Reduced Relative Clauses in English: Forms, Derivation, and Functional Characteristics

This study investigates the structural properties, derivational mechanisms, and functional characteristics of reduced relative clauses (RRCs) in English. It examines how RRCs are derived from full relative clauses (FRCs) through systematic deletion and syntactic restructuring, highlighting distinctions between participial and infinitival forms. The research also explores the role of RRCs as noun phrase modifiers, maintaining semantic equivalence with their full counterparts, and their effect on discourse economy and clarity. An integrative methodology combining traditional syntactic analysis, corpus-based research, and contemporary processing studies is employed, reflecting both usage-based and cognitive perspectives on relative clause diversity. Findings indicate that RRCs constitute a systematic linguistic phenomenon governed by syntactic rules, discourse constraints, and cognitive processing considerations.