The present study seeks to find the way Persian native speakers resolve Relative clause attachment ambiguities in sentences containing a complex NP of the type NP of NP followed by a Relative clause (RC). Previous off-line studies have found a preference for high attachment; in the present study, an on-line technique was used to help identify the nature of this process. Persian speakers were presented with sentences that were semantically consistent with either high or low attachment resolution. Results of the analysis of reaction times from 32 participants by the use of RSVP technique revealed that high attachment is the strategy used by Persian native speakers for this type of ambiguity. The results are in harmony with the previous findings in the literature showing a high attachment preference by Persian native speakers. However, the findings are inconsistent with constrained based-models and suggest that native speaker use purely structure-based parsing strategies.

Relative clause construction in Iranian languages appears mainly in sentences as a subordinate clause and acts as a describer for the preceding noun. Following Dixon's (2010) framework, our aim in this paper is to study and describe the Relative clause construction in Kurmanji dialect of Kurdish. This construction is generally of two types which can be considered as canonical and non-canonical with their own syntactic features. Relative clauses can be either restrictive or non-restrictive according to the information given about the head. Restrictive clauses cannot be omitted, because they give new information, while non-restrictives can; since the information they give are not always necessary. In Kurmanji, a third type can be identified which is called cleft Relative clause in which the head is focused. In this dialect, Relative clauses are absolutely in accordance with a head. These clauses are external and come after the head. The data on which this study is based on interviews with native speakers of Kurmanji as well as a book called Az Ensanə m.

Within the Minimalist Program (MP), Relative clauses (RCs) are considered complementizer clauses (CPs) containing a C with an edge feature [EF] in the form of [wh] and [EPP] but no tense feature. This study investigates Persian RC derivation based on MP. By proposing two approaches, namely: (1) ‘ke-movement’ and (2) ‘null wh-operator (OP) movement’, we will consistently argue and show that the null wh-OP approach provides an appropriate generalization for Persian restrictive RCs. Adopting the latter, the results display Persian RCs can be analyzed as CPs with a null wh-OP assuming to undertake wh-movement as copying and deletion from different syntactic positions, i. e., subject, direct object, object of preposition, etc. This operator allows a small pro in the subject position, leaving an optional null copy, either allowing an optional resumptive pronoun (RP) behind in direct object position or attaching to the verb, and obligatorily in indirect object and object of preposition positions as well as Ezafe-construction. Also, the edge feature of the probe, the complementizer ke, attracts the null wh-OP to Spec-C, for checking and valuing the unvalued [wh] and [EPP] features. The long Relative clause derivations can, correspondingly, work as expected by the successive cyclic movement of OP through intermediate Spec-C positions as well.

