Structure of the relative clause

650 Repar noka a-lia’a la iskola repra noka a-’u-la’a la iskola tomorrow then 1s-1s-went to school ‘The next day then I went to school.’ 651 Lera ida noma am-ton-la Tepa day one then 1pe-harbor-at Tepa ‘One day finally we harbored at Tepa.’ 7.1.4.4 Instrument Modifications for instrument occur in a prepositional phrase following the verb. 652 Atiu’utu Seri yamanani la’a watu a-u-tutu Seri yamana-ni la’a watu 1s-1s-pound name food-POS INS stone ‘I pound Seri’s food with a stone.’ However when the instrument is topicalized or emphasized it occurs in a different construction which precedes the verb. 653 N-ala wehla na-na-wenna. 3s-take machete INS-3s-kill ‘He took a sword to kill ithim.’ 654 N-ala kon-kona-au-puali na-na-lewna Nuh 3s-take RDP-boat-wood-float INS-3s-save Nuh ‘He used a boat to save Nuh.’ 655 N-ala lim-ni na-n-toreri lir-ni-tun-nu deul-lu-tatar-ni 3s-take hand-POS INS-3s-hold word-POS-story-POS law-POS-rules-POS ‘He used his hands to hold the teachings and law.’

7.2 Relative clause

“Relative clauses are clausal modifiers of a head noun [which are] embedded within a NP argument of the main clause.” They “add background information to a text” as opposed to event-line information, Grimes 1991:429. Relative clauses can occur with any nominal constituent of a clause.

7.2.1 Structure of the relative clause

The relative clause has as its head a NP. This is followed by relative pronoun maka ‘one-who, which’. Often this is used in combination with the anaphoric marker ha, which is followed by a verb. This verb takes a prefix k- when the nominal being modified by the relative clause and the subject as actor of the relativized verb are co-referential. If the subject of the verb is a different referent, then the appropriate pronominal prefix is used. The predicate can then be followed by any of the normal constituents of a clause. There are some cases in which a relative clause is not marked by a relative pronoun of any sort. Head Relativizer Prefix Verb Undergoer Oblique Periphery NP maka k- verb object PP PPNP ha pronominal prefix 7.2.1.1 ‘maka’ [who, which, that] The relative pronoun maka, ‘who’, precedes the relativized verb, and takes either the prefix k- or one of the pronominal prefixes. 656 Godtlifa maka k-te’en-nana loi Godtlifa who REL-pole-ABIL canoe ‘It was Gotlifa who poled the canoe.’ 657 Hadi maka k-ala uli-a Lgona. This who REL-take before-OBJ Luang ‘This one who went ahead of Luang.’ 658 R-tiha arka r-ala maka k-lokra arak di. 3p-pour whiskey 3p-take who REL-oath whiskey this ‘They pour whiskey and give it to the one who makes an oath with this whiskey.’ Sometimes the relative pronoun itself is cliticized to the verb. In this case there is no need for a relative k- prefix. 659 N-kaw-la loi mak-la’a Tamta 3s-beckon-to canoe which-went Tamta ‘They beckoned to the canoe which went to Tamta.’ 660 Mak-holi-a Lgona who-dwell-OBJ Lgona ‘Luang people lit. those who dwell in Luang.’ 661 Tewu maka-loha ma udi mak-di’na bamboo which-spreads? and banana which-fertile ‘Bamboo which spreads out and bananas which are fertile.’ If there is a compound or serial verb then all the prefixes on the verbs within the clause are identical. 662 Ke-ke’en maka edon ka-’una-ka-mta’ata inni nor amni ke’a-ke’a maka e-donna ka-’una-ka-m-ta’ata ina-ni n-ora ama-ni RDP-little REL 3s-NEG REL-afraid-REL-afraid mother-POS 3s-with dad-POS ‘Children who do not respect their parents.’ 663 Riy maka ka-tui-ka-wedi rerieheni person who REL-story-REL-tell more ‘The person who can tell more stories and history.’ 664 Hameni maka k-wayop pa k-kot-tiarg-a o’o-la hameni maka k-wayowa pa k-koti-taru-a o’a-la whoever who REL-agree to REL-accompany-DUR-OBJ you-to ‘Whoever is willing to accompany you there.’ 665 Ke-ke’en-kua maka Ru’ru Mnietu l-lernana la weru ko’ra-ni de ke’a-ke’a-kua maka Ru’ru Mnietu n-lera-nana la weru ko’ra-ni de RDP-little-small who Ru’ru Mnietu 3s-get-ABIL in tree hole-POS that ‘The child that Ru’ru Mnietu found in that hole.’ 666 Tan ululu maka ha-mu-plin-niohor w-ni-ahaur-nu tan ululu maka ha-mu-plinu-nohora wa-ni-hauru-ni land before which AN-2s-do not know-about MULT-NOM-talk about-POS ‘The facts about the land of earlier times which you know nothing about.’ 667 O-m-lernohora lir-ni maka ha-na-kot o’a 2s-2s-follow word-POS which AN-3s-said you ‘Follow the words that he said to you.’ 668 Na-yapi a’al-tawi la ma’nu maka ira r-wa’al-nana. 3s-wove a’ala-leaf into birds that they 3p-threw-ABIL ‘He wove the a’ala leaf into the bird which they had knocked down.’ 7.2.1.2 ‘ha’ [which] The prefix ha meaning ‘which’ is used to track participants, props, time, space and events anaphorically through discourse. It refers back to previously given or already understood information. It is often used as part of a relative clause construction. For a fuller discussion of ha see §3.2.1.5. In many occasions the above relativizer maka is used in combination with ha. This is the case when the relative clause is tracking the nominative’s participation in a particular event, either which has already been talked about in that discourse or which the speaker and hearer have as common knowledge from the past. 669 R-wei-wei-r-nar-nara lera maka ha-r-nelu-taru. 3p-RDP-wait-3p-RDP-wait day which AN-3p-promise-DUR ‘They waited and waited until the day that they had promised.’ 670 Ke-ke’en maka na’nama ha-ra-yor-nian de ke’a-ke’a-ni maka na’nama ha-ra-yori-nana de RDP-little-GEN who just AN-3p-birth-ABIL that ‘That child which was just born.’ 7.2.1.3 Zero relativizer Sometimes a relative clause is formed with no relativizer. It can only be recognized as a relative clause because it is a clause embedded within the NP. 671 La’a Lukas pukni de enwahaur-nohora la lerni ha-rtora Yesus la krahana In Lukas book that talks-about at time AN-birth Yesus in hut ‘In Lukas’ book it talks about the time of which Yesus was born in a hut.’

7.2.2 Function of relative clause