Multi Dominance Structure in the Object-Object Relative Clause in Persian Language

In this paper the structure and the symmetric merge of a noun phrase in the matrix and dependent clauses of the object-object relative clause in Persian language was studied based on the notions of symmetric merge and multi dominance proposed by Citko (2011b) and the results of study by Riemsdijk (2006a). Different examples of relative clauses in Persian language were analyzed based on the notion of symmetric merge proposed by Citko (2011b). These analyses showed that the classification of relative clauses in Persian language into two groups of headed and free relative is not completely compatible with what has been proposed by Citko (2011b) since in Persian language if we use the wh-word as the head of free relative clause, it would contribute to making the sentence as a wh-question one which is against the findings of Citko (2011b) in English language. Moreover, the results of this research showed that the observed properties of the shared constituent between the matrix and dependent clauses of the object relative clause in Persian language namely as having the same case, syntactic function, and thematic roles proveed that this noun phrase is merged simultaneously between the two clauses and is a shared constituent between two lexical verb heads in the hierarchical structure of the sentence. This approach provides a clear and cost-free explanation for the characteristics of the shared element in the object relative clause in Persian language.