1. Introduction The NasirKhusraw Travelogue as the very first Farsi travelogue remaining from ٥, th century (more than 1000 years ago) has been subject of many studies in a variety of fields, including literature, historical and social studies, or even historical architect studies. Yet few studies have been carried out from linguistic viewpoint to show its capacities as a linguistic data source. The current study probes on Relative clause extraposition and its motivations as a non-obligatory movement mostly based on functional and discourse criteria. In many languages, Relative clause is mostly a clause that acts as a modifier for a head Np located in main clause. This modifier clause can appear right after (or based on the language word order before) the NP that is defined by the clause and in this case it is named canonical Relative clause,Or it can be dislocated and be moved to the end of the sentence (named extraposed Relative clause) Since there is no syntactic need to force this movement, the motivations of Relative clause extraposition were explained to be discourse factors (Francis, 2010) such as Grammatical weight of clause (Hawkins, 1990 &2004), verb information Structure (Sheykho’, l Eslami, 2008) and a combination of some different factors together (Rasekh-Mahand et. al, 2012). 2. Materials and method Current study aimed to analyze the motivations of extrapositon Relative clauses in historical proses. The NasirKhusraw Travelogue was studied and about 230 Relative clauses were extracted based on systematic sampling which cover nearly more than half of the book. All Relative clauses were grouped into 2 main categories based on their position in the sentence. 83 of them were in their canonical position (right after the head of NP they modify) and 138 were extraposed to the end of sentence after the main verb. 3. Results and discussion Comparing to present studies carried out by Rasekh-Mahand et. al, (2012) the rate of Relative clause extraposition in The NasirKhusraw Travelogue is 3 times more than contemporary Persian texts (63% compared to 22%). All these extraposed Relative clauses were analysed to figure out the head Np role in main and subordinate clause, and findings suggest that most extraposed clauses modify subject and object Np according to accessibility hierarchy (Keenan and Comrie. 1977) yet the top position is not occupied by Subject NP. 38% head NPs modified by extraposed Relative clauses were Object NPs while 37% of them were Subject NPs which shows a little deviation of accessibility hierarchy in this book. Head Np definiteness was also studied in all extraposed Relative clauses of The NasirKhusraw Travelogue. In Farsi, unlike some languages (Germany or English), there is no limitation on head Np definiteness and all types of NPs can be used in this position. However, only less than 3% of head NPs were pronouns. This means that although using pronoun as a head NP is not ungrammatical in Farsi, in NasirKhusraw Travelogue it was not very common. Head NP within Relative clause in Farsi can appear in three different ways. It can be repeated completely, it can be referred to by a proper pronoun, or it can be omitted leaving a gap in Relative clause instead. In The NasirKhusraw Travelogue using related pronoun in extraposed Relative clause occurred 53%, using gap was second by 42% and, complete repetition was less than 6%. Verb information structure is another factor which was studied as a motivation for Relative clause extraposition. It is supposed that when the verb of main clause has old-given information, it is most likely for the Relative clause to be extraposed. Current study shows that in The NasirKhusraw Travelogue, more than 51% clauses were extraposed from the main clauses with linking verbs. These connecting verbs are supposed to bear old-given information. Last factor studied in this paper was Relative clause grammatical weight. In Francis’, s (2010) work, grammatical weight refers to the length and/or complexity of a phrase in relation to the other phrases in the same sentence (Francis, 2010, P. 6) and it can be calculated by the number of verb immediate constituent to word-ratios (Francis, 2010, P. 12). The average length of extraposed Relative clauses in The NasirKhusraw Travelogue was 6. 2913 and the average length of verb phrases was 1. 890. Grammatical weight of extraposed Relative clauses in this book is 3. 3397. Compared to Rasekh-Mahand et al (2012), the grammatical weight is lighter in The NasirKhusraw Travelogue. 4. Conclusion In terms of the rate of extraposition, this criterion in The NasirKhusraw Travelogue is three times more than the contemporary Persian texts. Data also suggest a little deviation of accessibility hierarchy in terms of head NP position in this book as far the top position is not occupied by Subject NP but by Object NPs. The use of pronouns as the head NP was not very common in NasirKhusraw Travelogue, although it is not ungrammatical in Farsi. From the point of the grammatical weight factor, extraposed Relative clauses in this book are lighter than the contemporary text. Finally, even though previous studies consider Farsi as a language that obligates gaps in the subject position, the NasirKhusraw Travelogue shows some examples of resumptive pronouns in the subject Relative clause extraposition.

The present paper deals with the description of complex sentences in modern Persian, based on their finite subordinate clauses. It consists of two goals: One of the purposes of the study is to show that Persian treats all dependent clauses with ke (که) as Relative clauses rather than as adverbial clauses - to say that in Persian Relative clauses are introduced by the invariable particle ke . As other goal, the author of the article attempts to show what is discussed as complex subordinators (complex subordinate conjunctions) in traditional Persian grammar provides no Linguistic justifications for this purpose. His argument is a formal one.

