3.4.1. Types of relative clause
LSF displays both internally headed relative clauses and, most frequently, post-nominal externally headed relative clauses. In internally headed relative clauses, the relative pronoun is frequently found within the relative clause, next to the head noun, but it can also appears at the periphery of the relative clause, in which case the sentence is degraded. An example of each possibility is presented here after: the relative pronoun (either pi or person-cl) is underlined, the head noun is in bold and the relative clause is within square brackets.
rel
a. ix1 prefer [ man dog pi pet ] Int. Head.
‘I prefer the dog which the man is petting.’
rel
b. ? ix1 prefer pi [ man pet dog ]
‘I prefer the dog that the man pet.’ (Hauser, 2019:59)
In post-nominal externally headed relative clauses the head noun precedes the relative clause that modifies it. The relative pronoun occupies the initial position of the relative clause, as shown in the example below.
rel
ix1 prefer vet [pi/person-cl cure dog] Ext. Head.
‘I prefer the vet who cures the dog.’ (Hauser, 2019:57)
Additionally, LSF exhibits relative clauses without a head, which are non-referential, called free-choice free-relatives. In this case, the clause is introduced by the wh-sign ‘what’ (see the example below) and the set of non-manual markers differs from that of headed relatives: there only brows raising (br), spreading over the entire clause. In the example below the free-relative clause is within square brackets.
br
[ix2 can eat what] prefer Free-choice Free-relative
'You can eat whatever (you) prefer.’ (Hauser, 2019:63)