Relative clauses: integrated, restrictive, non-restrictive, supplementary


H. W. Fowler established a terminology (I do not know if it originates with him), where clauses that are related to another clause through a pronoun are called relative clauses; he further drew a distinction between restrictive and non-restrictive relative clauses to explain his famous rule about when to apply that vs. which.


The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language rejects this terminology in favour of another terminology:



  • Instead of restrictive relative clause, the CGEL prefers integrated relative clause;

  • Instead of non-restrictive relative clause, the CGEL (always?, usually?) prefers supplementary relative clause.


Why does the CGEL, reflecting the preference in Anglistics, follow this alternative terminology?



Answer



The authors themselves say of the traditional terms:



They are misleading: the integrated relative is NOT always restrictive, in the sense of picking out a subset of the set denoted by the head noun.



They go on to give supporting examples. However, if you’re familiar with the CGEL, you probably already know this.


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