ON THE STRENGTH OF THE LOCAL ATTACHMENT PREFERENCE

This paper investigates the strength of the local attachment preferenc e in syntactic ambiguity resolution, based on a study of a novel ambig uity for which the predictions of local attachment contrast with the p redictions of a wide range of other ambiguity resolution principles. I n sentences of the form ''Because Rose praised the recipe I made ...'' we show that the ambiguous clause ''I made'' is preferentially attach ed as a relative clause under some circumstances, as predicted by loca l attachment, and preferentially attached as a matrix clause under oth er circumstances. The implications for accounts of locality in parsing are discussed.