The class of ‘relators’ contains those grammatical elements which serve to link two constituents together, and/or to mark the function(s) of a constituent as specified in underlying clause structure. Relators may mark a relation of coordination or a relation of dependency. In the former case we speak of “coordinators”. Coordinators link two or more relata of equal rank, without forming a constituents with any of them.
- Dik (1989), a pag.339