On the syntax of restrictive relative clauses in Siwkolan Amis

Abstract This paper aims to investigate an array of morphosyntactic properties that constrain the formation of externally-headed relative clauses (EHRCs) in Siwkolan Amis, an Austronesian language in Taiwan. Additionally, it seeks to address two key issues related to the syntax of relative clauses: connectivity and modification. First, I adopt the head raising analysis, also known as the Ā-extraction analysis, in light of island effects and idiomatic discontinuity. This analysis is very much in line with the subject-only restriction ( Keenan & Comrie 1977 ) and the Austronesian Extraction Restriction hypothesis ( Erlewine, Levin & van Urk 2017 ). Second, I argue that the head noun is structurally integrated into the EHRC through complementation. This structural relation is formed by the linker a , which behaves similarly to a complementizer selecting TP as its complement, suggesting that the EHRC has a full-fledged CP structure. A structural analysis of Amis EHRCs is proposed to account for these associated properties and has implications for the syntax of modification in Amis. First, Amis modifier phrases consisting of ma -inflected verbs can be analyzed on a par with Amis EHRCs. Second, the subject-only restriction can be recast as saying that the head noun at [Spec, v P] is structurally privileged.