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Cited by 417

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 53 of the 53 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Processing Complexity and Filler-Gap Dependencies across Grammars

Hawkins, John A.·1999·Language

Abstract

This article examines crosslinguistic variation in FILLER-GAP DEPENDENCIES (WH-questions and relative clauses) from a processing perspective, and integrates research findings from psycholinguistics, language typology and generative grammar. Numerous implicational universals and hierarchies are proposed that receive a natural explanation in terms of processing and complexity. Filler-gap domains are complex in proportion to their size and in proportion to the amount of simultaneous syntactic and semantic processing that is required in addition to gap identification. They are simplified by making the gap easier to identify and process, or by avoiding a gap structure altogether. When grammatical variation is viewed from this perspective many descriptive insights and implicational patterns can be motivated that have either been stipulated or that have gone unnoticed hitherto. This approach provides an alternative to the assumption of innate parameterized subjacency constraints in this area.

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Metadata

Authors
Hawkins, J. A.
Venue
Language
Publisher
JSTOR
Published
1999-06
Volume
75
Issue
2
Pages
244
ISSN
0097-8507 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2071641904
Cited by
417
References
53
FWCI
26.69
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed

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CoChat. (2026). Citation check: Processing Complexity and Filler-Gap Dependencies across Grammars. https://app.cochat.ai/papers/10.2307/417261
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Hawkins, J. A. (1999). Processing Complexity and Filler-Gap Dependencies across Grammars. Language. https://doi.org/10.2307/417261

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