File Download
Supplementary
-
Citations:
- Appears in Collections:
postgraduate thesis: The effects of relative clause length on word order
Title | The effects of relative clause length on word order |
---|---|
Authors | |
Issue Date | 2019 |
Publisher | The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong) |
Citation | Hong, C. K. [康卓橋]. (2019). The effects of relative clause length on word order. (Thesis). University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR. |
Abstract | This paper mainly investigates how the length of relative clauses
influences Cantonese speakers’ choice of word order. We manipulated both
length (control/short/long) and target (subject/object) of relativisation of relative
clauses modifying direct object. Following Yamashita and Chang (2001),
participants’ task was to construct a sentence using sentence components and
recall it.
Hawkins (2004) suggests that long relative clauses increase the linear
distance between the verb and its complements, making processing difficult. This
predicts that speakers should produce word orders which can minimise the
distance between heads. For control condition, we predict speakers to produce
Zoeng1>Bei2>HNPS>Canonical constructions; for RC conditions we expect
Zoeng1>HNPS>Bei2>Canonical constructions. After taking Hawkins’ Maximum
On-line Processing principle into account, it predicts all conditions to have similar
word order frequencies as RC conditions but with Bei2 being the most frequent.
However, the accessibility account (Arnold et al., 2000) suggests that speakers
should produce simple constituents first and long constituents later. This predicts that speakers should produce canonical construction for control condition and
long RCs should increase HNPS constructions.
We found a positive correlation between long subject RC and production
of HNPS (control: 15%, subject long: 23%), and control condition significantly
increases speakers’ preference of Canonical construction. However, we did not
find any significant difference in the use of Bei2 and Zoeng1 constructions across
conditions. The results follow predictions by the accessibility account, and partly
support Hawkins’ theory, suggesting that both theories may influence Cantonese
speaker’s word order choice.
|
Degree | Master of Arts |
Subject | Cantonese dialects - Relative clauses Cantonese dialects - Word order |
Dept/Program | Linguistics |
Persistent Identifier | http://hdl.handle.net/10722/279594 |
DC Field | Value | Language |
---|---|---|
dc.contributor.author | Hong, Cheuk Kiu | - |
dc.contributor.author | 康卓橋 | - |
dc.date.accessioned | 2019-11-04T09:03:36Z | - |
dc.date.available | 2019-11-04T09:03:36Z | - |
dc.date.issued | 2019 | - |
dc.identifier.citation | Hong, C. K. [康卓橋]. (2019). The effects of relative clause length on word order. (Thesis). University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR. | - |
dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/10722/279594 | - |
dc.description.abstract | This paper mainly investigates how the length of relative clauses influences Cantonese speakers’ choice of word order. We manipulated both length (control/short/long) and target (subject/object) of relativisation of relative clauses modifying direct object. Following Yamashita and Chang (2001), participants’ task was to construct a sentence using sentence components and recall it. Hawkins (2004) suggests that long relative clauses increase the linear distance between the verb and its complements, making processing difficult. This predicts that speakers should produce word orders which can minimise the distance between heads. For control condition, we predict speakers to produce Zoeng1>Bei2>HNPS>Canonical constructions; for RC conditions we expect Zoeng1>HNPS>Bei2>Canonical constructions. After taking Hawkins’ Maximum On-line Processing principle into account, it predicts all conditions to have similar word order frequencies as RC conditions but with Bei2 being the most frequent. However, the accessibility account (Arnold et al., 2000) suggests that speakers should produce simple constituents first and long constituents later. This predicts that speakers should produce canonical construction for control condition and long RCs should increase HNPS constructions. We found a positive correlation between long subject RC and production of HNPS (control: 15%, subject long: 23%), and control condition significantly increases speakers’ preference of Canonical construction. However, we did not find any significant difference in the use of Bei2 and Zoeng1 constructions across conditions. The results follow predictions by the accessibility account, and partly support Hawkins’ theory, suggesting that both theories may influence Cantonese speaker’s word order choice. | - |
dc.language | eng | - |
dc.publisher | The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong) | - |
dc.relation.ispartof | HKU Theses Online (HKUTO) | - |
dc.rights | The author retains all proprietary rights, (such as patent rights) and the right to use in future works. | - |
dc.rights | This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. | - |
dc.subject.lcsh | Cantonese dialects - Relative clauses | - |
dc.subject.lcsh | Cantonese dialects - Word order | - |
dc.title | The effects of relative clause length on word order | - |
dc.type | PG_Thesis | - |
dc.description.thesisname | Master of Arts | - |
dc.description.thesislevel | Master | - |
dc.description.thesisdiscipline | Linguistics | - |
dc.description.nature | published_or_final_version | - |
dc.identifier.doi | 10.5353/th_991044146765803414 | - |
dc.date.hkucongregation | 2019 | - |
dc.identifier.mmsid | 991044146765803414 | - |