The purpose of this study is to investigate three pertinent aspects of the relative clause in Korean: the form-function of the relative clause, the processing of the head-final relative clause and the acquisition of relative clauses as a second language. Based on universal typology, this study proposes that the linguistic category of the descriptive verb lies between the attributive adjective and the verb. With this identification, the study claims that the modifying ending -(u)n has the prototypical semantic function of the perfective aspect. The perfective aspect is, however, interpreted differently according to the verb types and this provides a solution to the form-function distinction: when the descriptive verb is suffixed by -(u)n, the attributive adjective expresses a permanent state; with the processive verb the relative clause denotes the completion of action or process. The analysis of the linear ordering of elements in the verb phrase reveals that grammatical morphemes are related in the strict grammatical rules, which progressively build up conceptualisation. Contrary to the views presented in previous studies, this study argues that incremental and left-to-right processing, the relative clause has semantic constraints on the head noun. The overall order of difficulty in the acquisition of relative clauses determined by a completion task, a combination task and a grammaticality judgment 'Oh OP>IO>SU>DO>GE, which does not accord with the Noun Phrase Hierarchy (NPAH). / The study finds that markedness theory and configurational analysis are also unable to explain the order exhibited in this study due to the head-final at characteristics of the relative clause. The processing ease is the main contributing factor for learners successfully performing the tasks by utilizing the mental lexicon, SOV canonical word order, case particles and temporal adverbs in sentence initial position. The study also evaluates the effectiveness of instruction and the merits of pedagogical grammar. Incorporating findings from the present study, some suggestions are made for the development of a pedagogical grammar for the relative clause in Korean.

This dissertation investigates the role of grammar and parsing in processing relative clauses across languages. A parsing theory called the Incremental Minimalist Parser (IMP), which parses sentences incrementally from left to right, is sketched based on the Minimalist Program (Chomsky, 2001, 2005). We provide sentence processing evidence which supported a universal parsing theory that is structure-based. According to IMP (and other structure-based theories), a gap located at the subject position is more easily accessed than a gap located at the object position in both head-initial (e.g. English) and head-final (e.g. Mandarin) relative clauses. Experiment 1 (self-paced reading tasks) showed a processing advantage for Mandarin relative clauses that involved subject extractions over object extractions, consistent with the universal subject preference found in all other languages. Experiments 2 to 4 (naturalness ratings, paraphrasing tasks, and self-paced reading tasks) focused on possessor relative clauses. When the possessor gap was located at the subject position (i.e. in passives), a possessive relation was easier to construct than when the gap was located at an object position (i.e. in canonical constructions and sentences involving BA). The results of Experiments 1-4 suggested that processing accounts based on locality and canonicity, but not on syntactic structure, cannot account for the processing preferences of filler-gap relations in relative clauses. Experiment 5 (self-paced reading tasks) investigated whether the surface NVN sequence of relative clauses at sentence-initial positions induced garden path, and whether the animacy of the first noun in such sequences could rescue the garden path. Mandarin relative clauses involving topicalization of the embedded object were investigated. The results suggested that the surface NVN sequence did induce main-clause misanalysis (as Subject-Verb-Object). Even when the first noun was (semantically) an unlikely agent, the parser took it as a subject in the initial syntactic analysis. Semantics did not have an immediate effect on syntactic processing.

The structural complexity and the typological universals associated with relative clauses (RCs) have made the structure particularly interesting to linguists and second language acquisition (SLA) researchers. Currently, much controversy is found in RCs in East Asian Languages. This dissertation tests the syntactic status of "relative clauses" in Chinese and explores second language (L2) learners' processing and production of different types of Chinese RCs.In the theoretical part of the dissertation, I test whether Comrie (2002)'s proposal of analyzing putative relative clauses in East Asian languages as "attributive clauses" can be applicable to Chinese. From a review of syntactic literature and movement test, I argue that there are crucial differences between Chinese RCs and attributive clauses. Further, reconstruction effect suggests that A-bar movement takes place within gapped Chinese RCs. More specifically, following Sauerland (2000)'s proposal, I suggest that the derivation of Chinese RCs involves the movement of an operator taking a complex NP as its complement to the Spec of CP, and that complex NP matches with an external head outside the RC.Further, I examine the possibility of analyzing AdjP+DE structure as relative clauses, and examine the flexibility and effect of demonstrative and numeral-classifier positions and their relation with relative clauses.In the experiment chapter, I discuss results from three experiments that tested the relative degrees of difficulty for L2 learners among different types of RCs including Subject, Direct Object, Indirect Object and Object of Preposition relative clauses, I seek plausible linguistic and psycholinguistic proposals in explaining the performance data. The experiments include a self-paced word order judgment task, a written sentence completion task, and a written sentence combination task. It was found that the L2 acquisition of Chinese RCs is generally consistent with the Noun Phrase Accessibility Hierarchy (Keenan & Comrie, 1977), a typological generalization based on natural languages and a hierarchy that was found to be predictive of learners' order of acquisition in SLA studies of many other languages.

