b. Non-masculine: Jan
papada to
kabajaha [›
rydy-tho-i]. John
squash the
tick [›
bite-WH.SUBJ-him] ‘John squashed the tick that bit him.’
c. Masculine: Li
[› tojo-thi]
anda. He
[› mature-WH.SUBJ]
arrive ‘The old, respected man arrived.’
d. Non-masculine: To
[› tojo-tho]
anda itshe
[› mature-WH.SUBJ]
arrive ‘The old, respected woman arrived.’
The relative pronoun corresponding to the subject of the relative clause may or may not be present if the clause is in the post-head position of the noun phrase.
6
211 a. Li wadili [alikan
› siki-thi
to hala
da-myn] andy-fa mothi.
the man [who
› give-WH.SUBJ
the bench me-to]
arrive-FUT tomorrow ‘The man who gave the bench to me will arrive tomorrow.’
b. Jan papada
to kabajaha
[ama ›
rydy-tho-i]. John
squash the
tick [what
› bite-WH.SUBJ-him]
‘John squashed the tick which bit him.’
4.4.2 Direct Object Relativization
When the direct object of a clause is relativized in Arawak, the main verb of the clause receives the suffix -sia WH.OBJ. Unlike the subject-relativizer suffixes, the object-
relativizing suffix is not differentiated as to the grammatical gender of the referent. 212 a. Li
wadili [da-soko-sia ›
miaka] wada-bo
da-boran. the
man [I-hit-WH.OBJ
› yesterday]
search-CONT me-for
‘The man I hit yesterday is searching for me.’ b. To
hiaro [da-dykhy-sia
› to
mothia] obada-bo
da-bora. the
female [I-see-WH.OBJ
› the
morning] wait-cont.
me-for ‘The girl I saw this morning is waiting for me.’
c. To khota-ha
[l-ojo boko-sia
› lo-myn] minkakho semen.
the animal-NGEN [his-mother
cook-WH.OBJ ›
him-for] very sweet
‘The meat his mother cooked for him was delicious.’ 4.4 Constituents Accessible to Relativization
91
6
See Sections 3.1.4 and 3.1.6 for the discussion of pre- and post-head relative clauses.
Again, whenever any of the above relative clauses occurs in a post-head position, an overt relative pronoun may be optionally present.
213 Li
wadili [alikan da-soko-sia
› miaka]
wada-bo da-boran.
the man
[who I-hit-WH.OBJ
› yesterday]
search-CONT me-for
‘The man who I hit yesterday is searching for me.’
4.4.3 Indirect Object Relativization
As mentioned in the discussion of event sentence structure Section 3.2.1 the indirect object of a clause is almost always found in a postpositional phrase with the benefactive
postposition myn ‘tofor’. Such indirect objects can be relativized by simply omitting the noun phrase from its position as the object of the postposition myn, thus stranding the
postposition.
214 a. Jan sika
to hala
li wadili
myn miakaboan.
John give the
bench the
man to
day.before.yesterday ‘John gave the bench to the man the day before yesterday.’
b. Li wadili [Jan
sika to hala › myn miakaboan]
osa jada-nro miaka.
the man [John give the bench › to day.before.yesterday]go trip-toward yesterday
‘The man John gave the bench to the day before yesterday went on a trip yesterday.’ Relative clauses like the above are also acceptable with an overt relative pronoun.
215 Li
wadili [alikan Jan
sika to
hala ›
myn]... the
man [who
John give
the bench ›
to]... ‘The man whom John gave the bench to...’
As mentioned earlier Section 3.2.1, Arawak seems to sometimes allow bare indirect ob- jects without a postposition. Indirect objects in such constructions cannot be relativized.
216 Li wadili [Jan sika ›
to hala miakaboan]
osa jada-nro miaka.
the man [John give › the bench day.before.yesterday]
go trip-toward yesterday ‘The man John gave the bench to the day before yesterday went on a trip yesterday.’
4.4.4 Relativization of Objects of Postpositions
Relativizing the NP in an indirect object postpositional phrase see above is the only in- stance where the object of a postpositional phrase can be relativized with stranding of the
postposition. Objects of other postpositions cannot be directly relativized. 217 a. Jan
balyta to hala
diako. John sit
the bench
on ‘John sat on the bench.’
b. Adiakema siokon
to hala
[ama Jan
balyta ›
diako.] very
small is
bench [what John
sit ›
on] ‘The bench John sat on is very small.’
92 Relative Clauses