In addition to the grammatical weight and the nominal head thematic role effects on the processing of a Relative clause, which has been dealt with extensively in previous studies, other factors influence the processing of the Relative clause. In the present paper, the research data has been collected from TV and radio programs and the quantifier's role on Relative clauses occurrence has been investigated based on Wiechmann approaches (2015). Wiechmann believes that each component in a Relative construction can affect other components occurrence. Results show that ambiguity and generality in the meaning of the modified head, and occurring in special constructions affect the Relative clause presence. This is compatible with exemplar–based theory in that components of a structure affect each other's occurrence. The result of this study can be used in determining the degree of ambiguity among Persian quantifiers and can explain how Relative clauses are processed. 1. Introduction A Relative clause is a construction consisting of a nominal and a subordinate clause attributively modifying it. The nominal is called the head and the subordinate clause is called Relative clause (henceforth RC). The attributive relation between head and RC is such that the head is involved in what is stated in the clause. As prenominal modifiers precede post modifiers, they can have certain influence on post-modifiers occurrence. It seems that indefinite pronouns occur with RCs more than any other prenominal modifier. Wiechmann believes that the more general the term, the greater the need (and hence the likelihood) for the additional material that enables the hearer to identify the intended referent of the complex. In this way, RC as a clausal post modifier is a good alternative for post modification of the expressions in the following list: anyone, anything, best everybody all, anybody, everybody, that thing, things, those, time, two, uncle, way, what, woman, women. Accordingly, in the present paper we are going to investigate the co-occurrence of quantifiers in expressions such as h{r ‘any, every’ k{s ‘one, body’, h{r ‘any, every’, tSiz ‘thing’, … and Relative clauses in Persian. 2. Theoretical framework In cognitive construction grammar, a Relative clause is unified as a language sign which its processing procedure is highly the same as the lexicon’s. Linguistic signs are of different intermediate levels that have both fixed and variable parts. A complete characterization of a high level construction, such as an English RC, will have to take into account its constitutive constructions and their properties. That is to say, an actual utterance of an RC always instantiates a number of lower level construction simultaneously. Each grammatical unit is a routine process which speakers master it over repetition and they activate it as a predetermined assembly. Every experienced exemplar of an RC is involved in its cognitive representation. An exemplar-based representation indicates a list of words happening in a certain slot. When uttering a construction, we do not refer to a set of general features but analogically we refer to the memories of lexical items which have happened in that slot in previous exposures. 3. Methodology The present paper is a descriptive-analytical research about RC­s in spoken Persian. We analyzed each quantifier co-occurrence with RC and other post modifiers. Data for the current paper has been collected from 30 hours of conversations on TV and radio programs. 1200 Relative clauses were extracted in addition to 500 sentences with a nominal head modified by other post modifiers to find out the difference between Relative clause and other post-nominal modifiers. 4. Results & Discussion Prenominal modifiers behave differently in co-occurrence with RCs. The difference is displayed in the following hierarchy: h{r ‘every, any’ 90. 21% > Xeili {z ‘many of’ 45. 16% > h{me ‘all’ 30. 20% > yeki{z ‘one of’ 27. 88% > hitS ‘no none’ 21. 05% The results indicate that Persian quantifiers are of different characteristics. h{r ‘every, any’ refers to a singular head and it is used in conditional constructions to indicate general propositions. In fact, after some heads such as h{r k{s ‘every one, any one’, h{r tSiz ‘every thing, anything’ RC is more predictable to happen and easier to process. In the present paper, 3 constructions were introduced which included a nominal head modified with a quantifier: 1. RC construction with a nominal head modified with “h{r” implying a conditional proposition. h{r‘every, any’ + head + RC + MC. h{r k{s kar n{-kon-e be s{lam{ti=e Xod-eS asib mi-z{n-e. any one work (exercise) NEG-SUBJ. do-3SG. to health =of self-3SG. CL damage PROG-PRES. hit.-3SG. ‘Anyone who doesn’t exercise will damage his own health’ 2. An extraposed RC with some nominal head modified with quantifier Xeili {z ‘ many of ‘. in these constructions the verb is copular: Xeili {z pezeSk-a h{st-{n? {sl{n did-e ne-mi-S-{n many of doctor-PL PRES. be-3PL never see-PP. NEG-PRES-be-3 PL ‘There are many doctors who are never seen’ 3. An extraposed RC with an indefinite quantifier hitS ‘ nothing’ According to exemplar-based theory, different components affect each other’s occurrence. Frequent use of these components leads to a pre-defined and entrenched construction which in turn increases RC usage in related contexts. 5. Conclusion & Suggestions As indicated in section 4, we introduced some intermediate levels of RC in Persian. These findings are in line with exemplar theory principles. In exemplar theory, different components of a construction affect each other’s presence. Frequent occurrence of these components leads to construction entrenchment in the speaker’s mind helping to predict next construction components. The results also show that pre-nominal modifiers display three different behaviors in occurrence with RCs: 1. Compared to all other quantifiers, the quantifier h{r ‘any, every’ is more used with RC in a way that all the RC occurrence with other quantifiers is less than h{r ‘any, every’ occurrence with RC. 2. In Xeili {z ‘many of’ construction, RC is more frequently used compared to any of other post modifiers. 3. In hitS ‘no, none’ and yeki {z ‘one of’ constructions RC occurred less than other post modifiers such as genitive and descriptive modifiers. It is recommended that the co-occurrence of quantifiers with RC be investigated cognitively in language laboratories. Select Bibliography Bybee, J. 2013. Usage-based Theory and Exemplar Representations of Constructions, In: Thomas Hoffmann and Graeme Trousdale (eds. ). TheOxford Handbook of Construction Grammar., Oxford: Oxford University Press. Croft, W. 1983. Quantifier Scope Ambiguity and Definiteness. Proceedings of the Ninth Annual Meeting of the Berkeley Linguist Society, 25-36. Goldberg, A. 2006. Constructions at work: The Nature of Generalization in Language. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Haspelmath, M. 1997. Indefinite Pronouns, Oxford Studies in Typology and Linguistic Theory Oxford: Clarendon Press. Hawkins, J. A. 2004. Efficiency and Complexity in Grammars. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Mowlaei Kuhbanani H., Alizadeh, A., & Sharifi, sh. 2018. The role of typological features of Relative structure on determining Persian Word Order, Journal of Language Research, 28, 87-114. [In Persian] Rasekh Mahand, M., Alizadeh sahraie, M., Izadifar, R. & Ghiasvand, M, 2012, The functional explanation of Relative clause extraposition in Persian, Researches in Linguistics, 6, 21-40. [In Persian] Wiechmann D. 2015. Understanding Relative clauses: A usage-based view on the. processing of complex constructions, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. Abbreviations: 3SG Third person singular MC Main clause NEG Negative 3SG Third person singular PROG Progressive PRES Present PL Plural PP Past Participle RC Relative clause SUBJ Subjunctive

