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RELATIVE CLAUSES

5.1. Relative Clauses and Other Kinds of Relatives

By relative clauses we understand:

all the wh-complements mentioned in the previous section.

other kinds of relative clauses such as that relatives (those relative clauses introduced by THAT)

(1) This is a gift that you fully deserve.(Acesta este un cadou pe care l merii pe deplin.)

participial relatives

(2) The fellow wearing those odd clothes is Janes husband.(Brbatul n haine ciudate este soul lui Jane.)

infinitival relatives

(3) I need some tools with which to fix the car.

(Am nevoie de unelte cu care s repar maina.)

We will mainly focus on wh-complements leaving aside other kinds of relatives andcleft sentences.

5.2. The Co-reference Condition - a discussion of attributive relatives

As we shall see, relative clauses can have more than one syntactical function. The bestknown function, normally associated with relative clauses is that of Attribute. We shall first

discuss relative clauses functioning as attributes in order to establish the mechanism thatgrants their existence.

These relative clauses represent a type of subordination that is based on the fact thatthe main clause and the subordinate clause share a nominal constituent. Consider the

following:

(4) I met a woman. John loves that woman.

By combining these two clauses, we obtain

(5) I met a woman whom John loves.

(Am cunoscut o femeie pe care o iubete John.)

What has happened? The common element woman appears in the main clause only

and is resumed by the relative pronoun introducing the second clause. We presuppose that thephrase the woman in the second clause under (4) has been transformed into a relative

constituent (it has been relativized) and moved at the beginning of the clause to link it to the

previous one. The place where the phrase the woman used to stand has remained empty, like agap:

(6) I met a woman whom John loves _____.

Since the phrase a woman and the relative pronoun whom under (6) refer to the same

object, we can co-index them (that is we place the same index under each of them):

(7) I met a womani whomi John loves _____.

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But how do we mark the fact that the verb loves used to have a direct object right after

it that has been moved up front?

We place the same index under the letter t (that stands for trace):

(8) I met a womani whomi John loves ti.

This way, we can clearly indicate that the co-reference condition that stipulated the

necessity of a shared nominal for the main clause and the relative attributive clause has beenobserved.

The relative pronoun preserves its function of a direct object within the relativesubordinate. Let us supply an example where the relative pronoun functions as a prepositional

object:

(9) I met a woman. John offered flowers to that woman.

The common element woman is present, so the co-reference condition (that the two

clauses should have co-referring elements) is observed. The resulting structure can have twoforms:

(10) a. I met a womani whoi John had offered flowers to tib. I met a womani to whomi John had offered flowers ti

In point of terminology, we call the nominal that the relative clause refers to theantecedent of the relative clause. The element that has been moved in front position and

transformed into a relative pronoun is called the relativized constituent.The mechanism that allows for the appearance of relative attributive clauses is

movement: the movement of the relativized constituent in initial position, by leaving behind a

trace.

5.3. The Classification of Relative Clauses

According to the criterion of form, relative clauses are divided into:

dependent relative clauses (clauses that have an overt antecedent, i.e. whose mainclause contains a nominal that can be co-indexed with the introducing relative

pronoun)

(11) This is the mani whomi I love.

(Acesta este brbatul pe care l iubesc.)

Under (11) the relative subordinate finds its antecedent in the main clause: the phrase

the man.

independent relative clauses or Free Relative Clauses (those clauses which lack an

overt antecedent, that do not have an expressed antecedent in the main clause)

(12) Who breaks pays.

(Cine stric pltete.)

(13) Whoever swims in sin shall swim sorrow.(Cine pctuiete mult va suferi.)

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Example (12) is an instance of a relative clause (introduced by a wh-element) whoseantecedent has been deleted, is no longer overtly expressed, unlike in the case of (14), where

we are looking at a more obsolete (i.e. far-fetched) form of the same sentence:

(14) Hei whoi breaks pays.

(Cel care stric pltete.)

So, in a manner of speaking, we can assume that Independent or Free Relative Clauses

must have originated from dependent ones; only their antecedent is no longer expressed, it iscovert. Unlike their sisters, these relatives, cannot function as attributes, they currently fulfil

the function of subjects or objects, as follows:

Subject Free Relative Clause

(15) Whoever touches pitch shall be defiled.

(Cine se atinge de smoala va fi ntinat.)