The principal objective of this research was a critical examination of the Generalised System of Preference schemes as a form of special and differential treatment under the Enabling Clause with specific reference to the complaint brought against the European Union (EU) by India regarding the EU's granting of tariff preferences to developing countries with illegal drug trafficking problem.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Columbia University, 1990. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 67-71).

Inaug.-Diss.--Heidelberg. / "Literaturverzeichnis," 1 p. at end.

The first aim of this work is to describe the subordinate implicit clauses in Italian and in French and to compare the structures of these clauses in both languages. The second aim is to examine the use of the subordinate clauses formed with gerund in Italian and in French in a corpus of journalistic texts. The work is divided into a theoretical and a practical part. At the beginning, the theoretical part includes an explanation of some notions and a short description of the morphology and syntax of the non-finite verb forms in Italian and in French. A larger part of the work is then dedicated to the description of the subordinate implicit clauses in Italian and in French. The practical part contains an analysis of the subordinate gerund clauses in both languages. The corpus analysis is conducted using the corpus InterCorp and its aim is to examine the frequency, the semantics and the function of gerund in Italian and in French in journalistic texts.

This thesis deals with a comparison of relative clauses in Czech and Spain language. The first part is devoted to the theoretical definition of the term "relative clause" in both languages and their comparison. In the second part the author performed a linguistic analysis of the Czech and Spanish comparable text with focuse on identification of the grammatical phenomena described in the theoretical part. This thesis is written in Czech language and includes a summary in Spanish.

Magister Legum - LLM / The principal objective of this research was a critical examination of the Generalised System of Preference schemes as a form of special and differential treatment under the Enabling Clause with specific reference to the complaint brought against the European Union (EU) by India regarding the EU's granting of tariff preferences to developing countries with illegal drug trafficking problem. / South Africa

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / This study sought to examine independent clause Sesotho personal names as authentic social discourse using the Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) theory. It sought to analyze their structure and map them to social functions to demonstrate that they are enacted messages in socio-cultural context of Basotho. It used a form-meaning approach to interpret Sesotho names in socio-cultural contexts of use (cf. Halliday 1994, 2001, Eggins, 1996, 2004 and Martin & Rose 2007) as an alternative to the current formalist approach to onomastica interpretation. The SFL analysis was compared and contrasted mainly with the formalist syntactic specific and semantic specific analyses currently in use by Guma, Sesotho Academy and subsequent authors of Sesotho grammar and other linguists. The purpose of displaying these names as texts in social context enfolded the intent to reflect a systemic interface of lexico-grammar and social activity. The study used the clause-text-culture paradigm to explore Sesotho names as texts or semantic units. The idea was to access their ‘meanings beyond the clause’ (Martin & Rose 2007). Data was collected from national examinations pass lists, admission and employment roll lists from Public, Private, Tertiary, Orphanage institutions. Other data was identified in Telephone directories and Media. The purely linguistic lexico-grammatic analysis of the structure of names was supplemented by interview data from real interpretations from families, owners and senior citizens who have social and cultural knowledge of the meanings of some names. The study has established that Sesotho personal names can present as an independent clause feature. Sesotho personal names can also be described as lexico-grammatical properties and are meaningful in social contexts. They are used to exchange information as statements, demands and commands, and as questions and as exclamations. This means that these names can be categorized according to Halliday’s Mood types which make them function as declaratives, imperatives, interrogatives and exclamatives depending on the awarder’s evaluation. The study also finds that in negotiating attitudes, modality is highly incorporated. The study concludes that Sesotho names conform to the logical structures of the nominal group and the verbal group and these groups reciprocate in use. The verbal group is the core constituent in these names and it serves as a foundation for the nominal and verbal groups particularly because they function as reciprocating propositions. This includes the names with the sub-modification features. This extends the formalist description of Sesotho independent clause in that the identified sub-modifications which are opague and taken for granted by formalist analysts of Sesotho, are explicated as essential elements embedded in the formmeaning relation in SFL. The main contribution is that this is the only study on SFL and onomastica. There is no study that has been conducted using SFL to describe African names. It presents that Sesotho personal names are texts that have been negotiated in socio-cultural contexts. It provides a major departure from most studies that have used the Chomskian formulations or other sociolinguistic theories to describe the naming systems. It displays the art and importance of language use based on experience and culture in the naming system. The study also contributes to fields such as education, history, and others. Lastly, the study has established a new relation of onomastica and SFL theory and onomastica can now be added to the areas “being recognized as providing a very useful descriptive and interpretive framework for viewing language as a strategic, meaning-making resource.” (Eggins 1996:1).