Relative Clauses Reduction in English and Arabic

Dr. Nawfal Saeed Majeed / Mahmood Abbas Dawood

Relative Clauses Reduction in

English and Arabic(*)

Dr. Nawfal Saeed Majeed / Mahmood Abbas Dawood

ABSTRACT
Reduction is used by native speakers to avoid redundancy
and achieve cohesive style in both spoken and written forms. Non-
native learners are required to develop the skill of employing
deletion in speech and writing if they want to show a complete
mastery of the language.
The study undertaken here contrast English and Arabic
relative clauses reduction in order to describe and explain, as far as
the available data permits, what similarities and differences these
clauses show. The data analyzed for comparison are derived from
adequate description of the languages under investigation. The
comparative analysis based its techniques on syntactic criteria.
Two kinds of reduction are presented in this study: optional
and obligatory.
Obligatory deletion refers to the removal of an item or items
from a structure or else the sentence will be ungrammatical. The
second kind is optional which must be known where to apply since
its application in some structures may result in ambiguous
sentences. The two languages are compared, as far as relative
clauses reduction is concerned, as an attempt to get the major points
of similarities and differences.
Some of the problems of second language learning are
ascribed to the phenomenon of transference of the native language

‫ محمود عباس داود بإشراف الدكتور نوفل سعيد‬: ‫)*( البحث مستل من رسالة الماجستير لمطالب‬
‫ كمية التربية‬/ ‫ جامعة تكريت‬/ ‫مجيد‬

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structure to the foreign language. It is assumed that the transference

often causes difficulty or ease in learning the structure of the foreign
language. The findings arrived at can be utilized by classroom
teachers, linguists, textbook writers and students of English and
Arabic.

1 -Relative Clauses Reduction in English

Tense and be are among the constituents that can be deleted
from relative clauses in addition to the relative pronoun.
Nagamine, (2002:2) states that when every is used to modify
the head noun, the relativized object is always deleted as in:
(1) Every student I met two days ago studied English very hard.
There can be deletion of the relative + tense +be in the
sequence relative pronoun + be + pp.
(2: a) The forest which is beyond the river is very big.
(2: b) The forest beyond the river is very big.
(Ahmed, 1982:92)
The relative pronoun + tense +be can optionally be deleted
when the relativized constituent is in the passive:
(3: a) I saw the house which was attacked yesterday.
(3: b) I saw the house attacked yesterday
We can optionally delete the relative pronoun when it
precedes an auxiliary with the present participle as in:
(4: a) The boy who is standing at the corner is my brother.
(4: b) The boy standing at the corner is my brother.
(Liles, 1971:96)
Klammer (1977:276) points that the relative pronoun may
also be deleted when the relativized constituent is the object of the
embedded clause:
(5: a) The conclusion that Stephen disputes is indeed absurd.
(5: b) The conclusion Stephen disputes is indeed absurd.

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The relative pronoun can be deleted if it is the object of a

preposition leaving the preposition at the end of the sentence:
(6: a) I shook hands with the man whom I voted for.
(6: b) I shook hands with the man I voted for.
(Ibid: 277-278)
It is worth to note that deletion of the relative pronoun is not
possible all the time since its application in some structures lead to
ungrammatical sentences. For instance, the relative pronoun cannot
be deleted if there are other constituents fronted with it as in the
following example:
(7: a) The claim with which William concluded his lecture is
uncertain.
(7: b) * The claim with William concluded his lecture is uncertain.
(Roberts, 1997:232)
Celce-Murica & Freeman (1999:581) state that the relative
pronoun cannot be deleted if a preposition has been brought to the
front of the sentence along with the relative pronoun:
(8: a) The boy about whom he talked is Tom.
(8: b) *The boy about he talked is Tom.
Hurford (1994:219) mentions that the relative pronoun
cannot be deleted when it functions as the subject of the relative
clause.
The following is an example of the previous statement:
(9: a) The fool who lent Thomas a dollar is here.
(9: b) *The fool lent Thomas a dollar is here.
Fowler (1977:144) states “deletion must not take place if the
constituent is marked perfect aspect.” as in:
(10: a) The man who had stolen the money ran away into the
darkness.
(10: b) *The man stolen the money ran away into the darkness.

