Externally Headed Postnominal RCs:

(1) DP

D
the

C1

C2
(that)

IP dP1= External Head

DP NumP
John I two

V dP2= Internal Head

bought AP
NumP nice
two NP
AP books
nice
NP
books
(2) DP

D
the

C1

C2
(that)

IP dP1= External Head

DP NumP
John I two

V dP2= Internal Head

bought AP
NumP nice
two NP
AP books
nice
NP
books

1
No Relativized Minimality violation occurs. dP1 and dP2 do not c-command each other. When dP2
raises to Spec,C2 it does not cross over a c-commanding identical intervener (cf. (3a)). When dP1
crosses over the raised dP2, it crosses over just one link of it (not the entire dP2) (cf. (4)a)

(3)a Comei hai saputo [quando è partito] ti?

b *Comei hai saputo [quando si è comportato ti]?
(4)a Cinei cek ti a dat tk lui Mihai?
b *Cek cinei ti a dat tk lui Mihai?

Bulgarian offers interesting evidence that the internal Head raises to a position lower than that to
which the external Head raises, the former being lower than Topic/Focus phrases, and the latter
higher. See (5) and (6):

(5) [Momičeto [ot Plovdiv]i deto e ti ] e mnogo umno

girl.the from Plovdiv that is is very smart
‘The girl that is from Plovdiv is very smart’

(6)a [[Na Bălgarija]i natiskăt deto Evropa okazva ti ] e nepravomeren

[On Bulgaria the.pressure that Europe exerts] is illegal
‘The pressure that Europe exerts on Bulgaria is illegal’
b *[Natiskăt [na Bălgarija]i deto Evropa okazva ti ] e nepravomeren

Externally Headed Prenominal RCs:

Raising (cf. 7)): dP2 is attracted to Spec,C2, from where it controls the deletion of dP1; after which
the remnant of the RC raises to Spec,C1. Reconstruction effects are expected as the overt Head is
the ‘internal’one (linked to the trace). And so is sensitivity to islands, due to the movement of the
‘internal’ Head.

(7) DP This case seems to be instantiated by Chinese, which displays both relativization
of idiom chunks (hence reconstruction) and island sensitivity (Aoun and Li 2003,
177), and Modern Tamil, where, according to Annamalai and Steever (1998,123),
D prenominal relative clauses are sensitive to islands.
the

C1

C2
the [John t bought] book

IP dP1

DP book
John I
dP2
V
book bought

Matching (cf. (8)): dP1 directly controls the deletion of dP2 backward. No reconstruction effects are
expected, as the overt Head is the ‘external’ one (the ‘internal’ Head not having moved). Nor is
sensitivity to islands, as no movement of the internal Head is involved.

2
 (8) DP This case may be instantiated by Tsez (Northeast Caucasian), which
apparently shows no island sensitivity (Comrie and Polinsky 1999).

D
the

C1

C2

IP dP1

DP book
John I

dP2 V
bought
book

Internally headed RCs (which often alternate with prenominal RCs – Cole 1987):
Matching: dP2 directly controls the deletion of dP1 forward. 1 F F

(9) DP

D
the

C1

C2

IP dP1

DP book
John I
dP2
V
bought
book

1
Note that in the “matching” derivation of internally headed relative clauses ((23)), as well as in the “matching”
derivation of externally headed prenominal relatives ((22)), neither Head c-commands the other from its in situ position.
As with VP deletion, which can take place either backward or forward in the same language, one should expect deletion
here to freely apply either backward or forward, with the consequence that the language may give the impression of
having two separate strategies of relative clause formation (external prenominal and internal) (cf. Cole’s observation
that often externally headed prenominal relatives alternate with internally headed relatives within the same language).

3
The indefiniteness restriction of the internal Head of certain languages, which only have “matching”
(Lakhota – Williamson 1987, Diegueño - Gorbet 1976, and Mojave - Munro 1976, with the same
cluster of properties: indefiniteness restriction, the possibility of stacking and the absence of island
sensitivity) follows from the indefinite character of the external Head and deletion in situ under
strict identity of the two Heads).

Raising: in those languages that show no indefinite restriction: Japanese, Korean, Quechua, Navajo,
F

and Haida, among other languages. Given their island sensitivity (cf. Platero 1974,220 for Navajo;
Cole 1987,297, Cole and Hermon 1994,250 for Imbabura and Ancash Quechua; Watanabe
2004,62ff for Japanese), it is tempting to see this second type as involving movement (differently
from the first type); more specifically as involving the “raising” derivation in (50), where the
internal Head, dP2, is attracted to Spec,C2, from where it controls the deletion of dP1, the external
Head. After that a phrase of the Remnant must be taken to raise to Spec,C1, higher than the (strong)
determiners. In this case, reconstruction effects are expected (as the overt Head is the ‘internal’ one,
linked to the trace), as is sensitivity to islands, due to the movement of the internal Head.

(10)

C1

D
the

C2

IP dP1

DP book
John I

V dP2
bought
book
Double-headed
Double-headed RCs like (1)d and (29)-(31) above show the two Heads on their sleeves, so to speak.
One of the two Heads can also be a functional noun/classifier, like PERSON, THING, etc.

(51)a[watakusi ga sono hito no namae o wasurete-simatta] okyaku-san (Japanese-Kuno 1973,237)

I NOM that person’s name ACC have forgotten guest
‘a guest whose name I have forgotten’
b [[kho khumolei-n-o] mogo]… Kombai (Papuan - de Vries (1993,77)
man die.3SG.NF-TR-CONN person ‘The man who died…’

X. ‘Headless’ or Free RCs

(52)a (I don’t like) [[ what THING you said] (SUCH) THING]
b (He weighs) [[ what AMOUNT you weigh] (SUCH) AMOUNT]
c (Here is) [[ where PLACE they slept] THERE PLACE]
d (I was there) [[ when TIME he said that] THEN TIME]
e (She hates [[ whoever PERSON does that ] (SUCH) PERSON]