Subject relative clause in finite position Object relative clause in finite position

[elam- e tshaŋ khur-e mi tɕik] jøp-pa bet. TE57 lie-GEN nest carry-NMLZ;Q-GEN man INDF EXIST-NMLZ;Q AUX ‘A long time ago there was a big liar [who was called Ayekpa], a man [who carried the nest of lies with him] an idiom.’ Note that the finite verb is marked for parenthetical information, past perfect construction.

17.2.5 Subject relative clause in finite position

Relative clauses are typically non-finite but occasionally they may occur in the finite position with all non-finite markings, e.g. nominalization. Examples 17.21–24 illustrate this. There are two reasons why this seems to happen, one is that the finite position in a Lhomi sentence is the highlighted slot for a clause. The finite clause carries the main information, Lhomi being an AOV language. Another reason is that particularly a subject relative clause as such highlights the head NP. The dative case marker at the end of the relative clause further highlights the speaker’s assertion. When using this particular construction, speaker also corrects the wrong information hearer may have. The relative clauses are in square brackets in the following examples. 17 .21 raŋ mat-lip-a-ni 2SG NEG-come-NMLZ;Q-ABL [ŋa el-laa jøk-kel-la.] 1SG before-ADVZR EXIST-NMLZ;CONJ-DAT Lit: ‘I am the one who was here earlier, when you had not come yet.’ Or: ‘I was here before you arrived.’ 17 .22 raŋ-le ta [ŋa el-laa jøk-kel-la.] 2SG-COMP.BASIS EMPHP 1SG before-ADVZR EXIST-NMLZ;CONJ-DAT ‘I am certainly one who was here before you.’ This is fully acceptable independent clause, though the finite verb is nominalized. 17 .23 raŋ-le ta [roo el-laa jøk-kel-la.] 2SG-COMP.BASIS EMPHP 3SG before-ADVZR EXIST-NMLZ;CONJ-DAT ‘He is one who certainly was here before you.’ 17.24 [roo-ki ik ɕii-kel-la.] 3SG-ERG INCLN know-NMLZ;CONJ-DAT ‘He also is one who knows.’ This is a strange independent clause that has no typical finite suffixation at all.

17.2.6 Object relative clause in finite position

The relative clause in 17.21 is permuted to the finite position to make it more highlighted. Consider the following examples relative clauses in square brackets. 17 .25 ŋ-e mat-bern [ roo-ki berm-pa-la.] 1SG-ERG NEG-strike[PST] 3SG-ERG strike-NMLZ;Q-DAT ‘[As for that man being beaten up] he did it, I did not.’ Speaker has been blamed for striking someone and he wants to correct it. The first clause is a fully marked independent clause. This is clearly a clause permutation for highlighting purpose. The object of beating is implicit. 17.26 hi-ki tam hi-ko [ ŋ-e tɕhi-pa-la.] this-GEN message this-head 1SG-ERG do;VBZR-NMLZ;Q-DAT ‘As for this message, it was the message [which I spoke].’ This is not a permutation of a clause. The speaker asserts and responds to someone else’s claim.

17.2.7 Correlative clauses