The history of Raising and Relativization in Polynesian

Some Polynesian languages have accusative case systems, while others have ergative systems. Chung 1978 has argued that the Proto-Polynesian case system was accusative, and that the case systems of the ergative languages are the result of a PASSIVE-TO-ERGATIVE re-analysis, which re-interpreted passive structures as superficially active and transitive. We argue here that the passive-to-ergative re-analysis accounts historically for the unexpected properties of two syntactic rules found in ergative Polynesian languages: (a) the Raising rule of Niuean, and (b) the Relativization rule of Tongan and many Samoic-Outlier languages. Such an account is desirable since these rules are typologically rather unusual. Niuean Raising counter-exemplifies Postal's (1974) suggestion that Raising is universally restricted to complement subjects, while Relativization in Tongan and many Samoic-Outlier languages violates Keenan & Comrie's (1977) Accessibility Hierarchy. We conclude by arguing that certain differences in the histories of Raising and Relativization in Polynesian follow from the different characterizations of the two rules in universal grammar.