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Rasprave: Časopis Instituta za hrvatski jezik i jezikoslovlje, Vol. 45 No. 2, 2019.

Original scientific paper

https://doi.org/10.31724/rihjj.45.2.15

Relative Clause Attachment to a Coordinated Phrase in Croatian: a Psycholinguistic Perspective

Ana Matić orcid id orcid.org/0000-0003-3699-2067 ; Edukacijsko-rehabilitacijski fakultet Sveučilišta u Zagrebu
Jana Willer-Gold orcid id orcid.org/0000-0001-7664-170X ; University College London
Marijan Palmović orcid id orcid.org/0000-0002-4587-4348 ; Edukacijsko-rehabilitacijski fakultet Sveučilišta u Zagrebu
Anita Peti-Stantić orcid id orcid.org/0000-0001-5650-5719 ; Filozofski fakultet Sveučilišta u Zagrebu

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Abstract

The language-specific phenomena underlying automatic sentence processing and interpretation have long been the topic of psycholinguistic investigations. Recent studies on processing relative clauses and the strategies that influence attachment preferences have shed new light on this question.
Despite the well-attested observation that the structure of the complex noun phrase preceding the relative clause can influence sentence processing, the effect of the structural relations on attachment preferences still remains unclear. Therefore, current study examines sentence processing and attachment preferences in relative clauses headed by coordinated structure. The two main aims of this study are: 1) to establish attachment preferences and 2) to investigate language-specific constraints affecting these preferences.
In total, 62 native adult speakers of Croatian language participated in the study. The study combined offline and an online method; the attachment preference questionnaire and the eye-tracking methodology. The results indicate strong preference towards the linearly closer antecedent (low attachment), as opposed to hierarchically higher (high attachment). The data further indicate that the conjunct agreement facilitates, while the parallel availability of multiple interpretations hinders the processing of relative clauses.
These findings support the initiative to study language-specific phenomena that affect attachment preferences as these contribute to broadening our understanding of language processing in general, as well as to experimental investigations of various language- -specific phenomena.

Keywords

sentence processing; attachment preferences; relative clause; coordination; questionnaire; eye-tracking

Hrčak ID:

229839

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/229839

Publication date:

13.12.2019.

Article data in other languages: croatian

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