Relativemarking

Relativemarking is a linguistic feature describing how a language encodes the relationship between the head noun of a relative clause and its antecedent. When a noun phrase is modified by a relative clause, relativemarking concerns where the necessary grammatical information is carried to signal the head’s role within that relative structure.

There are two broad strategies commonly discussed: head-internal marking and head-external marking. In head-internal marking, the information tying the head to the relative clause is carried on the head noun itself or on the relative pronoun within the relative clause, often through case, agreement, or dedicated markers. In head-external marking, the linkage is encoded outside the head, such as by markers in the relative clause that reference the head, or by pronouns and affixes in the surrounding structure that indicate the head’s function in the relative relation. Some languages mix these options depending on grammatical context or the particular type of relative clause.

Relativemarking interacts with other typological features, such as the presence of case systems, word order, and the availability of resumptive pronouns. For instance, languages with rich case marking may favor head-internal strategies, while more analytic systems may rely on word order or external markers. The study of relativemarking is part of cross-linguistic typology and the broader investigation of how languages encode dependency and reference in relative clauses.