Direct Object

(16) I would like to know what you need.(A dori s tiu ce vrei.)

Indirect Object (the only clauses that can have this function in fact)

(17) He gave whoever came to the door a winning smile.(Oferea un zmbet cuceritor oricui venea la ua lui.)

Prepositional Object

(18) You should vote for whichever candidate you think best.

(Trebuie s votezi cu candidatul pe care l consideri cel mai potrivit.)

Predicative

(19) This was what she intended.

(Asta era ceea ce voise ea.)

Adverbial

(20) Go wherever you want.(Du-te unde pofteti.)

The second criterion that further classifies relative clauses has to do with meaning and

is restricted to dependent relatives only. They can be thus divided into:

defining or restrictive relative clauses (those dependent relative clauses that identify anantecedent; they offer crucial information about this antecedent, they define it).

(21) The man who came to woo me was a god.

(Cel care a venit s m peeasc era un zeu.)

(Only that particular man that was my suitor looked like a god)

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non-defining or non-restrictive or appositive relative clauses (those dependent relativeclauses that do not offer crucial information about the antecedent. They only provide

supplementary information about it.)

(22) Mercury, who is the god of commerce, is my favourite god.

(Mercur, care este zeul negoului, este zeul meu favorit.)

(Mercury, who incidentally is the god of commerce, is my favourite god)

The function of non-restrictive relative clauses is that of Appositive attributes. Theirmeaning is also reinforced by orthography, and by the intonation the speaker uses in uttering

the whole sentence.

In conclusion, a diagram would sum up the types of relative clauses discussed:

Relative clauses

Dependent

Restrictive/defining

The man who came to see me is a genius.

Non-restrictive/non-defining

That man, who came to see me, is a genius.

Independent Whoever came to see me was a genius.

5.4 Restrictions Imposed On The Relative Clause by the Determiner of the Antecedent

When the antecedent has no determiner, it can only be followed by a non-defining

relative clause (an apposition):

(23)

Freddie Mercury, who died a few years ago, composed The Bohemian Rhapsody.(Freddie Mercury, care a murit acum civa ani, a compus The Bohemian Rhapsody.)

When combined with a restrictive relative clause, the proper name is recategorized

into a common name and receives its own determiner (the, a, etc.):

(24) The Freddie Mercury I knew was a rock-star.(Freddie Mercury pe care-l cunosteam eu era o vedeta rock.)

(25) I know a Freddie Mercury who gives piano lessons.

(Cunosc un Freddie Mercury care d lecii de pian.)

First and second person pronouns do not normally take restrictive relative clauses.They can be followed only by non-restrictive ones (appositions):

(26) I, who am your son, can see your shortcomings only too well.(Eu, care-i sunt fiu, i vd prea bine defectele.)

(27) Anybody else would have done something except myself, who am not a woman, but a

peevish, ill-tempered, dried-up old maid.

(Oricine ar fi acionat, numai eu nu, care nu sunt o femeie, ci o fat btrnmorocnoas, iritabil i uscat.)

(28) They come to me, who neither work nor am anxious.(Ei apeleaz la mine, care nici nu muncesc i nici nu sunt ngrijorat.)

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Third person pronouns however do accept restrictive relative clauses:

(29) He who laughs last laughs best (archaic).

(Cine rde la urm rde mai bine.)

5.5 Relative Clause Introducers

Relative clause introducers are usually placed at the beginning of the relative clause. In

literary English they may sometimes be found later in the sentence:

after a present participle

(30) saying which he left the room( care lucruri fiind spuse, prsi camera.)

after an infinitive

(31) The African queen issued forth upon the Lake to gain which they had run such dangersand undergone such toils.

(Regina african se npusti spre lac s redobndeasc cele pentru care trecuser prin

attea pericole i avuseser parte de atta trud.)

As the object of a preposition and after than:

(32) He consulted his watch at 10-minute intervals, in spite of which the service finished

late.(Se uita la ceas din zece n zece minute, i cu toate acestea slujba s-a terminat trziu.)

(33) He was a railway fanatic, than whom few more can be more crashing.(Era un fanatic al mersului cu trenul, i puini oameni l ntreceau la asta.)

