Relative clauses

Many Australian languages do not have a dedicated relative clause construction, if 'relative clause' is narrowly defined. All languages have, however, constructions that fill the functional role of a relative clause, and these constructions are surveyed here for Australian languages. These often resemble a construction known as the 'adjoined relative clause', which can have temporal, conditional, relative and/or purposive functions. Lack of data for some languages makes dedicated relative clauses difficult or impossible to identify. This chapter surveys constructions and shows how Australian languages vary as to whether relative clauses are adjoined or embedded, linear order, finiteness, whether they are externally or internally headed, and the type of relative marking.