AMERINDIA 40: 105-134, 2018
Silviano JIMÉNEZ J.
CIESAS
DOI : https://doi.org/10.56551/VPCE2180
Abstract: Zoque of San Miguel Chimalapa (Mixe-Zoquean) presents three relativization
strategies: 1) gapping, 2) internal head, and 3) relative pronoun. This study offers an overview
of constructions that mark the reference of the nominal phrase (NP) in the subordinate clause
by means of a pronoun that stands at the left edge of the relative clause that is also the focus
position. The native locative pronoun, which encodes case, coexists with three other forms
borrowed from Spanish. The use of a relative pronoun represents a non-basic strategy, since it
is used only for the relativization of locative adjuncts. The relative clauses introduced by a
pronoun have two structural realizations. In the first, the pronoun in focus position replaces
the adpositional NP, including the locative case and its dependent NP. In the second, the
pronominal element replaces the dependent NP but not the case that remains marked in the
relative clause (RC). One of the realizations of relative pronoun in the second structure is the
result of the reanalysis of the native locative pronoun as a non-human pronoun. This type of
reanalysis has not been documented crosslinguistically. In the second structure, the pronoun
without case moves to the left edge of the RC, giving rise to three subtypes of structures: a)
movement of the pronominal element with pied-piping without inversion, b) movement of the
pronominal element with adposition stranding, and c) movement of the pronominal element
with stranding of the relational noun and the locative case. These last two structural types are
rare in Mesoamerica