Feature GB328: Can the relative clause precede the noun?

Patrons: Jakob Lesage

Description ⇫

Summary

Can non-correlative relative clauses immediately precede the noun they modify? In other words, are there relative clauses with the structure [[Who has a green hat] the woman] is tall? This question only concerns relative clauses that immediately precede the noun, without requiring an anaphoric pronoun in the main clause - which would make them correlative relative clauses (e.g. I saw her [who has a green hat the woman]) (see GB330).

Procedure

  1. Consider only non-correlative clauses: disregard relative clauses that have an anaphoric pronoun in the main clause.
  2. Code 1 if a source mentions that relative clauses are or can be prenominal.
  3. Code 1 if you find examples of prenominal relative clauses.
  4. Code 0 if a source mentions that relative clauses cannot be prenominal.
  5. Code 0 if a source describes postnominal or internally headed relative clauses but does not discuss prenominal relative clauses.
  6. Code ? if there are examples that contain potential prenominal relative clauses but the analysis is inconclusive.
  7. Code ? if the source does not treat relative clauses in much detail and may have missed prenominal relative clauses.

Examples

Awtuw (ISO 639-3: kmn, Glottolog: awtu1239)

In Awtuw, relative clauses precede the noun (Feldman 1986: 164). Awtuw is coded 1 for this feature.

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)

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), but the fact that some relative clauses precede the noun is enough to trigger 1 for this feature.

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)

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)

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 0 for this feature in Grambank.

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)

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.


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Name Glottocode Family Macroarea Contributor Value Source Comment