Chapter 4

Gaps, resumptive pronouns and the complementizer ki in Mauritian Creole relative clauses

The present chapter looks at the internal structure of restrictive relative clauses in Mauritian Creole. The first part of this chapter deals with the alternation between gaps and resumptive pronouns, and its relation to the syntactic position of the relativized NP. A list of all pronouns and locative forms which may occur as resumptives is provided. The data also suggest that resumption is only permissible with definite relativized DPs. The alternation between gaps and resumptives is further compared with Keenan and Comrie’s Noun Accessibility Hierarchy (1977). Gaps are used for subject and object relativisation. A resumptive form is required when possessors, prepositional phrases and comparative constituents are relativized. In double object constructions, the beneficiary object allows both gaps and resumptives. Pied-piping of PPs is also available in Mauritian Creole. The second part of the chapter looks at the distribution of ki versus that of the null complementizer. The form ki serves both as a complementizer and a relative pronoun. Its characteristics meet the criteria for both, according to the typology presented by De Vries (2002: 162). Since ki may sometimes be omitted in relative clauses, the last part of the chapter looks at its role in the avoidance of syntactically ambiguous sentences.