Reconstruction Effects in Relative Clauses

Reconstruction effects in relative clauses are a class of phenomena where the external head of the relative clause seems to behave as if it occupied a position within the relative clause, as far as some commonly accepted principle of grammar is concerned.

An often cited type of example is “The [relative of his] [which every man admires most] is his mother.”, where the pronoun “his” in the relative head appears to be bound by the quantified noun phrase “every man” in the relative clause – a...