The syntax of Tagalog relative clauses

This paper provides a unified analysis of relative clauses in Tagalog according to which the head is raised from the TP complement of C leaving behind a copy. The superficial differences among the relative clauses are suggested to be due to the pronunciation of different copies. There are therefore just two types of headed relative clauses, one is externally (initially) headed and the other is internally (medially or finally) headed. Headless relative clauses are the result of deleting both copies. The account explains why they are all subject to the same constraint on movement and why the position of the clause-internal head of the RC necessarily coincides with the absolutive argument in the declarative. It is argued that the linker na/-ng in relative clauses is not always in C; it may also occur in the same position as the marker ang for the absolutive argument in the declarative.