and Wilson, 1995) together with interactions between the discourse function of the NCL and the discourse functions of the RC.

The Distribution of Relative Clauses in Chinese Discourse

Abstract The particular forms of relative clauses (RCs) in Mandarin Chinese lead to particular cognitive, semantic, pragmatic, and discourse constraints on speakers and writers. In this study, analyses of oral and written Mandarin Chinese narratives demonstrate that SS structures (subject head noun phrase [NP] modified by a subject RC) are produced more frequently than OS (object head NP modified by subject RC) and OO structures (object head NP modified by object RC), which are more frequent than the rare SO (subject head NP modified by an object RC) structure. These patterns can be explained by the interaction of cognitive strategies of closure and the semantic and discourse functions of RC constructions. In particular, the center-embeddedness of Mandarin Chinese RCs likely leads to greater cognitive load for speakers than writers, and the fact that head NPs are more likely to refer to humans helps predict the predominance of the SS pattern.

The Distribution of Relative Clauses in Chinese Discourse

The particular forms of relative clauses (RCs) in Mandarin Chinese lead to particular cognitive, semantic, pragmatic, and discourse constraints on speakers and writers. In this study, analyses of oral and written Mandarin Chinese narratives demonstrate that SS structures (subject head noun phrase [NP] modified by a subject RC) are produced more frequently than OS (object head NP modified by subject RC) and OO structures (object head NP modified by object RC), which are more frequent than the rare SO (subject head NP modified by an object RC) structure. These patterns can be explained by the interaction of cognitive strategies of closure and the semantic and discourse functions of RC constructions. In particular, the center-embeddedness of Mandarin Chinese RCs likely leads to greater cognitive load for speakers than writers, and the fact that head NPs are more likely to refer to humans helps predict the predominance of the SS pattern.

On the Interaction of Adjectival Modifiers and Relative Clauses

This paper addresses data concerning the interpretation of adjectives such as first, last and only when they modify the head of a relative clause, as discussed by Bhatt (2002). The “low” readings for these modifiers are shown to be much more restricted in their distribution than is predicted by the reconstruction analysis; if these interpretations are derived by allowing the head NP+modifier to be interpreted in the position of the “gap” in the relative clause this results in considerable overgeneration. A generalization is proposed for the distribution of the available readings, and it is argued that the phenomenon of “Neg-Raising” is implicated in their interpretation.

The development of ‘strengthened’ possessive pronouns in English

This paper investigates the developments of ‘strengthened’ possessives such as hers and hern (earlier her) through a fresh examination of a substantial number of Middle English texts. These forms are first found in North Midlands and West Midlands texts of the thirteenth century, with the later - n forms of Southeastern dialects representing dative case rather than true ‘strengthened’ possessives. While the - s forms developed in rather different ways, both resulted in a processing advantage, as they signal to the hearer that no head NP is following. It is suggested that considerations of language processing have the potential to give more coherence to the traditional concept of ‘analogy’.

Complementizers and nouns in Xhosa

In the case of noun complementation or appositive clauses with ukuba in Xhosa which are selected by verbs, four arguments have been presented to arrive at a structure. It was found that the head NP in the full NP functions as an operator and that the EC within the complementizer phrase is a variable which is locally Abound by this operator, within the principles of the Government-Binding theory. The data presented also gives insight to the nature of ukuba, both as a fossilized Infinitive and as a properly functioning Infinitive with a verb ba, giving rise to Indirect Complementation.

Relative clauses in Spanish: some suprasegmental characteristics

In Garro & Parker (1982), we investigated the suprasegmental characteristics of relative clauses in English. The present study is (a) an extension of the same investigative procedure to Spanish, and (b) a comparison of the Spanish data with that already obtained for English. As before, we varied clause type (restrictive/non-restrictive), word order within the clause (SVO/OSV), and relative pronouns to determine if predictable characteristics of relative clauses are a function of the different syntactic configurations of the two clause types. Two speakers of River Plate Spanish produced the sentence: Los gigolós que prefieren rubias son veleidosos and all grammatical permutations of the embedded clause, in three conditions (136 tokens). From spectrograms of each token, we made three measurements: f 0 fluctuation and vowel length in the head NP of the clause and in the last word in the clause, and the pause length preceding and following the clause. A comparison of the results with those obtained for English suggest four conclusions: (1) relative clauses in both languages exhibit systematic suprasegmental characteristics which can be described in terms of vowel length, pause length, and f 0 contours; (2) the major factor affecting these intonational characteristics is clause type; (3) a secondary factor is word order; (4) suprasegmental variations are determined by syntactic structure, not by superficial, lexical variables.

Some suprasegmental characteristics of relative clauses in English

Early investigations of the suprasegmental characteristics of relative clauses in English depended primarily on the intuitions of the analyst or on his perception of intonation contours. More recent studies have overlooked what may be significant variables affecting the suprasegmental characteristics of relative clauses. In contrast, the present study attempts: (1) to identify suprasegmental characteristics of relative clauses through spectrographic analysis; (2) to determine the effects of variations in clause type (restrictive/nonrestrictive), word order (SVO/OSV), and relative pronouns ( who ( m )/ that /∅) on intonation; (3) to determine if predictable characteristics of relative clauses are a function of underlying or surface syntactic structure. Two speakers of American English produced the sentence: Gigolos who prefer blondes are fickle and all grammatical permutations of the relative clause within it, in three conditions, for a total of 60 tokens. From spectrograms of each token, three measurements were made: pitch fluctuation and vowel length in the head NP of the clause and in the last word in the clause, and the pause length preceding and following the clause. The results suggest three conclusions: (1) relative clauses exhibit systematic suprasegmental features which can be described in terms of pitch, vowel length, and pause length; (2) clause type and word order are the major determinants of suprasegmental variations; (3) these variations are determined by underlying structure, not by surface structure.

Referentiality in Spanish Noun Phrases

University of Nevada This paper questions the basic claim of M.-L. Rivero's 'Referential properties of Spanish noun phrases' (LG. 51.32-48)-i.e., that a correlation exists between the 'specificity' of the head NP, as she calls it, and the mood of the dependent relative clause. It is demonstrated here that the indicative mood accepts both 'specific' and 'non-specific' NP's, and that the sentences in the subjunctive mood are either ungrammatical or are actually in the indicative mood. Moreoever, it is shown that the traditional distinction between referential and attributive NP's should not be interpreted as a distinction between specific and non-specific NP's. The final sections of the paper point out that Rivero's data do not show conclusively that existential import affects definite and indefinite NP's alike, nor that these two types of NP's receive their existential interpretation through the same linguistic means.*