Chapter 20 Relative clauses
Headed relative clauses
A headed relative clause modifies an explicit noun. That noun is the head, and it appears after the clause that describes it.
The head's role inside the description
The gap may occupy different roles within the relative clause. Here miona supplies the object of lothea:
mia whu mia lothea miona sano.
1SG REL 1SG love person know.
Here the same head supplies the subject of thumela:
whu lopia thumela miona ha nai.
REL child teach person PROX be.
A state can describe the missing subject:
mia whu serao nai shelu theo.
1SG REL old be book read.
A location can do the same:
whu nia tomora nai womu mioru nai.
REL ON mountain be home beautiful be.
The complete noun phrase
The relative clause and its head form one noun phrase. That phrase can occupy the same positions as a simpler noun.
As subject
whu mia to nila miona ha nai.
REL 1SG PST see person PROX be.
The complete phrase whu mia to nila miona is the subject of ha nai.
As object
mia whu shia to kealo nophi theo.
1SG REL 3SG PST create story read.
The complete phrase whu shia to kealo nophi is the object of theo.
Inside a prepositional phrase
mia nia whu mua shelira nai ruela thalo.
1SG ON REL LOC forest be path walk.
The preposition nia takes the complete headed phrase as its object.
When the head fills a prepositional gap
A different pattern appears when the head itself is the missing object of a preposition:
mia whu mia mua to thalo shelira lothea.
1SG REL 1SG LOC PST walk forest love.
The relative clause keeps mua before its object gap. shelira is the head outside the clause, not an object moved past the relative predicate; the complete description precedes the noun it identifies.
Longer descriptions
A relative clause can carry its own modifiers, objects, and adjuncts:
mia whu mia mua serao shelira to thalo ruela lothea.
1SG REL 1SG LOC old forest PST walk path love.
whu shia wei lopia mioru nophi to shane miona ha nai.
REL 3SG DAT child beautiful story PST tell person PROX be.
The final verb inside the description still arrives before the head noun. More material raises the memory cost, but it does not change the gap or the frame.
Stacking descriptions
An adjective may follow the relative clause while remaining before the noun:
mia whu mia to nila serao mioru shelu lothea.
1SG REL 1SG PST see old beautiful book love.
The order is relative clause, then the nearer adjective descriptions, then shelu. The listener reaches the book only after hearing every condition meant to identify it, which is useful right up to the moment it becomes too much and a second sentence wins.