Acceptability and processing of long-distance dependencies in Danish

TY - JOUR

T1 - Acceptability and processing of long-distance dependencies in Danish

AU - Poulsen, Mads

PY - 2008

Y1 - 2008

N2 - Long-distance dependencies have been the object of much theoretical interest in the Scandinavian languages and in general, but the empirical foundation for theorizing has been limited. The present paper investigates extraction from complement and adverbial clauses in Danish using acceptability judgment and reading-time measures. Extraction from adverbial clauses was found to be rated near the bottom of the scale and to be associated with a processing cost. This was also true of extraction in adverbial clauses in semantically cohesive sentences, which Jensen (2001a, 2001b) has suggested is acceptable. It is concluded that under the conditions investigated extraction from adverbial clauses in Danish is associated with a processing cost and very low acceptability ratings, despite semantic cohesion.

AB - Long-distance dependencies have been the object of much theoretical interest in the Scandinavian languages and in general, but the empirical foundation for theorizing has been limited. The present paper investigates extraction from complement and adverbial clauses in Danish using acceptability judgment and reading-time measures. Extraction from adverbial clauses was found to be rated near the bottom of the scale and to be associated with a processing cost. This was also true of extraction in adverbial clauses in semantically cohesive sentences, which Jensen (2001a, 2001b) has suggested is acceptable. It is concluded that under the conditions investigated extraction from adverbial clauses in Danish is associated with a processing cost and very low acceptability ratings, despite semantic cohesion.

U2 - 10.1017/S0332586508001832

DO - 10.1017/S0332586508001832

M3 - Journal article

SN - 0332-5865

VL - 31

SP - 73

EP - 107

JO - Nordic Journal of Linguistics

JF - Nordic Journal of Linguistics

IS - 1

ER -