This paper sketches a grammar of English relative clause constructions
(including infinitival and reduced relatives) based on the notions of
construction type and type
constraints. Generalizations about dependency relations and clausal functions
are
factored into distinct dimensions contributing constraints to specific
construction
types in a multiple inheritance type hierarchy. The grammar presented here
provides
an account of extraction, pied piping and relative clause
‘stacking’ without appeal to
transformational operations, transderivational competition, or invisible
(‘empty’) categories of any kind.