ON THE RELATIVIZATION OF OBJECTS IN SLAVIC LANGUAGES

This article analyzes the use of different strategies including invariant relative particles (Ru. čto, Po. co etc.) in clauses relativizing direct objects. According to the Accessibility Hierarchy proposed by Keenan and Comrie (1977), the position of the direct object does not show much internal differentiation. However, a closer look reveals a rather complicated variation between the “bare” relative particle and the so-called decumulation strategy (relative particle with resumptive pronoun). The choice of strategy depends on a number of factors such as (semantic) animacy, case matching and the paradigmatic relations between the case forms of the head of the relative clause. The paper suggests that these factors be interpreted both within the framework of differential object marking and through the grammatical category of animacy.