SELECTIVE RETENTION OF INFORMATION ABOUT THE SUPERFICIAL FORM OF TEXT- ELLIPSES WITH ANTECEDENTS IN MAIN AND SUBORDINATE CLAUSES

Elliptical verb phrases must be interpreted indirectly, using a repres entation of the surface form of nearby (usually preceding) text. We us ed this fact to demonstrate the different availability of superficial representations of the two clauses in main-subordinate pairs. The acce ptability of a later ellipsis was reduced when it took its meaning fro m a main clause that was followed by a subordinate clause, as compared with other combinations. In addition, positive acceptability judgemen ts were made more quickly (1) when the antecedent clause was subordina te, rather than main, suggesting that the superficial form of a subord inate clause is more important, and (2) when the antecedent was in the immediately preceding clause, rather than two clauses back. These res ults support the idea that the surface form of subordinate clauses is selectively retained until the corresponding main clause has been read , but the surface form of a main clause is not retained after it has b een interpreted.