Sometimes the preposition can have partitive value:

(34) He was prone to an inevitable series of moods, each of which has evolved its own

system of harmony.(Era nclinat spre stri schimbtoare, i fiecare din aceste stri i dobndise propriul

sistem de armonie.)

(35) The compositions of Cardan, some of the last notes of whose harp he heard, were now

in his possession.(Compoziiile lui Cardan, ale cror ultime note de harp le auzise, erau acum n

posesia lui.)

Aside from these marginal examples, relative clause introducers retain their clause

initial position. We shall briefly have a look at the most important ones.

5.5.1. Relative Pronouns

Who [+human] with its case forms whom [+human] and whose [ human]:

(36) a. The woman who came to see my painting was the Queen itself.

(Femeia care a venit s mi vad tabloul era Regina nsi.)b. The woman to whom you showed the painting was the Queen.(Femeia creia i-ai artat tabloul era Regina.)

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c. The woman whose painting I sold was very young.(Femeia al crui tablou l-am vndut era foarte tnr.)

d. The painting whose buyer she was looked marvelous.

(Tabloul al crui cumprtor era arta minunat.)

Whose appears as the appropriate genitive form for both [+human] and [-human]

objects, as can be seen in (36d). The genitive form with which is still in use, too, but it istypical of the formal, literary style:

(37) a. The book whose cover I lost was very expensive.

(Cartea a crei coperta am pierdut-o era foarte scump.)b. The book the cover of which I lost was very expensive.

(Cartea a crei copert am pierdut-o era foarte scump.)

(37b) is an example of relative clause introduced by a genitival pronoun where there is

a form of inversion imposed by the presence of the genitive form of which. There aresituations when inversion is not obligatory, but these ones are even more infrequent than those

illustrated under (37b):

(38) as if she were being gradually cornered by a cruelty of which he was the almost

unconscious agent.(Iris Murdoch, An Accidental Man)

( de parc era ncet-ncet ncolit de o cruzime al crei agent aproape incontient

era el.)

Which [-human]

(39) The story which he claimed to have told was too fantastic for my taste.

(Povestea pe care pretindea c a spus-o era prea fantastic pentru gustul meu.)

There are a few exceptions when which can acquire the feature [+human]:

When which has a partitive value:

(40) Which of the two men is nicer?

(Care dintre ei este mai drgu?)

However in rhetorical question who is still preferred:

(41) Who of us will stain his hands with murder?

(Cine dintre noi i va mnji minile cu o crim?)

with archaic value:

(42) Our Father, which art in Heaven

(Tatl nostru carele eti n ceruri)

When a personal denotation refers not to an individual, but to a type or a function:

(43) a. Shaw is commonly regarded more as a funny man than as the revolutionary which atbottom he is.

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(Shaw este n general privit mai degrab ca un tip hazliu dect ca revoluionarul careeste n esen.)

b. Freud is the analyst which we must enjoy.

(Freud este psihanalistul pe care trebuie s-l citim)c. He is not the man which he used to be.

(Nu mai este omul care era odat.)

When its genitive form is used to give a very formal tone to the passage (but this is

very infrequent):

(44) Livia had just been delivered of twin boys, of which, by the way, Sejanus seems tohave been the father.

(Livia tocmai nscuse doi biei gemeni, al cror tat se pare c era Sejanus.)

Both who and which are used for:

collective nouns

(45) a. This was a tribe who moved from the Baltic Sea.(Acesta era un trib care venise de la Marea Baltic.)

b. Asiatic tribes and American tribes which resemble each other.( triburile asiatice i amerindiene care seamn ntre ele.)

states, animals, ships (that can be personified)

(46) a. Italy, which entered the war in May 1915 (Italia care a intrat n rzboi n mai 1915)

b. France, whom it concerned most closely, did however take certain precautions

( Frana, pe care o privea direct, i-a luat totui nite precauii)

what can normally introduce only free relative clauses:

(47) I didnt know what they wanted.

(Nu tiam ce vor.)

The rare occasions when what functions as an introducer of restrictive relative clauses, it is

archaic

(48) It is rich what gets the peaches,

It is poor what gets the punches.(Cei bogai primesc onoruri, cei sraci primesc ponoase.)

dialectal

(49) a. the bloke what signs our books (tipul care ne semneaz crile)

b. One cant expect foreigners to have the same ideas what we have.

