where > relativizer?

[Paul Hopper]

In some German dialects wo is used as a relativizer. (But where after
read, hear etc in English is a complementizer not a relativizer.)

Paul


On Wed, October 21, 2009 19:35, vfriedm at UCHICAGO.EDU wrote:
> Macedonian /deka/, colloquial English 'where' (as in Did yoiu
> hear where the mayor said ...
>
> ---- Original message ----
>
>> Date: Wed, 21 Oct 2009 23:55:46 +0100
>> From: Yaron Matras <yaron.matras at MANCHESTER.AC.UK>
>> Subject: Re: where > relativizer?
>> To: LINGTYP at LISTSERV.LINGUISTLIST.ORG
>>
>>
>> oh yes !!
>>
>> Greek /pu/, Romani /kaj/, and southern dialectal German /wo/
>>
> are just
>> a couple of examples out of many.
>>
>> Quoting peterarkadiev <peterarkadiev at YANDEX.RU>:
>>
>>
>>> Dear colleagues,
>>>
>>>
>>> According to the dictionary of Lithuanian language
>>> (http://www.lkz.lt/startas.htm), the wh-word *kur*, whose
>>>
> basic
>>> meaning is 'where', can in some dialects be used as a general
>>> relativizer similar to English *that*. Cf. a nice example
> where this
>>> word is used both to form a question about location, and to relativize
>>> the subject:
>>>
>>> Kur tas piemuo, kur gano Å¡itas kiaules?
>>> where that(NOM.SG) shepherd(NOM.SG) who pasture(PRS.3)
> pig(ACC.PL)
>>> 'Where is that shepherd, who (lit. where) pastures pigs?'
>>>
>>>
>>> I wonder whether this or similar kinds of polysemy are
>>>
> attested
>>> cross-linguistically.
>>>
>>> Thanks a lot!
>>>
>>>
>>> With best wishes,
>>>
>>>
>>> Peter Arkadiev
>>> Institute of Slavic Studies
>>> Moscow
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Yaron Matras
>> Professor in Linguistics
>> School of Languages, Linguistics & Cultures
>> University of Manchester
>> Manchester M13 9PL, UK
>>
>>
>> Phone (direct): (00)44 (0)161 275 3975
>> Romani project: (00)44 (0)161 275 5999
>> http://romani.humanities.manchester.ac.uk
>> http://romani.languagecontact.manchester.ac.uk
>>
>


-- 
Prof. Dr. Paul J. Hopper
Senior Fellow
Freiburg Institute for Advanced Studies
Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg
Albertstr. 19
D-79104 Freiburg
and
Paul Mellon Distinguished Professor of Humanities
Department of English
Carnegie Mellon University
Pittsburgh, PA 15213