Resumptive pronoun

A resumptive pronoun is a pronoun that refers back to a previously realized item within the same syntactic structure.

Resumptive pronouns are often found in relative clauses, where they are realized twice -- once as relative pronoun and once as resumptive pronoun.

In generative syntax, resumptive pronouns are seen as an alternative strategy to movement (Haegeman 1994: 409), they are spell-out forms, where otherwise (i.e. if movement would have applied properly) only invisible traces would be left.

Examples

The strategy to form relative clauses with resumptive pronouns is applied in non-standard French:

Voici	l'homme	que	Marie	lui	a	parlé
here_is	the_man	that	Marie	to_him	has	talked

'Here is the man that Marie has talked to' (cited after Haegeman 1994: 409)

Reference

• Haegeman, Liliane. 1994. Introduction to Government and Binding Theory. 2nd Edn. Oxford: Blackwell.