Aspects of tenseless relative clauses in Basque

Abstract

This article is concerned with some aspects of relative clause formation in Basque that have thus far remained unnoticed in the generative tradition: the behavior of tenseless relative clauses (TRC henceforth). My purpose here will be mainly descriptive in that I will solely concentrate on the striking parallelisms and similaraties between tensed relative clauses in Basque (the subject matter of extensive studies by de Rijk 1972, Oyharçabal 1986, 1988, Ortiz de Urbina 1989, Artiagoitia 1990) and their little studied tenseless counterparts. Consequently, the discussion of some theoretical issues has been left aside in some cases in favor of a clear presentation of previously unknown paradigms. The introductory part reviews the main facts concerning tensed relatives. Section 2 introduces the reader to the typology of tenseless relative clauses in Basque; the following sections each present the relevant data showing how tenseless relatives mirror and relate to the behavior of tensed relatives.