In:Typical and Impaired Processing in Morphosyntax
Edited by Vincent Torrens
[Language Acquisition and Language Disorders 64] 2020
► pp. 11–34
Case(mis)matching in German free relative clauses in the self-paced reading paradigm
Published online: 21 October 2020
https://doi.org/10.1075/lald.64.01mew
https://doi.org/10.1075/lald.64.01mew
Off-line measures suggest that the hierarchy rule strategy applies to the processing of free relative clauses (RCs) in German, suggesting that case matches between covert head and RC-pronoun are preferred, whereas mismatches are dissociated based on their (non)conformity with the case hierarchy. We asked whether on-line sentence processing supports this pattern, and investigated free RCs with combinations of nominative, accusative and dative case in the self-paced reading paradigm. Our results are captured best by assuming two further strategies: the parallel syntactic function strategy and, especially, the subject-first strategy. Based on these strategies, we provide an Optimality Theory-style analysis that explains prior findings and particularities of incremental sentence processing, and that additionally accounts for the exceptional behaviour of accusative-nominative mismatches.
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.The experiments
- Experiment 1
- Experimental design and material
- Participants
- Procedure
- Results
- Interim discussion for Experiment 1
- Experiment 2
- Experimental design and material
- Participants and procedure
- Results
- Interim discussion for Experiment 2
- Experiment 3
- Experimental design and material
- Participants and procedure
- Results
- Interim discussion for Experiment 3
- Experiment 1
- 3.General discussion
- 4.Conclusions
Notes References
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