Please note: There is a common introduction to Chapters 122 and 123 on Relativization Strategies available.

1. Defining the values

Map 123A shows the relativization on obliques:

Values of Map 123A. Relativization on Obliques

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	Value	Representation
	Relative Pronoun Strategy	13
	Non-Reduction Strategy	14
	Pronoun-Retention Strategy	20
	Gap Strategy	55
	Not possible	10
Total:		112

We distinguish five major groups of languages here. First, there are a number of languages that relativize upon obliques by employing the relative pronoun strategy, as exemplified in the Russian sentence in (1).

(1) Russian

Ja	poterjal	nož,	kotorym	ja	narezal	xleb.
I	lose.pst	knife.acc	which.instr	I	cut.pst	bread
‘I lost the knife with which I cut the bread.’

Second, a number of languages use a non-reduction strategy for relativizing on obliques, where the head noun appears as a full-fledged noun phrase within the relative clause, with the same three major subtypes, (a) correlative, (b) internally headed relative clause, and (c) paratactic clauses, as with relativization on upon subjects. The sentences in (2), (3) and (4) illustrate these three subtypes, respectively.

(2) Hindi (Comrie 1998: 62)

Maim	jis	ādmī	se	bāt	kar	rahā	thā	vah	kal	bhārat	jāegā.
I.dir	which.sg.obl	man	to	talk	do	prog.sg.m	be.impf.sg.m	that.dir.sg	tomorrow	India	go.fut.m.sg
‘The man [to whom I was talking ] will go to India tomorrow.’
(lit. ‘Which man I was talking with, he will go to India tomorrow’)

(3) Maricopa (Gordon 1986: 261)

Bonnie	va-s-ii	uuyem-sh	havshuu-k
Bonnie	house-dem-at	go.nom-subj	blue-real
‘The house Bonnie went to is blue.’

(4) Gooniyandi (Bunaban; Australia; McGregor 1990: 438)

ginharndi	yoowooloo	jijaggiddaa-nhi	wambiggoowaari
you.know	man	we.are.speaking-of.him	he.is.going.inside
‘The man who we’re talking about is going inside.’

The third major relativizing strategy with obliques is the pronoun-retention strategy. This strategy is exemplified in the sentence in (5) from Persian.

(5) Persian (Comrie 1998: 63)

mardhâi	[ke	ketâbhâ-râ	be	ânhâ	dâde	bud-id]
men	that	books-acc	to	them	given	were-2sg
‘the men that you had given the books to’
(lit. ‘the men that you had given the books to them’)

The fourth group of languages employ the gap strategy, as exemplified in the Korean sentence in (6).

(6) Korean (Comrie 1989: 151)

[Hyǝnsik-i	kɪ̵	kä-lɪ̵l	ttäli-n]	maktäki
Hyensik-nom	the	dog-acc	beat-rel	stick
‘the stick with which Hyensik beat the dog’

The fifth value represented on Map 123A is non-relativizable, and it stands for those languages where obliques cannot be relativized upon directly. In such languages, the translation equivalent of relativizing upon an oblique in other languages is typically expressed by advancing the noun phrase in question to a position that can be relativized upon, e.g. by the use of applicative and/or passive constructions (for details, see Comrie 1989: 156ff.).

Note that the assignment of a particular feature value to a particular language does not mean that this feature value is the only one that has been attested in that particular language. It only means that this particular feature value is considered to be the most frequent, or the canonical one in non-marked contexts.

Editorial note: Please cf. also Chapter 122.

2. Geographical distribution

Map 122A shows the following areal-typological configurations with respect to relativizing on subjects. In Europe, the relative pronoun strategy predominates (see also Lehmann 1984: 109; Comrie 1998: 6; Haspelmath 2001: 1496-1497). Note that this strategy stands out as being typically European since it is not found in Indo-European languages spoken outside Europe, and is exceptional more generally outside Europe.

In East Asia and Southeast Asia, the gap strategy is the most frequent one (see also Comrie 1998: 78). The non-reduction relativizing strategy is most frequently employed in the languages of the Americas.

Map 123A reveals distinct areal-typological patterns, too. The gap strategy is the dominant relativizing strategy for obliques in Southeast Asia, the Pacific area, and Australia. The relative pronoun strategy is characteristic of relativizing on obliques in Europe, whereas pronoun retention is the most frequent relativizing strategy with obliques in the languages of Africa.

3. Theoretical issues

According to the Accessibility Hierarchy of Relativization (subject > direct object > indirect object > possessor) proposed in Keenan and Comrie (1977), it is easier to relativize on subjects than it is to relativize on any of the other positions, easier to relativize on direct objects than indirect objects, etc. One of the generalizations that has been made regarding the accessibility hierarchy is that the pronoun retention strategy is preferred at the lower end of the hierarchy. This finds substantial confirmation in the present study, in that several languages use pronoun retention for relativizing upon obliques but not for relativizing upon subjects. In fact, few languages use pronoun-retention to relativize upon subjects, though Babungo illustrates precisely this possibility, as in (6) of Chapter 122, repeated as (7):

(7) Babungo (Schaub 1985: 34)

mǝ̀	yè	wǝ́	ntɪ̵́ǝ	ƒáŋ	ŋwǝ́	sɨ́	sàŋ	ghɔ̂
I	see.pfv	person	that	who	he	pst2	beat.pfv	you
‘I have seen the man who has beaten you.’

Note that to relativize upon direct objects, Babungo uses either a gap or pronoun-retention, with the gap being obligatory with a few verbs in the perfective aspect, as in (8); in this Babungo provides an exception to the accessibility hierarchy generalization on the distribution of pronoun retention.

(8) Babungo (Schaub 1985: 34)

a.	optional gap strategy
	mǝ̀	yè	wěembwā	ƒáŋ	tǐi	wī	sɪ̵́	sǎŋ	(ŋwǝ̀)
	I	see.pfv	child	who	father	his	pst2	beat.pfv	(him)
	‘I have seen a child whom his father had beaten.’
b.	obligatory gap strategy
	mǝ̀	yè	ŋkáw	ŋkɪ̵́ǝ	ƒáŋ	Làmbí	kɔ̀
	I	see.pfv	chair	that	which	Lambi	give.pfv
	‘I have seen the chair which Lambi gave.’