2.3.2 Relative Clauses in Indonesian
The clause to which yang is added is called a relative clause. Sneddon 1996 stated that the head of the noun phrase corresponds to some component
within the relative clause. The noun phrase within which the relative clause occurs is called the embedding phrase. There are four types of Indonesian relative
clauses. Those are defining relative clause, topic-comment relative clauses, prepositional relative clauses and locative relative clauses.
1 Defining Relative Clauses
Sneddon 1996: 285 stated that a defining relative clause is one whose subject corresponds to the head noun. It is stated that in Indonesian, yang must
occur before a relative clause. For examples:
1. Mobil yang ditubruk itu rusak sama sekali. Sneddon 1996: 286 2. Orang yang berkumpul di depan pintu harus pindah. Sneddon 1996:
286
3. Celana yang dibelinya kemarin terlalu kecil. Sneddon 1996: 286
The subject is identical to the head of the embedding noun phrase. The head noun has the relationship with the verb. For examples:
1. Orang yang membangun rumah saya. Sneddon 1996: 286 2. Tanah yang sudah digarap. Sneddon 1996: 287
3. Dokter yang kami telpon segera datang. Sneddon 1996: 287 2 Topic Comment Relative Clauses
Topic comment relative clauses are divided into possessor topic- comment relative clauses meaning ‘whose’ and object topic-comment relative clauses.
Sneddon 1985 stated that in the possessor topic-comment relative clause, which is translated into ‘whose’ in English, the subject of the relative clause is
the thing possessed by the head noun. For examples:
1. Orang yang mobilnya dicuri. Sneddon 1996:289 2. The person whose car was stolen. Sneddon 1996:289
3. Gadis yang kamu kagumi kelembutannya itu. Sneddon 1996:289 4. The girl whose gentleness was admired. Sneddon
1996:289 In the object relative clause, the head of the embedding phrase is identical
to the object of the relative clause. For examples:
5. Sebuah lagu yang barangkali saudara akan menyukainya Sneddon
1996:289
3 Prepositional Relative Clauses
Sneddon 1996: 289 stated that the head of the embedding phrase is not identical to the subject or topic of the relative clause. It can be seen from the
examples below that a noun phrase whose head is rumah ‘house’.
1. Rumah yang di belakangnya ada pohon mangga. Sneddon 1996: 290 2. The house behind which there is a mango tree. Sneddon 1996: 290
3. Sebuah grup vokal yang di dalamnya Rima juga ikut Sneddon 1996 4. A vocal goup in which Rima also participates. Sneddon 1996: 290
Preposition can occur at the beginning of the relative clause, immediately after yang. For examples:
1. Meja yang di atasnya tersedia makanan. Sneddon 1996: 290 2. The table on which food is set. Sneddon 1996: 290
3. Orang yang kepadanya saya mengirimkan surat. Sneddon 1996: 290 4. The person I sent a letter to. Sneddon 1996: 290
4 Locative Relative Clauses
Locative relative clauses differ from other relative clauses in that they are
not preceded by yang. For examples: 1. Pabrik tempat mereka bekerja tidak jauh dari sini. Sneddon 1996: 291
It is usually replaced by di mana in the present-day language:
2. Pabrik di mana mereka bekerja. Sneddon 1996: 291
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