Clausal Nominalization as Relativization Strategy in Chimariko

Abstract

Nominalization has been described as an accompanying property or strategy for relativization, in particular for internally headed relative clauses and for headless or free relative clauses (Andrews 2007, Comrie and Thompson 2007, Keenan 1985, and Shibatani 2009). Comrie and Thompson (2007:379) claim that there are no formal distinctions between nominalization and relativization in certain languages, while Shibatani further argues that what have been mistakenly identified as relative clauses in some languages are in fact nominalizations, since they are neither syntactically nor semantically dependent on the nominal head they modify (2009:163). This paper establishes that Chimariko, an extinct language of Northern California, uses clausal nominalization as a relativization strategy, similar to what has been found for Diegueno, Mojave, Wappo, Quechua, and many other languages. In Chimariko, relative clauses are subordinate restrictive clauses which are either internally headed or headless. They include the f...