Japanese/Korean Linguistics

Relative clause attachment can be shaped by prosodic and morphosyntactic cues, but how these sources of information interact remains unclear. Korean provides an informative test case because constituent length can influence prosodic grouping, while honorific agreement can grammatically favor attachment to a particular noun phrase. This study examined their interaction by manipulating constituent length and honorific marking in Korean relative clause attachment. The results revealed a strong preference for high attachment and a robust effect of honorific agreement. A length-based prosodic effect emerged only when honorific marking was absent, indicating that length influences attachment when grammatical guidance is weak but does not override morphosyntactic licensing. These findings suggest that prosodic length functions as a secondary, context-dependent cue in sentence comprehension.