Gapless Relative Clauses as Clausal Licensors of Relational Nouns

This paper presents a novel analysis of so-called gapless relative clause constructions such as Mandarin xiangpi ranshao de weidao (literally, ‘the smell that rubber burns’). Such constructions have been observed in East Asian languages. It is claimed that the Head noun of such relative clauses are relational nouns, and the clauses are their licensors. Syntactically, the Head nouns are predicates and the clauses are subjects. Compared to regular relative clause constructions, gapless relative clause constructions denote a reversed predication relation between the Head nouns and the clauses. Compared to complement clauses of nouns, gapless relative clauses denote external rather than internal argument of nouns. This new analysis explains a series of differences of the constructions from either regular relative clause constructions or noun-complement construction. Analyzing such constructions helps us to recognize a new type of complex nominals, in addition to the modification and complementation types. The absence of such constructions in English is accounted for by the fact that there is no clausal subject in English. The paper shows that clauses in Chinese and gerund forms in English may occur in true subject positions, and thus may license relational nouns.