Assistant Professor of German Language and Literature, martyr Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran
Abstract: (9745 Views)
The present paper is a typological analysis of restrictive and non-restrictive relative clauses in Farsi and German. This study makes an attempt to determine the elements used in Farsi and German to differentiate restrictive relative clauses from non-restrictive ones. A second question that this study aims to answer is which noun phrases can serve as the head of relative clauses. The results show that Farsi as well as English, Bemba and Hebrew use formal elements to differentiate between the two types of relative clauses. In German, however, semantic and pragmatic elements are used for the same purpose. The results further show that in both languages, there are restrictions in the choice of referents for relative clauses. An example of such restriction is that in German, unlike in Farsi, a proper noun cannot serve as the head of a restrictive relative clause.
Article Type:
Research Paper |
Subject:
Comparative linguistics Published: 2016/05/21