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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

| University of Cologne

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.

Keywords: German free relative clauses, headed relative clauses, case, incremental processing, self-paced reading, thematic roles, parallel syntactic function strategy, subject first strategy, case hierarchy
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
  • 3.General discussion
  • 4.Conclusions
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 21 October 2020
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/lald.64.01mew
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