GB327 - grambank/grambank GitHub Wiki
Can the relative clause follow the noun?
Summary
Can non-correlative relative clauses immediately follow the noun they modify? In other words, are there relative clauses with the structure [The woman [who has a green hat] is tall? This question only concerns relative clauses that immediately follow the noun, without requiring an anaphoric pronoun in the main clause – which would make them correlative relative clauses (e.g. [The woman who has a green hat] she is tall) (see GB330). A relative clause is a type of clause that serves to modify a noun. Merely having a verb that modifies the noun does not suffice as evidence of a relative clause. In such cases, it is more likely to be identified as a participle.
Procedure
- Consider only non-correlative clauses: disregard relative clauses that have an anaphoric pronoun in the main clause.
- Code 1 if a source mentions that relative clauses are or can be postnominal.
- Code 1 if you find examples of postnominal relative clauses.
- Code 0 if a source mentions that relative clauses cannot be postnominal.
- Code 0 if a source describes prenominal or internally headed relative clauses but does not discuss postnominal relative clauses.
- Code ? if there are examples that contain potential postnominal relative clauses but the analysis is inconclusive.
- Code ? if the source does not treat relative clauses in much detail and may have missed postnominal relative clauses.
Examples
Neverver (ISO 639-3: lgk, Glottolog: ling1265)
In Neverver, relative clauses are always postnominal, just like other nominal modifiers (Barbour 2012: 147). Neverver is coded 1.
Niterikh an im-ngar nakh i-tokh si.
child REL 3SG.IRR-cry here 3SG.REAL-exist NEG
‘There is no child who is crying here.’
(Barbour 2012: 149)
Awtuw (ISO 639-3: kmn, Glottolog: awtu1239)
In Awtuw, relative clauses precede the noun (Feldman 1986: 164). The only examples of postnominal relative clauses are non-restrictive relative clauses with an intonation break and may be interpreted as combinations of two separate appositional noun phrases, rather than a single noun phrase with a noun and a relative clause (Feldman 1986: 132). This language is thus an example without postnominal relative clauses. Awtuw is coded 0.
Prenominal relative clause:
a. rey yen tawkway da-kl-a-re rame(-re-k) lakna-kay
3SG.M 2SG tobacco FACT-get-PST-O man-O-INTS die-PRF
‘the man you got tobacco from has died’ (Feldman 1986: 164)
Appositional noun phrases, including a relative clause:
b. rey nawer wiye-taw du-k-uwk-iy-re
3SG.M father garden-tree FACT-IPFV-fell-IPFV-O
‘the father, who was felling a garden tree’ (Feldman 1986: 132)
Umbu-Ungu (ISO 639-3: ubu, Glottolog: umbu1258)
In Umbu-Ungu, relative clauses may either precede or follow the noun (Head 2011: 81). REL-NOUN is the dominant pattern (Head 2011: 2). Umbu-Ungu is coded 1.
Relative clause following the noun:
kapisi koyo-ngi aku-mu-nge mare
cabbage steam.cook-NPST.3PL REL-the.SG-LOC some
‘some of the cabbage which they had steam cooked’ (Head 2011: 81)
Relative clause preceding the noun:
kalopera naa to-ru-mu// kolea aku-me pali
frost not strike-DIST.PST-3SG place REL-the.PL all
‘all those places the frost did not strike’ (Head 2011: 81)
Further reading
See also the special section on the Grambank wiki on relative clauses.
Dryer, Matthew S. 2013. Order of relative clause and noun. In Matthew S. Dryer & Martin Haspelmath (eds), The world atlas of language structures online. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.
Lehmann, Christian. 1986. On the typology of relative clauses. Linguistics 24(4). 663–680.
References
Barbour, Julie. 2012. A grammar of Neverver. (Mouton Grammar Library, 60.) Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
Feldman, Harry. 1986. A grammar of Awtuw. (Pacific Linguistics: Series B, 94.) Canberra: Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University.
Head, June. 2011. A grammar of Umbu-Ungu. Ukarumpa: Ms., SIL.
Related Features
- GB328 Can the relative clause precede the noun?
- GB329 Are there internally-headed relative clauses?
- GB330 Are there correlative relative clauses?
- GB331 Are there non-adjacent relative clauses?
Patron
Jakob Lesage