Headless Relative Clauses in Acazulco Otomi

Abstract

This chapter describes two types of headless relative clauses in Acazulco Otomi: free relative clauses and light-headed relative clauses. Interrogative and headed relative constructions are briefly introduced as well, in order to highlight similarities and differences with headless relative constructions. Most data in the chapter were obtained from a corpus of Acazulco Otomi, and these were complemented by data from direct elicitation. Some interesting findings are: (a) the free-choice constructions of the language have a dedicated morpheme xo, which even occurs without a wh-word; (b) the deictic pro-forms used in headless relative clauses seem to have two degrees of grammaticalization according to the type of construction they appear in; and (c) all Acazulco Otomi headless relative constructions must have either a light head or a wh-word, in contrast to other Otomi languages, which accept headless relatives without such elements.