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Are there internally-headed relative clauses that are not correlative relative clauses?

Summary

Can a relativized noun be morphosyntactically part of the relative clause? This could mean different things in different languages. In some languages, the relativized noun may literally be inside the relative clause, in terms of placement, for example [A green hat [the woman] has] is tall to mean ‘The woman who has a green hat is tall’. In other languages, the noun may receive case marking for its function inside the relative clause rather than its function inside the main clause, for example the man-SBJ greeted [[the woman-SBJ] who has a green hat] as opposed to the man-SBJ greeted [[the woman-OBJ] who has a green hat]. Do not consider correlative relative clauses here (see GB330). It must be possible for the head noun to be any noun, not only an unspecific (pro)noun (e.g. whoever). A relative clause is a type of clause that serves to modify a noun. Merely having a verb that modifies the noun does not suffice as evidence of a relative clause. In such cases, it is more likely to be identified as a participle.

Procedure

Consider only non-correlative clauses: disregard relative clauses that have an anaphoric pronoun in the main clause.
Code 1 if a source mentions that relative clauses are or can be internally headed.
Code 1 if you find examples of relative clauses where the noun is located inside the relative clause.
Code 1 if you find examples of head nouns case-marked for the function they have in the relative clause rather than the main clause.
Code 1 if you find other arguments for considering a relative clause internally headed.
Code 0 if a source mentions that relative clauses cannot be internally headed.
Code 0 if a source comprehensively describes relative clauses but does not discuss internally headed relative clauses.
Code ? if there are examples that contain potential internally headed relative clauses but the analysis is inconclusive.
Code ? if the source does not treat relative clauses in much detail and may have missed internally headed relative clauses.

Examples

Seediq (ISO 629-3: trv, Glottolog: taro1264) and Tagalog (ISO 629-3: tgl, Glottolog: taga1270)

Seediq and Tagalog feature structurally similar internally headed relative clauses, where the head noun that is relativized is positioned within the relative clause, between an agent and a patient (Aldridge 2004: 100). Seesiq and Tagalog would be coded 1 in our dataset.

Seediq example:

s-n-malu     sapah  na	 tama
?-PFV-build  house  ERG  father
‘the house Father built’ (Aldridge 2004: 100)

Tagalog example:

b-in-ili-ng    libro  ni   Maria
?-PFV-buy-LK   book   ERG  Maria
‘the book Maria bought’ (Aldridge 2004: 100)

Hidatsa (ISO 629-3: hid, Glottolog: hida1246)

Hidatsa has a similar construction:

a. Mary  uuwáki  aku-híri-š          wa-rúci-c
   Mary  quilt   REL.S-make-DET.DEF  1SG.A-buy-DECL
   ‘I bought the quilt that Mary made.’ (Boyle 2016: 259)

Hidatsa also has intransitive internally headed relative clauses. These may be considered head-internal because relativized nouns do not carry their own determiner (-š): the determiner that usually comes on individual nouns may be carried by the relative clause, effectively encapsulating the head noun inside the relative clause (Boyle 2016: 256-257).

Simple main clause with individual nouns marked with the determiner -š:

b. wía-š         wacée-š     íkaa-c
   woman-DET.DEF man-DET.DEF see-DECL
   ‘The woman saw the man.’ (Boyle 2016: 256)

Internally headed relative clause taking the determiner -š:

c. wacée  aku-waapáahi-š     wía    íkaa-c
   man    REL.S-sing-DET.DEF woman  see-DECL
   ‘The man that sang saw the woman.’ (Boyle 2016: 257)

Hidatsa is coded 1 in Grambank.

Korean (ISO 629-3: kor, Glottolog: kore1280)

In Korean, there is an internally headed relative clause construction where the relativized noun takes case marking according to its function within the relative clause (here: -ka, NOM), not according to its function within the main clause. The case marker indicating the function of the noun in the main clause comes at the end of the full relative clause (here: -ul, ACC):

Tom-un  sakwa-ka   cayngpan-wi-ey  iss-nun    kes-ul    mekessta.
Tom-TOP apple-NOM  tray-TOP-LOC    exist-PLN  REL-ACC   ate
‘Tom ate an apple, which was on the tray.’ (Chung & Kim 2002: 43)

(Abbreviations: PLN plain speech level)

Korean is coded 1 in Grambank.

Much research on internally headed relative clauses focuses on specific theoretical frameworks (e.g. Aldridge 2004; Boyle 2016; Chung & Kim 2003). They contain valuable insights within those frameworks and extra examples which are helpful for the purpose of Grambank. Dryer (2013) includes internally headed relative clauses in a survey of word order, but discusses these less extensively. Lehmann (1986) is a classic overview of relative clauses. See also the special section on the Grambank wiki on relative clauses.

Aldridge, Edith. 2004. Internally headed relative clauses in Austronesian languages. Language and Linguistics 5(1). 99–129.

Boyle, John. 2016. The syntax and semantics of internally headed relative clauses in Hidatsa. In Catherine Rudin & Bryan J. Gordon (eds.), Advances in the study of Siouan languages and linguistics, 255–287. Berlin: Language Science Press.

Chung, Chan & Kim, Jong-Bok. 2003. Differences between externally and internally headed relative clause constructions. On-line Proceedings of HPSG 2002 3–25.

Dryer, Matthew S. 2013. Order of relative clause and noun. In Matthew S. Dryer & Martin Haspelmath (eds), The world atlas of language structures online. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.

Lehmann, Christian. 1986. On the typology of relative clauses. Linguistics 24(4). 663–680.

References

Aldridge, Edith. 2004. Internally headed relative clauses in Austronesian languages. Language and Linguistics 5(1). 99–129.

Boyle, John. 2016. The syntax and semantics of internally headed relative clauses in Hidatsa. In Catherine Rudin & Bryan J. Gordon (eds), Advances in the study of Siouan languages and linguistics, 255–287. Berlin: Language Science Press.

Chung, Chan & Kim, Jong-Bok. 2003. Differences between externally and internally headed relative clause Constructions. On-line Proceedings of HPSG 2002 3–25.

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Jakob Lesage