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Resumo

Among the syntactic features of contemporary English, the relative clause is one of the most interesting, both theoretically and in respect of variation. This paper examines some of the main ways in which modern English varieties around the world (including both standard and near‐standard varieties, and 'new' varieties as well as traditional native‐speaker usage) differ in respect of relative clause formation, and draws attention to the theoretical upshots of some of the phenomena in question, the likely origins of these phenomena and the possible explanations for cases in which features are shared between apparently unassociated varieties. Studies conducted by the present author and by other scholars are taken into consideration and the prospects for further work on each phenomenon are outlined. The features in question are: omission of subject relative pronouns; use of 'redundant' subject relative pronouns in non‐ finite 'reduced relative' clauses; omission of prepositions with relative pronouns as prepositional completives; use of 'whereby' or 'where' for a range of prepositions with relative pronouns as prepositional completives; avoidance of 'that' with human antecedents; hypercorrect use of 'whom' for 'who'; use of 'that's' as possessive of relative 'that'; loss, re‐structuring or reversal of the formal contrasts between restrictive and non‐restrictive relative clauses.

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