The effect of coordinate structure on the licensing of čto-clauses in noun complement constructions: An experimental study

Abstract

Previously, čto-clause complements of nouns were found to be more acceptable in constructions with collocations as opposed to non-collocations, which was taken to support the hypothesis whereby čto-clauses are introduced by a silent preposition licensed by incorporation into a complex predicate (created in collocational constructions). The paper presents the results of an acceptability rating study testing the prediction of this account, namely, that embedding the noun in a coordinate structure should block the incorporation and hence licensing of čto-clauses. In addition, an alternative hypothesis is examined according to which čto-clauses are more acceptable in collocations due to their higher frequency.

Keywords

• russian
• experimental syntax
• noun complement clauses
• collocation
• coordination
• frequency