| English has three objective relative pronouns: whom, which and that. They can be omitted only in the restrictive use. It has been claimed that zero relative pronouns are more likely chosen in colloquial speech or spoken language than in the written language. The purpose of the present paper is to observe the choice of relative pronouns in the the journalistic American English according to the following parameters: |
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(i)
| a. |
The subject of the relative clause
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b. |
The definiteness of the antecedent |
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c. |
The meaning of the antecedent |
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d. |
The position of the antecedent |
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e. |
The grammatical relation of the antecedent |
| From what has been observed in the paper, it seems reasonable to conclude as follows at least with regard to the journalistic American English: |
| (ii) |
a. |
The most crucial factor in the choice of zero relative pronouns seems to be the personal pronoun subject in the relative clause. |
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b. |
In the choice of zero relative pronouns, meaning, definiteness and position of the antecedent seem not to be so crucial. |
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c. |
As for the grammatical relation of the antecedent, there might be there is a correlation between a zero relative pronoun and the antecedent which functions as complement. |