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The awareness of applying reduction is important because

sometimes it leads to ambiguous sentences. Let’s consider the
following example:
(11: a) I built the boat in the yard.
The above sentence is ambiguous since in the yard has two
interpretations. It can tell where I built the boat or which boat I
built. So this sentence could be derived from either of the following:
(11: b) I built the boat in the yard.
(11: c) I built the boat which is in the yard.

2- Arabic Relative Clauses reduction

The Arab linguists dealt with the concept of reduction, with
its two kinds, under the term brevity which is one of the most
important features of Arabic. There are also other terms used to
refer to reduction such as ‫ الحذف‬, ‫ اإلضذار‬and ‫ االستححر‬.Each of these
terms are used in certain situations, but they all share the meaning of
disappearance and not existing.
Ibin Jinni (1952: 83) states that the Arabs prefer brevity to
prolixity because brevity leads to understanding whereas prolixity
leads to ambiguity.
The relative pronouns in Arabic are of two kinds either
particle, including:‫ أنْ الاصد ٌة‬, ‫ ار الاصد ٌة‬,ً‫ ك‬and ‫ لو‬or nominals
which include: ْ‫ َان‬,‫ ار‬,‫ أي‬,‫ التً الفي‬with their dual and plural
derivations. The English counterparts for nominal relative pronouns
are: who (m), what, which.
(Dhahir, 1981:177 – 78)
In Arabic, the relative pronoun is deleted in certain
situations:
(a) Arabic obligatorily uses overt relative pronoun when the
antecedent is definite noun or noun phrases.
(Beestoon, 1970:99)
(12) .‫إنَّ القره ة أبعد ادٌنة أٌ ُتهر حتى اآلن‬

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Dr. Nawfal Saeed Majeed / Mahmood Abbas Dawood

Cairo is the remotest city I have ever seen.

(b) The relative pronoun is also deleted after indefinite genitive
construction:
(13) ‫كرن العرم الارضً صعبر عرنٌنر فٌه كثٌ ا‬
Last year was hard in which we suffered a lot..
(Cantarino, 1975, III: 149)
(c) After a comparison:
(14) .ً‫جل أٌ ُته فً حٌرت‬
ٍ ‫إ َّنك برلفعل أقوى‬
You are indeed the strongest man I have ever seen.
(Ibid: 150)
(d) Rather frequently in Arabic after a definite noun especially
when the relative clause is non restrictive:
(15) ‫هفه لٌست الا ة األولى أزو ه فٌهر‬
That is not the first time I have visited him.

(e) Frequently with temporal expressions, especially with such

words as‫ أسبوع‬week, ‫ شهر‬month, ‫ سنة‬year, and the like .The
relative clause in these cases is represented only by a verb:
.‫بعد أسبوع اضى على اوت ولده‬ (16)
After a week had passed since the death of his son.
(Ibid: 15(
The only constraint for the relative pronoun to be obligatorily
deleted is that the antecedent must be definite noun phrase,
otherwise, it is obligatorily deleted as in the following:
‫(المدينة الحي مر نر بهر كرنث جميلة جدا‬17: a)
The city which we passed by was very beautiful.
.‫(*المدينة مر نر بهر كرنث جميلة جدا‬17: b)
In addition to the relative pronoun, there is another
constituent which can be deleted in relative clauses in Arabic, that is
the resumptive pronoun. By resumptive pronoun we mean the
pronoun that links between the relative clause and the relative
pronoun provided that it is a second pronoun and in concord with

