code: PIED
biber_number: H33
xiao_number: J89
name: Pied-piping constructions
definition: >-
Relative clauses where the preposition precedes the relative pronoun.
normalization: finite_verbs
detection:
- requires:
- word
- pos
- dep
semgrex: '{word:/which|whom|whose/}=wh >case {pos:/IN/}=prep'
description: >-
WH-word with a preposition as its case dependent — the UD signature
of pied-piping. Distinguishes "about which" (case on wh) from
"which ... about" (case on verb). Requires a parser producing
Universal Dependencies case relations.
- requires:
- word
- pos
cql: '[pos="IN"] [word="which|whom|whose"]'
description: >-
Preposition + WH-word. Approximation — may match non-relative uses
(e.g., "in which case" as conjunction).
- source: pybiber
requires:
- word
- pos
cql: '[pos="IN"] [word="who|whom|whose|which" & pos="W.*"]'
description: >-
pybiber matches any IN-tagged word followed by a WH-word (who, whom,
whose, which) with a WH POS tag. Blob pattern: `\S*_in who_w\S*` etc.
examples:
- text: the ring _about which_ he spoke
- text: the land _to which_ they journeyed
non_examples:
- text: the ring which he spoke about
note: Stranded preposition — not pied-piping
- text: ~in which~ case we should leave
note: Conjunctive phrase, not a relative clause
sources:
- biber_1988
- pybiber
- xiao_2009
notes: >-
Not in MFTE. Second-highest loading on D3. Requires syntactic parsing. Associated
with formal/archaic registers.