Resumen de Syntactic complexity and textual variation in Early English relative clauses
Different text types exhibit different linguistic features which can be ranked in a higher/lower degree of linguistic complexity. In this paper linguistic complexity in the history of the English language is analyzed in two different text types, namely homilies and religious treatises, and in two chronological periods, late Old English and early Middle English, as represented in 13 texts.
Within linguistic complexity, I will concentrate on syntactic complexity, more precisely, on relative clauses. The index of syntactic complexity will be based on different features belonging to processes of relativization. Firstly, the frequency with which NPs in certain syntactic positions are relativized (following Keenan and Comrie's (1977) "Accessibility Hierarchy"). Secondly, the type of relativizer used to introduce the relative clause. Finally, the position that the relative clause occupies with respect to the main clause.