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the relative pronoun i.e. singular, dual, plural and feminine and
masculine as in the following:
‫(جرء ال جل الفي أ ٌَته‬18)
The man whom you saw came.
‫(جاءت المرأة التي رأيتها‬19)
The woman whom you saw came.
‫(جرء ال جالن اللفان أٌ َتهار‬20)
The two men whom you saw came.
‫(جرء ال جرل الفٌن أٌ َتهم‬21)
The men whom you saw came.
‫(جرءت النسرء الّلواجي أيحهن‬22)
The women whom you saw came.
(Ibin Yaeesh, 1:159)

This resumptive pronoun is sometimes in the nominative

case like ‫ هو‬as in:
‫(خٌ ُ األصدقرء انْ هو عون فً الشدائد‬23)
A friend in need is the friend indeed.
Or in the accusative case like ‫ هر‬as in:
‫أعجب األثر التً ت كهر قدارؤنر‬
َ ‫(ار‬24)
What marvelous are the antiques that our ancestors left them.
Or in the dative case like ‫ هم‬as in:
‫النرصحٌن الفٌن أصغٌت إلٌهم‬
َ ُ
‫(أصغٌت إلى‬25)
I listened to those advisors that whom you listened to them.

The resumptive pronoun in all these cases can be deleted on

condition that there is no ambiguity. In addition to the general
condition there are specific conditions on each case that are
explained below:
(Ibin Hisham (b), 118-126)
(a) If the resumptive pronoun is in the nominative case, it can be
deleted under two conditions. First the relative clause must be a

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Dr. Nawfal Saeed Majeed / Mahmood Abbas Dawood

nominal clause where the resumptive pronoun is the subject and

secondly the predicate must be singular as in:
‫ والبحر ُ ألتً هً الحٌّة الارء‬, ‫(األنهر ُ التً هً عفبة الارء‬26:a)
Rivers are those that they have drinkable water, and seas are
those that they have salty water.
‫ والبحر ُ التً الحٌّة الارء‬, ‫(أألنهر ُ ألتً عفبة الارء‬26:b)
Rivers are those that have drinkable water, and seas are those
that have salty water.

b) If the resumptive pronoun is in the accusative case, it can be

deleted under three conditions. First the pronoun must be a
connected one, secondly the verb must be a normal verb, and thirdly
the relative pronoun must not be ‫ أل‬as in:
‫كبت القطر َ الفي كب َت ُه‬ ُ (27:a)
I rode the train that you rode it.
َ
‫كبت‬ ‫كبت القطر َ الفي‬ ُ (27:b)
I rode the train that you rode.
(Hassan, 2,1991:398)
c) If the resumptive pronoun is in the dative case it can be so either
by possession or by preposition. If the resumptive pronoun is the
object of preposition it can be deleted when the relative pronoun is
preceded by the same preposition in its form and meaning .In this
case, if the resumptive pronoun is deleted, the preposition is deleted
as well:
َ
‫تنرولت الغداء فٌه‬ ُ
‫تنرولت الغداء فً الاطعم الفي‬ (28: a)
I had lunch in the restaurant which you had your lunch in it.
َ
.‫تنرولت‬ ُ
‫تنرولت الغداء فً الاطعم الفي‬ (28: b)
I had lunch in the restaurant which you had your lunch in.
َ ‫َّلت إلى النتٌج ِة التً توص‬
‫ّلت إلٌهر‬ ُ ‫(توص‬29:a)
I arrived at the conclusion that you arrived at it.
َ ‫َّلت إلى النتٌج ِة التً توص‬
‫ّلت‬ ُ ‫(توص‬29:b)
I arrived at the conclusion that you arrived at.

