pluralrelative

Pluralrelative is a linguistic term used to describe a type of relative clause in which the relative element encodes plurality. In this approach, a plural marker appears on the relative pronoun, determiner, or a related element of the relative clause, signaling that the reference of the head noun or the overall relative proposition is plural. This is distinct from systems in which plurality is inferred solely from the verb or the main noun, without explicit plural marking on the relative marker itself.

Morphology and syntax are the main focus of pluralrelative. Realizations may include a plural form of the relative pronoun, a plural determiner attached to the head noun within the relative clause, or a plural clitic that attaches to the relative fragment. The plural marking can agree with the antecedent’s plurality, or it may reflect a distributive or collective interpretation of the entire relative clause. In practice, pluralrelative constructions may coexist with other agreement markers such as case or person, and can appear in subject or object relative clauses depending on the language.

Typologically, pluralrelative is reported in a limited set of languages with rich nominal or pronominal systems. It tends to be more common where there is strong morphosyntactic marking of number and where relative clauses are tightly integrated with noun phrases. Researchers study pluralrelative to understand how number marking interacts with reference, scope, and binding in complex noun phrases.

See also: relative clauses, number agreement, pronoun morphology.