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In semantics, a modifier is said to be 'restrictive' (or ''defining'') if it restricts the reference of its head. For example, in "the red car is fancier than the blue one", ''red'' and ''blue'' are restrictive, because they restrict which cars ''car'' and ''one'' are referring to. ("The car is fancier than the one" would make little sense.) By contrast, in "John's beautiful wife", ''beautiful'' is (presumably) non-restrictive: "John's wife" identifies the woman sufficiently, but "beautiful" adds additional information.
Restrictive modifiers are also called ''defining'', ''identifying'', ''essential'', or ''necessary''; non-restrictive ones are also called ''non-defining'', ''non-identifying'', ''descriptive'', or ''unnecessary'' (though this last term can be misleading). In certain cases, generally when restrictiveness is marked syntactically through the lack of commas, restrictive modifiers are called ''integrated'' and non-restrictive ones are called ''non-integrated'' or ''supplementary''.

Contents

Restrictiveness in English

Restrictiveness in other languages

Sources

See also

Restrictiveness in English

Main articles: English relative clauses

English does not generally mark modifiers for restrictiveness. The only modifiers that are consistently marked for restrictiveness are relative clauses: non-restrictive ones are set off in writing by using commas, and in speech through intonation (with a pause beforehand and an uninterrupted melody), while restrictive ones are not. Further, while restrictive clauses are often headed by the relative pronoun ''that'' or by a zero relative pronoun, non-restrictive clauses are not. For example:

★ Restrictive: ''We saw two puppies this morning: one that was born yesterday, and one that was born last week. The one 'that ('''or'' 'which
★ ) was born yesterday' is tiny.''

★ Non-restrictive: ''We saw a puppy and a kitty this morning. The puppy, 'which was born yesterday', was tiny.''
(
★ Note that in formal American English, the use of ''which'' as a restrictive pronoun is often considered to be incorrect. See That and which.)
While English does not consistently mark ordinary adjectives for restrictiveness, they can be marked by moving them into relative clauses. For example, "the red car is fancier than the blue one" can be rewritten as, "the car that's red is fancier than the one that's blue," and "John's beautiful wife" can be rewritten as "John's wife, who is beautiful." English speakers do not generally find such locutions necessary, however.

Restrictiveness in other languages

Spanish is notable for marking all descriptive adjectives for restrictiveness: restrictive adjectives follow their nouns, while non-restrictive ones precede them.
Many languages, such as German and Japanese, do not mark restrictiveness explicitly. In Dutch, only written language distinguishes restrictive clauses by leaving out the comma that would normally follow the noun.
French tends to mark restrictive clauses in the same way as English, and the Hebrew Academy endorses English-style punctuation (though it is not in universal use among Hebrew-speakers).

Sources

On the intonation question, see Beverly Colins and Inger M. Mees, ''Practical Phonetics and Phonology'', Routledge 2003.

See also

★ Relative pronoun

★ Relative clause

★ English relative clauses

★ Apposition