Erlewine, Michael Yoshitaka, 2019.
“Long-distance relativization in Tibetan.”
Presented at LSA 93.
I investigate the derivation of Tibetan relative clauses and the functions of the “nominalizer’’ morphemes involved. Previous work on Tibetan such as DeLancey 1999 describe different ‘‘nominalizer’’ morphemes used for the relativization of subjects, locative/goals, instruments, and themes. New data from long-distance relatives shows that so-called ‘‘nominalizers’’ are comprised of two distinct classes of morphemes: the historically oldest marker, -pa, always appears at the edge of the entire relative clause, whereas the other morphemes reflect a particular type of local extraction. I also argue that relativization cannot be reduced to nominalization, contrary to previous descriptions.