Universal #1601
Legacy number: 1601
| Number | 1597 |
| Original | Languages with headless relative clauses seem always to be verb-final, often strictly so. |
| Standardized | IF there are headless relative clauses, THEN basic word order will be verb-final. |
| Formula | headless relative clause ⇒ verb-final |
| Keywords | relative clause, internal (= replacive, =headless), order, verb-final |
| Domain | syntax |
| Type | implication |
| Status | achronic |
| Quality | absolute |
| Basis | Southwest American languages from 6 families: Athabaskan, Keresan, Tanoan, Uto-Aztecan, Yuman, Zunian |
| Source | Gorbet 1977: 273 |
Discussion
Notes
1. The HEADLESS RELATIVE CLAUSE is characterized by three properties:A. it is a relative clause functionally and semantically;B. it lacks a syntactic head noun;C. a lexical instance of the semantic head appears as a noun (or more substantially expanded NP) in the subordinate clause. 2. Downing (#679) calls such relative clauses ‘replacive’, Keenan (#1595) calls them ‘internal RelCs’, Gil (2000) and Cole (#1596, 1597) refer to them as to ‘internally-headed’.
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A. it is a relative clause functionally and semantically;
B. it lacks a syntactic head noun;
C. a lexical instance of the semantic head appears as a noun (or more substantially expanded NP) in the subordinate clause.
2. Downing (<a class="innerLink" href="browse.php?entry_id=679"><img src="../img/entry.gif" border="0">) calls such relative clauses 'replacive', Keenan (<a class="innerLink" href="browse.php?entry_id=1595"><img src="../img/entry.gif" border="0">) calls them 'internal RelCs', Gil 2000 and Cole (<a class="innerLink" href="browse.php?number=1596">#1596, <a class="innerLink" href="browse.php?entry_id=1597"><img src="../img/entry.gif" border="0">) refer to them as to 'internally-headed'.