Relative Clauses in Southeast Asian Englishes

This article examines adnominal relative clauses in Asian Englishes, looking specifically at the distribution of relative words. Drawing on data from the ICE corpora, it compares the varieties spoken in India, Hong Kong, and Singapore. In particular it considers (a) linguistic factors such as the degree of animacy of the antecedent and the syntactic function realized by the relative word in the relative clause and (b) extralinguistic issues such as the effect of cognitive constraints typically associated with language contact situations and the impact of sociocultural factors, which can often determine differences between varieties. An examination of these issues uncovers specificities in the distribution of relative words that are related both to the different degrees of development of the corresponding local standard variety and to the interaction between the superstrate and the different substrate languages.