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There are some constraints on the deletion of the relative

pronoun and the resumptive pronoun. The only constraint for the
relative pronoun to be obligatorily deleted is that the antecedent
must be definite NP; otherwise it is deleted obligatorily as in the
following:
‫(الادٌنة التً ا نر بهر كرنت جاٌلة جدا‬30:a)
The city which we passed by was very beautiful.
‫(*المدينة مررنا بها كانت جميلة جدا‬30:b)
The city we passed by was very beautiful.
As for the resumptive pronoun it depends on its position in the
clause.
(Ibin Jinni, 1, 1952:188)
A-If the resumptive pronoun is in the nominative case; it
cannot be deleted in the following cases:
(1) When the relative clause is a verbal clause or a phrase as in:
.‫(طلع البدر الذي يمأل نوره السماء‬31)
The moon whose its light fills the sky has arisen.
(2) When the relative clause is nominal but the resumptive pronoun
is not a subject:
ٌ‫( طلع القا الفي شكلُه استد‬32)
The moon whose its shape is round has arisen.

3. When the relative clause is nominal, the resumptive pronoun is a

subject but its predicate is not singular, or the relative clause is a
verbal or a phrase:
(Verbal clause) .‫هشت ان الق ود التً هً تقلِّد اإلنسرن‬
ُ ‫( ُد‬33)
I was astonished at the monkeys that they imitate the man.
(Nominal clause) .‫ِشت ان الق ود التً هً ح كرتهر كح كة اإلنسرن‬ ُ ‫( ُده‬34)
I was astonished at the monkeys whose they movements look like
the man’s movements.
*
(Prepositional phrase) .‫( ُدهِشت الا أة التً هً أاراك‬35)

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Dr. Nawfal Saeed Majeed / Mahmood Abbas Dawood

The woman who she is in front of you was astonished.

(B) If the resumptive pronoun is in the accusative case , it cannot be

deleted in the following cases:
(1) When the resumptive pronoun is a separate pronoun and it is not
annexed to the verb, like:
‫( أقب َل ال بٌ ُع الفي إٌره أحب‬36:a)
Spring that I like it has come.
With fronting the pronoun, it must be annexed to the verb
obligatorily to become:
.‫( أقبل ال بٌع الفي أحبه‬36: b)
(2) When it is the predicate of َّ‫ كأن‬or any of its sisters:
‫بلت ال جل الفي كأ ّنه احاود‬ ُ ‫( قر‬37)
I met the man who he looks like Mahmood.
(3) When the deletion of the resumptive pronoun leads to
ambiguous sentences.

(C) If the resumptive pronoun is in the dative case; it cannot be

deleted in the following cases:
(1) If the preposition that precedes the resumptive pronoun is
different from that precedes the relative pronoun in form or
meaning, or in both, the resumptive pronoun cannot be deleted:
‫عال الفي أنت اغب فٌه‬ِ ‫غبت عن ال‬ُ (38)
I disliked the work that you liked it.
In the above example the prepositions are different in meaning. In
the following example they are different in form only because ‫البرء‬
and ً‫ ف‬means the same thing: the location:
ُ ‫( جلس‬39)
.‫ت برلحج ِة التً أنت جرلس فٌهر‬

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(2) The resumptive pronoun should not be one of the indispensable

members in the clause. In the following example, the resumptive
pronoun cannot be deleted because the pp is ‫نرئب فرعل‬:
‫برلصدٌق الفي ُا به‬
ِ ُ
‫ت‬ ‫( ا‬40)
I visited the friend who has been visited.

(3) The last condition is that deleting the resumptive pronoun should
not lead to ambiguous sentences.

3- CONTRASTIVE ANALYSIS
This purpose of this analysis is to find out points of contrast
between reduction in English relative clauses and their equivalents
in Arabic to discover sources of interference and to predict and
explain potential learning problems.
English relative pronouns are less in number than those of
Arabic. This is due to the fact that the former are generic, while the
latter are more specific.
The relative clauses both in English and Arabic can undergo
reduction of certain items but they differ in the kinds of deletion and
the contexts in which these reduction occur.
The relative pronoun in English is deleted according to its
position in the sentence and what follows the relative pronoun in the
sentence. For example, the relative pronoun is deleted if it is
followed by an auxiliary with the present participle as in:
(41: a) The man who is standing over there is my brother. .
(41: b) The man standing over there is my brother.
In Arabic, on the other hand, deletion of the relative pronoun
depends on its antecedent. The relative pronoun is obligatorily
deleted when the antecedent is indefinite: (Wright, 1955:317;
Cowan, 1964:70)
‫( بغداد أجال ادٌنة أٌتهر‬42)
Baghdad is the most beautiful city I have ever seen.