(one cannot expect foreigners to have the same ideas that we have)

(Nu poi s te atepi ca strinii s aib ce idei avem noi.)

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5.5.2 Relative Adverbs: when, where, while, why, how, etc.

When they introduce restrictive relative clauses, their antecedents are nouns

expressing places, time, reason, etc. and can be replaced by prepositional phrases withadverbial function:

(50) a. Poland is the place where Christine was born.(Polonia este locul n care s-a nscut Christine.)

b. Poland is the place in which Christine was born.(Polonia este locul n care s-a nscut Christine.)

(51) a. Ten oclock is the time when they have lunch.

(Ora zece este momentul cnd ei iau prnzul.)

b. Ten oclock is the time at which they have lunch.(Ora zece este momentul cnd ei iau prnzul.)

When they introduce free relative clauses, no antecedents are required:

(52) a. He went where he had been before.(S-a dus unde mai fusese.)

b.They left when they decided it was proper to.(Au plecat cnd s-a hotrt c este potrivit.)

There are cases when these adverbs can appear in their older forms (in archaic passages):

(53) a. The place whither he goes is unknown.(Locul ctre care merge este necunoscut.)

b. They returned to the land whence they had come.

(S-au ntors n ara din care veniser.)c. A system where by a new discovery will arise.

(Un sistem prin care va aprea o nou descoperire)d. A dark forrest wherein dangers lurk.

(O pdure ntunecat n care ne pndesc primejdiile.)

e. This is the place wherefrom they came.(Acesta este locul din care au venit.)

5.5.3. Relative THAT

Relative THAT normally appears as the introducer of restrictive relative clauses:

(54) This is the book that pleased her most.(Aceasta este cartea care o ncnt cel mai mult.)

It is invariable, never preceded by prepositions and requires an antecedent with theexception of archaic idiomatic contents:

(55) Handsome is that handsome does.

(Only the person that behaves in a handsome way can be considered handsome).

Moreover, the relative introducer THAT unlike its pair that introduces complementthat-clauses can have almost any syntactic function within the relative clause:

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Subject

(56) Did you see the letter [that came today?]

(Ai vzut scrisoarea care a sosit azi?)

Direct Object

(57) Did you get the books [that I sent you?]

(Ai primit crile pe care i le-am trimis?)

Prepositional Object

(58) That is the man [that I was talking about.]

(Acesta este cel despre care vorbeam.)

Predicative

(59) He is not the man [that he was.](Nu este omul care era odinioar.)

Adverbial

(60) Tuesday was the day [that he left.]

(Ziua n care a plecat a fost o mari.)

When do we prefer to use THAT instead of WHICH/WHO?When the antecedent is a compound nominal that refers to a human and a thing:

(61) The children were the parcels that filled the car.(Copiii erau pachetele ce umpleau maina.)

With a superlative antecedent

(62) She is the prettiest girl that I have ever seen.(Este fata cea mai frumoas pe care am vzut-o vreodat.)

With an antecedent preceded by determiners such as: all, every, any, not any, much, little:

(63) That ugly little house was all the home that I have ever had.(Csua aceea urt era singurul cmin pe care l-am avut vreodat.)

When the rule of euphony must be observed

(64) a. Who that knew her would help loving her?(Cine dintre cei care o cunoteau se puteau mpiedica s o iubeasc?)

b.* Who who knew her could help loving her?

5.5.4. Other relative introducers

There are of course other relative clauses introducers, but they are used very

infrequently: as, but

in standard language

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(65) a. Honest man as he was, it went against the grain with him to step into his shoes.

(Cinstit cum era, era contrar naturii sale s l urmeze.)

b. Ill get you such things as you may want.(O s i dau acele lucruri pe care le doreti.)

c. This is the same one that/as you had before.

(Este la fel cu cel pe care l-ai avut.)

in dialect

(66) a. Uncle George, him as was in China (Uncle George, who had been in China )

(Unchiul George, care fusese n China)

b. Theres not many asll say that.(There arent many who will say that)

(Nu-s muli care s spuie asta)

archaic use

(67) a. There is no man but feels pity for starving children. (There isnt a man who doesnt

feel pity )(Nu e om care s nu simt mil fa de copiii care mor de foame)

b. There is no one of us but wishes to help you.

(Nu este nimeni dintre noi care s nu vrea s te ajute.)c. I never had a slice of bread

Particularly long and wideBut feel upon the sandy floor,

And always on the buttered side.

