Syntax

1. Syntax Lecture 10: Relative clauses

2. Introduction The relative clause is a non-interrogative wh-clause that modifies a noun: • [DP the man [CP who you might recognise]] We therefore need to recap wh-clauses and modifiers

3. Wh-clause recap A Wh- phrase moves to specifier of CP In main clauses, inversion will take place (I to C movement) Who will you will meet who

4. Modifiers = adjuncts Same mother and sister adjunct Adjoined to NP Relative clause Modifiers are adjoined to what they modify An adjunct’s mother is the same as its sister If a relative clause is a modifier of a noun, it is adjoined to the NP

5. Restrictive and Non-restrictive Relative clauses Non-restrictive relative clauses provide accidental non-essential information about the noun being modified: • It was surprising that she was wearing shoes, which were red There is a pause before the relative clause (comma) They always start with a wh-phrase

6. Restrictive and Non-restrictive Relative clauses Restrictive relative clauses provide more important information which distinguish the object in question from other possibilities: • It was surprising that she was wearing shoes which/that were red • You can only enter through the door which/that is marked ‘entrance’ (as opposed to any other door) There is no pause between the noun and the relative clause. They don’t always start with a wh-phrase

7. 3 kinds of restrictive relatives Wh-relatives: • Begin with a wh-phrase • The man [whose mother works at the factory] That-relatives • Begin with ‘that’ • The house [that I used to live in] Zero-relatives • Begin with the subject • A man [I know]

8. Wh-relatives Wh-relatives are virtually the same as wh-interrogatives: • I asked [who John knows] • The man [who John knows] There is some difference between them in what wh-phrase can be involved: • I wonder [what he bought] • * The book [what he bought] • I don’t remember [which (tool) he used] • The hammer [which (*tool) he used]

9. Wh-relatives No inversion in relative clauses • * the writer [ whose book will Mary read] • But relative clauses are always embedded and we never get inversion in any embedded clause • * I don’t know [whose book will Mary read] We can therefore assume that wh-relatives are structurally the same as wh-interrogatives

10. That-relatives What is the word ‘that’ which starts a that-relative? Traditionally it is called a relative pronoun • The same as the wh-phrases that start wh-relatives If this is true, then the ‘that’ undergoes wh-movement:

11. That-relatives But there is reason to believe that this is not the case: • the man [who I spoke to who] • The man [to whom I spoke to whom] • The man [that I spoke to that] • * The man [ to that I spoke to that]

12. That-relatives Another possibility is that the ‘that’ is a complementiser. But note, the relative clause (like all relative clauses) contains a gap • What causes the gap?

13. The gap in the relative clause In a wh-relative, the gap is caused by the wh-phrase moving: • The rock star [who he admired who] If nothing moves in a that-relative, why is there a gap? One possibility is that something does move, but it is also phonologically empty: • The worker [who that he fired who] From this perspective, that-relatives are just like wh-relatives, except that one has a pronounced complementiser and an unpronounced wh-phrase, while the other has a pronounced wh-phrase and an unpronounced complementiser

14. A comparison between wh- and that-relatives

15. Zero-relatives The obvious analysis for the zero-relative is the same as the others but with both the complementiser and the wh-phrase unpronounced: Note – zero relatives also contain gaps.

16. Evidence that all relative clause involve a wh-phrase In general, no wh-phrase can be moved out of a sentence with a wh-phrase in its specifier: • Who do you think [ Mary gave the money to who] • * who do you wonder [ why Mary gave the money to who] The same is true for a wh-relative: • You met the man [who Mary gave the money to who] • * what did you meet the man [who Mary gave what to who] Importantly, the same movement is impossible for all relatives: • * what did you meet the man [that Mary gave to] • * what did you meet the man [Mary gave to] This is accounted for if these relatives also have a wh-phrase in their specifiers

17. Summary The three restrictive relative clauses are analysed like: • The man [who e John knows who] • The man [who that John knows who] • The man [who e John knows who]

18. Summary This leaves one more possibility: • The man [who that John knows who] But this is ungrammatical! • Why can’t we pronounce the wh-phrase and the complementiser at the same ? I won’t try to answer this question, but I will point out that it is part of a more general fact: • I asked [if Mary met Bill] • I asked [who e Mary met who] • * I asked [who if Mary met who] It seems that we cannot have a wh-phrase in specifier of CP with a pronounced complementiser in all wh-clauses.