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Restrictions on relative pronoun deletion are found in both

languages. The only constraint for Arabic relative pronoun is that if
the antecedent is definite, it is obligatorily present otherwise, it is
obligatorily deleted:
‫( الغ فة التً ٌشر كنً فٌهر علً كبٌ ة جدا‬43)
The room that I share with Ali is very big.

In English the relative pronoun, it cannot be deleted if it

functions as the subject of the sentence underlying the relative
clause:
(44: a) The thief who stole the money is now in jail.
(44: b) *The thief stole the money is now in jail.
It is not possible to delete the relative pronoun if the clause
is in the perfect aspect:
(45: a) My brother who had traveled to Paris came home.
(45: b) *My brother traveled to Paris came home.

In English, the second occurrence of the relativized

constituent is obligatorily deleted. In case where there is a
preposition in the clause it is not deleted. The sentence (38: b) is
ungrammatical since there is a structural gap that has to be filled up
by moving whom to the beginning of the clause. In order to make
the sentence (38: b) grammatical, we should either place about after
talked or insert whom after the preposition about. So that the
preposition is placed next to the relative pronoun:

(46: a) The guy whom he talked about is Henry.

(46: b) The guy about whom he talked is Henry.

(47: a) The guy he talked about is Henry.

(47: b) *The guy about he talked is Henry.

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In Arabic, the resumptive pronoun can be deleted altogether

with the preposition, unless it leads to an ungrammatical sentence:
‫( الغ فة التً جلسنر فٌهر كرنت ا ٌحة جدا‬48: a)
The room which we sit in it was very comfortable.
‫( الغ فة التً جلسنر كرنت ا ٌحة جدا‬48: b)
The room which we sit was very comfortable.

In English, when the relative pronoun is deleted there are

some other elements that are deleted as well such as tense and be:
(49: a) The boy who is playing football is my brother.
(49: b) The boy playing football is my brother.
In Arabic nothing is deleted with the relative pronoun since
there are no auxiliaries in Arabic:
ً‫( إنه أفكى جل (الفي) أٌته فً حٌرت‬50)
Thus English relative pronouns are either optionally deleted
or obligatorily present since the deletion of the relative pronoun is
not possible all the time whereas in Arabic there is no optional
deletion of the relative pronoun. It is either obligatorily deleted or
obligatorily present.
Sometimes when the relative pronoun is deleted the sentence
becomes ambiguous that holds different interpretations. For
example, the following sentence:
(51: a) The boy in the garden that needs water…

This sentence could be derived from either of the following:

(51: b) The boy who is in the garden that needs water...
(51: c) The boy who needs water in the garden…

Such ambiguous sentences are not found in Arabic.

Arabic also has ambiguous structures but of different nature.
The ambiguity arises from the application of resumptive pronoun
deletion to some relative clauses. The resumptive pronoun is in

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concord with the relativized constituent i.e. whether it is masculine,

feminine, singular, or plural. Because of this concord, the deletion
of the resumptive pronoun from the following sentence makes it
ambiguous:
(52) ُ
‫شرهدت من أعطيث الجرئزة‬
This sentence could be derived from:
(53) .‫شرهدت من أعطيحهُ الجرئزة‬ُ
I saw whom you gave (him) the present.
(54) .‫شرهدت ُ من أعطيحهر الجرئزة‬
I saw whom you gave (he)r the present.
(55) .‫شرهدت من أعطيحهم الجرئزة‬ُ
I saw whom you gave (them) the present.
(56) َّ ‫ت من أعطيح‬
.‫هن الجرئزة‬ ُ ‫شرهد‬
I saw whom you gave them (feminine) the present.

