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Linglib.Core.Relativization.Basic

Relativization: Basic Types #

Theory-neutral types for cross-linguistic relativization data. These types are used by language fragments to encode relative clause markers and their distributional properties, and by phenomenon studies to verify typological generalizations like the @cite{keenan-comrie-1977} Accessibility Hierarchy.

Mirrors Core.Case.Basic / Core.Case.Hierarchy for case inventories.

Grammatical positions on the @cite{keenan-comrie-1977} Accessibility Hierarchy (AH).

The hierarchy ranks grammatical relations by their accessibility to relativization. Higher positions are more accessible: more languages can relativize them, and simpler strategies (gap) suffice.

Subject > DirectObject > IndirectObject > Oblique > Genitive > ObjComparison

  • subject : AHPosition

    Subject: the most accessible position. Virtually all languages with relative clauses can relativize subjects.

  • directObject : AHPosition

    Direct object: the second most accessible position.

  • indirectObject : AHPosition

    Indirect object: third position.

  • oblique : AHPosition

    Oblique: fourth position (instrumentals, locatives, etc.).

  • genitive : AHPosition

    Genitive: fifth position (possessors).

  • objComparison : AHPosition

    Object of comparison: the least accessible position ("the person [that I am taller than _]").

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      Position of the relative clause with respect to the head noun.

      Post-nominal is the dominant type cross-linguistically; pre-nominal correlates with OV word order; internally-headed and correlative (double-headed) types are rare but typologically significant.

      • postNominal : RCPosition

        Post-nominal: RC follows the head noun. E.g., English "the man [who left]", Arabic "ar-rajul [alladhi ghadara]".

      • preNominal : RCPosition

        Pre-nominal: RC precedes the head noun. E.g., Japanese "[ _ kaetta] hito", Korean "[ _ tteonagan] saram".

      • internallyHeaded : RCPosition

        Internally-headed: the head noun appears inside the RC. E.g., Bambara.

      • correlative : RCPosition

        Correlative (double-headed): the head noun appears both inside and outside the RC. E.g., Hindi-Urdu "jo aadmii aayaa, vo aadmii meraa bhaaii hai".

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          inductive Core.NPRelType :

          What occupies the relativized position (NP_rel) inside the RC.

          This is the core of @cite{keenan-comrie-1977}'s ±case distinction: -case strategies delete NP_rel (gap), while +case strategies retain a pronominal element that bears case marking.

          • gap : NPRelType

            Gap: NP_rel is deleted; no overt element at the extraction site. The "lightest" strategy. E.g., English "the man [that _ left]".

          • resumptive : NPRelType

            Resumptive pronoun: NP_rel is a personal pronoun (usually bearing case). E.g., Arabic "al-madina [illi saafartu ila-ha]" 'the-city [that I-traveled to-it]'.

          • resumptiveMovement : NPRelType

            Movement resumptive: a lower copy of an Ā-movement chain that is partially pronounced rather than fully deleted. Featurally reduced relative to a bound resumptive (e.g., personless in Swahili). Diagnosed by parasitic gap constructions. @cite{scott-2021} @cite{sichel-2014}

          • resumptiveBound : NPRelType

            Bound resumptive: a base-generated pronoun syntactically bound by the head of the relative clause. Not a movement copy — immune to chain reduction. Retains full person features. Diagnosed by obligatory presence inside adjunct islands. @cite{scott-2021} @cite{sichel-2014}

          • relPronoun : NPRelType

            Relative pronoun: NP_rel is a dedicated relative pronoun that typically fronts to clause-initial position and bears case. E.g., English "the man [who left]", German "der Mann [der ging]".

          • nonReduction : NPRelType

            Non-reduction: NP_rel is a full NP — the head noun is repeated inside the RC. E.g., Bambara.

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                A relative clause marker or construction in a language.

                Each marker introduces one type of relative clause with specific distributional properties. Fragments encode the actual linguistic objects — particles, pronouns, verbal suffixes — rather than typological strategy labels. The strategy classification is derived from marker properties in study files.

                Examples:

                • Welsh particle a (gap, -case, covers SU/DO)
                • Finnish relative pronoun joka (+case, covers SU–GEN)
                • Korean adnominal suffix -(n)ɨn (gap, -case, covers SU–OBL)
                • form : String

                  Surface form of the marker (e.g., "a", "joka", "that/∅", "-(n)ɨn").

                • npRel : NPRelType

                  What occupies the relativized position in this construction.

                • bearsCaseMarking : Bool

                  Whether the relative element bears case marking (±case).

                • rcPosition : RCPosition

                  Position of the RC with respect to the head noun.

                • positions : List AHPosition

                  Which grammatical positions can be relativized using this marker.

                • notes : String

                  Additional notes.

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                      Does this marker cover a given AH position?

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                        Whether a resumptive pronoun type is a movement copy, a bound pronoun, or unspecified. For languages where the two types coexist and are morphologically distinct (@cite{scott-2021} for Swahili, @cite{sichel-2014} for Hebrew).

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