Processing of Relative Clauses in Malayalam

Abstract

A study of the processing of relative clauses may offer insight into how a range of processes involving structural manipulation by way of movement might be realized in the mind. In this paper, I elucidate a self-paced reading experiment that investigates the processing of relative clauses in Malayalam. I use singly embedded relative clauses and counterbalance each item by varying the position of the RC in the sentence, and the gapping (subject or object) from the clause. I observe a slight preference for object relative clauses, and explain my results using an expectation based model.