Relative Clauses and the Typology of Relative Heads in Q’anjob’al

Abstract

AbstractDeparting from a typology of heads, in this chapter I propose a typology of relative constructions in Q’anjob’al. Among the features of relative clauses discussed that are common to all Mayan languages are: they are finite, post-nominal with an external head; the use of the same interrogative expressions in questions, interrogative complements and relative clauses; and restrictions on the relativization of agent arguments. Taking into account both the form and the type of expression of the head, I show that Q’anjob’al has four types of relative clauses: (i) nominal-headed relative clauses that contain a nominal or a pronoun head; (ii) determiner-headed relative clauses that contain a determiner or a demonstrative as head; and (iii) headless relative clauses of two subtypes: free relatives, which are headless relative clauses exhibiting a relative pronoun based on a wh-word, and headless relative clauses with a gap. The four types of relative clauses differ in lexical and syntactic features, relativization strategies, and meaning.