The origin of the relative clause in the Germanic languages: a problem of general syntax

In his discussion of the relative clause as a problem of general syntax, Benveniste (1971) has commented that a comparison of relativization in languages cannot be based on formal elements alone since there are not always any comparable units; it must instead be approached from a functional viewpoint. He observes that the typical Latin construction with the relative pronoun qui governing a verbal clause has been taken to be the model for all relative clause constructions.

Nowadays, we are well aware of the dangers of adopting a Graeco-Latin point of view when dealing with historical syntax, and we avoid ‘forcing’ linguistic data into already existing models of description. However, the influence of Greek and Latin models on some of the older scholars of comparative syntax has been so pervasive that it deserves some mention. For example, quite a number of scholars (e.g. Curme) have commented that in early Germanic two basic types of sentence structure or relations between structures can be distinguished: parataxis and hypotaxis. These terms represent relative notions which are often somewhat vaguely used in the literature. In both parataxis and hypotaxis successive clauses may occur in sequence with no formal connecting link between them. Some have claimed that parataxis is a property of ‘primitive’ languages and is the simpler construction of the two because of its presence in the early stages of many languages.