relative (adj./n.) (rel, REL)

A term used in GRAMMATICAL DESCRIPTION to characterize PRONOUNS which may be used to introduce a POSTMODIFYING CLAUSE within a NOUN PHRASE, and by extension to the clause as a whole (relative clauses). Relative pronouns in English include who, which, whom, whose and that (see WH-), as used in such relative clauses as the man who went was . . . When and where are sometimes called relative adverbs, when linking a relative clause to a MAIN clause (e.g. I remember the day (when) I first saw John, I remember the street where I lived as a child). Several detailed CLASSIFICATIONS of relative pronouns and clauses have been made, distinguishing such types as: adnominal (e.g. The answer which I received . . . ); nominal or free, which have no HEAD, and are therefore sometimes called headless (What interests me is his motive . . . ); sentential (e.g. It’s said she’s back in the country – which I just don’t believe); and zero or contact relatives (e.g. There’s the bus I caught). Widely recognized in TRADITIONAL as well as in LINGUISTIC grammars is the contrast between restrictive (or defining) and non-restrictive (or non-defining) types of relative: The Bible which I own was given to me by my grandmother v. The Bible, which I often read, is my favorite book. In classical TRANSFORMATIONAL GRAMMAR, the process of forming a relative-clause CONSTRUCTION is known as relativization.

A term used in linguistic theory to refer to a type of UNIVERSAL. A relative universal is one which characterizes a general tendency in a language, and allows for exceptions; it contrasts with ABSOLUTE universal.

A term used in HISTORICAL LINGUISTICS, referring to one way of characterizing the temporal relationship between language changes: to say that one change occurs before another is a statement of relative chronology. A contrast is intended with absolute chronology, where it is possible to state the specific time-periods when the changes took place.