THE EFFECT OF THE WEIGHT OF THE PROSODIC CONSTITUENTS IN THE DISAMBIGUATION OF REDUCED RELATIVE CLAUSES

In this paper we assume that, although there is not isomorphism between syntactic and prosodic structures, they are mutually related. Some syntactic aspects lead to the formation of prosodic constituents, but the prosodic structure of a sentence can also change the syntactic phrasing and thus direct the interpretation in cases of structural ambiguities. The reduced relative clauses (which can be schematically translated to: NP1-V-NP2-Attribute) generate Late or Early Closure ambiguity of the attribute that can only be undone in favor of the Early Closure in cases of marked prosody for durational (segments and pauses) and intonational cues. However, the inclusion of such cues does not always form an appropriate structuring in prosodic constituent. Listeners are able to perceive the intention of the prosodic marking and take this fact into account when interpreting sentences. Well marked prosodic cues drive the syntactic interpretation and may lead to disambiguation. However, these cues need to be in tune with the prosodic rhythm and the language eurhythmy so that listeners do not interpret the cue as a possible mistake made by the speaker's production.