Is English resumption different in appositive relative clauses?

Abstract

Resumptive pronouns (RPs) are produced in English in unguarded speech in restrictive relative clauses (RRCs) and appositive relative clauses (ARCs) (e.g., Prince 1990, Loock 2007). However, numerous studies found that RPs in RRCs are not acceptable (e.g., Alexopoulou & Keller 2007, Polinsky et al. 2013, Keffala 2013). To our knowledge, no studies have examined the acceptability of RPs in ARCs, despite hints in the literature that they may be more acceptable in ARCs than in RRCs (e.g., Loock 2007, Polinsky et al. 2013). We fill this gap. We found that RPs were rated as more natural in ARCs than in RRCs. These findings may be due to which currently undergoing a reanalysis from a relative pronoun to a solely connective word, as suggested by Sells (1985) and Loock (2007). A smallscale corpus search also reveals that ARCs with RPs are increasing in American English.