4- CONCLUSIONS
Throughout analyzing and comparing English and Arabic
relative clause, the study reached to the following results:
1- In both languages some constituents are deleted optionally and
some others are deleted obligatorily to avoid ungrammatical
sentences.
2- The relative pronouns in English are either optionally deleted or
obligatory present. In Arabic, on the other hand, it is either
obligatorily deleted or obligatorily present. When the antecedent
of the relative pronoun in Arabic is definite it cannot be deleted,
but when the antecedent is indefinite it is obligatorily deleted.
3- The use of the resumptive pronoun with Arabic subordinate
clauses may be either explicit or implicit. In English, on the
other hand, it is obligatorily deleted from the deep structure.
4- The deletion of the relative pronoun in English may cause
ambiguous structure. Such a case is not found in Arabic.

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5- Since the resumptive pronoun is in concord with the relativized

constituent, the deletion of this pronoun in Arabic may cause
ambiguous structures. It is not clear whether the deleted pronoun
is masculine, feminine, singular, or plural. Such structures do not
exit in English.

REFERENCES
Ahmed, M. S. (1987) A Study in the Syntax of English Deletion
(unpublished M. A. thesis) University of Baghdad.
Beestoon, A.F.L. (1970) : The Arabic Language Today. London:
Hutchson and Company Ltd.
Cantarino, V. (1975): Syntax of Modern Arabic Prose: The Expand
Sentences, II, Indiana University Press.
Celce-Murica, M.,& Larson-Freeman, D. (1999) The Grammar
Book. (2nd ed.) Boston, Mass: Hainle & Hainle.
Available at: www.shakespeare.uk.net
Cowan, W. (1964): An Introduction to Modern Literary Arabic,
Cambridge: Cambridge university Press
Dhahir, Maha A. A. (1981) Word Group Nominals in Standard
English and Arabic.(unpublished M.A. Thesis)
University of Baghdad.
Fowler, Roger (1977): An Introduction to Transformational Syntax.
London: Routlege & kegan.
Hurford, J. R. (1994): Grammar: A student’s guide. Cambridge
University Press. Available at: www.shakespeare.uk.net
Klammar, Enno (1977): Sentence Sense : A Basic Grammar.
New York: Harcourt Brace Javanovich , Inc.
Liles , Bruce. (1971): An Introductory Transformational
Grammar. Engle-wood cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-
Hall, Inc.
Nagamine, Toshinobu (2002): A Preliminary Corpus-Based Study on
Genre-Specific Features in Restrictive Relative Clauses.

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Journal of Language and Linguistics. Vol.1, III. Indiana

University of Pennsylvania. Available at:
www.shakespeare.uk.net
Roberts , Noel B. (1997): Analysing Sentences : An Introduction
to English Syntax. 2nd Edition. London : Addison
Wesley Longman Ltd.
Wright, W. (1955) : An Introduction to Modern Literary Arabic.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

‫المصادر العربية‬
.2 ‫ ج‬.‫ دار المعارف بمصر‬:‫ القاهرة‬.‫ النحو الوافي‬.)1991( ‫ عباس‬، ‫حسن‬
.‫ القنناهرة‬.‫ تحقيننم محمنند عمنني النجننار‬.‫ الخصننا ص‬،)1992( ‫ أبنني الحننتم ع مننان‬،‫ابننن جننني‬
.1992 .2‫ ط‬.‫مطبعة دار الكتب المصرية‬
‫ محمد محيني الندين عبند‬:‫ تأليف‬.‫ابن هشام (بال تاريخ) أوضم المسالك إلى ألحية إبن مالك‬
.‫ المطبعة النموذجية‬:‫ القاهرة‬.‫الحميد‬
.‫ عالم الكتب‬:‫ بيروت‬.‫ (بال تاريخ) شرح المحصل‬.‫ موفم الدين يعيش بن عمي‬،‫ابن يعيش‬

64