This study examined whether processing ambiguous sentences containing Relative clauses (RCs) following a complex determiner phrase (DP) by Persian-speaking learners of L2 English with different proficiency and working memory capacities (WMCs) is affected by semantic priming. The semantic relationship studied was one between the subject/verb of the main clause and one of the DPs in the complex DP to see if, as predicted by Spreading Activation Model, priming one of the DPs affects the L2 learners’ preference. The results of a task using Rapid Serial Visual Processing showed that semantic priming does not affect the choice of the antecedent; rather, the L2 learners' processing is guided by syntactic information. A negative correlation was found between WMC and RC attachment preferences. The findings support the predictions of the chunking hypothesis for L2 learners.

ersian Relative clause is a post-nominal subordinate clause; that is, Persian Relative construction which can be followed by a demonstrative has ‘ Det N RC’ word order. The configuration of Relative structure follows the base generated analysis: head noun base generated in the Spec, DP which is co-indexed with pronoun inside the Relative clause. In the present study, it is proposed that a base generation analysis of the head noun and its optional determiner in the Spec of the complex DP accounts more adequately for Persian data than raising analysis. Unlike English Relative construction which uses the null operator, Persian Relative construction allows a gap and an optional clitic pronoun to represent the head noun within the Relative clause. The study sought to provide evidence supporting the above mentioned analysis. It was found that the Relative element which occupies the Relative gap is the pronoun clitic agreeing ɸ-features with that of Relative head noun.

Research on Relative clause (RC) ambiguity resolution in first and second-language contexts has produced conflicting results, with some studies indicating a preference for high attachment, others favoring low attachment, and some reporting no clear preference. In conjunction with other variables, these mixed results may be due to variations in the methodological features employed across studies. Therefore, there is a pressing need for a systematic review of the methodological features of relevant offline tasks to evaluate how these differences may lead to conflicting results critically. To address this issue, a systematic methodological review was conducted analyzing 108 features of offline tasks, including identification, context, materials, design, administration, data analysis, open science practices, and transparency. The results revealed significant methodological variation in the literature and a moderate mean transparency score of 59.77. These findings emphasize the need for methodological standardization and greater transparency in future research to ensure reliable and comparable RC ambiguity resolution research results.