(Niciodat nu s-a ntmplat, cnd am avut o bucat de pine mricic, s nu mi cadpe podeaua murdar, i ntotdeauna pe partea uns cu unt.)

Sometimes in colloquial or dialectal English, the relative clause introducer is omitted:

(68) a. Its the dry weather does it.(Its the dry weather that is to blame.)

b. It was me made her think that was the best thing to do.(It was me who made her think)

This phenomenon is usually met with cleft relative clauses such as those under (68).

This remark brings us to another important question to ask: When can we deleterelative clause introducers? The answer to this question is rather straight: relative introducers

can be deleted whenever THAT can be used as an alternative to the respective relative

introducer.For instance in

(69) The man whom John met lives in Boston.

(Omul pe care l-a ntlnit John locuiete n Boston)

The relative pronoun whom can indeed be replaced by that:

(70) The man that John met lives in Boston.

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(Omul pe care l-a ntlnit John locuiete n Boston)

This means that both whom and that can be deleted without the sentence losing its

grammaticality:

(71) The man John met lives in Boston.

(Omul pe care l-a ntlnit John locuiete n Boston)

Note that deletion is impossible in

(72) The man whom John spoke to is an idiot.(Cel cu care vorbete John este un idiot.)

since a replacement of the relative phrase with that cannot be performed in view of the factthat the relative introducer that cannot preceded by preposition (see subsection 5.5.3):

(73) a. *The man to that John spoke is an idiot.

b.*The man John spoke to is an idiot.

When the preposition appears at the end of the clause, the replacement is allowed and deletion

is indeed an option:

(74) a. The man who John spoke to is a genius.

(Cel cu care vorbete John este un geniu.)b. The man that John spoke to is a genius.

(Cel cu care vorbete John este un geniu.)c. The man John spoke to is a genius.

(Cel cu care vorbete John este un geniu.)

5.6. Pied Piping and Preposition Stranding

If you go back to our discussion in 5.2, regarding the mechanism that licenses the

formation of relative clauses, you will remember that a relative clause such as that in

(75) She was the woman [who everybody listened to]

(Ea era cea care pe care o ascultau toi.)

appeared as a result of movement:

(76) a. She was a woman. Everybody listened to that woman.

b. She was the womani whoi everybody listened to______.c. She was the womani whoi everybody listened to ti.

The phenomenon by means of which the relativized prepositional phrase is moved inclause initial position but leaves its preposition behind is called Preposition stranding: the

preposition has been stranded at the end of the sentence.The opposite phenomenon, by means of which the whole phrase is moved up front

(preposition and all) bears the name of pied piping, where the wh-word is the pied piper that

drags after it another element:

(77) She was the woman i to whomi everybody listened.

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By extension, another case of pied piping is offered by the movement of the genitival phraseat the beginning of the relative clause:

(78) a. This is the book. I lost the cover of the book.b. This is the booki whosei cover I lost ti.

(Aceasta este cartea a crei copert am pierdut-o.)

In this case the wh-word drags the constituent cover in clause initial position, acting

again as a genuine pied piper.The difference between (77) and (78), apart from the distinct syntactical functions the

prepositional and the genitival phrase have, lies in the fact that in the case of (78) pied pipingis obligatory. We couldnt say something like:

(79) * This is the book whose I lost cover.

5.7 Key Concepts

Relative Clauses can be dependent and in that case they need an antecedent in the mainclause, that is nominal phrase to which the relative clause introducer could send back. Therelative clause introducer is also called the relativized constituent and it corefers with the

antecedent in the main clause.Dependent relative clause (so called because they are dependent on their antecedent)

can further be split into restrictive ones (that define and identify the antecedent) and non-

restrictive ones (that offer additional information about the antecedent and have an appositivevalue). Both these types of relative clauses function as Attributes (appositive or not, as the

case is).Independent relative clauses are also called Free Relative Clauses because their

antecedent is missing, has been deleted. They do not function as attributes, but as subjects or

objects (in fact fulfilling almost all syntactical functions, including that of Indirect Objectwhich only they can have).

The mechanism that lies at the basis of dependent (and independent) relative clauses ismovement, as can be seen in those particular sentences exhibiting preposition stranding or

pied piping.