Re: Relative clauses

Carsten Becker wrote:
> Patrick Littell wrote:
>
>  > Not the subject of the relative clause; the subject of the
>  > main clause.  That is, in Malagasy the external head of
>  > the relative clause is always the relative clause's
>  > subject.  (snip)
>
> Malagasy: (S is the subject, s is dropped)
>
>   S V O [s V O]
>    \_____^
>
> where the subject of both clauses is the subject of the main
> clause. Does that mean if you want to refer the relative
> clause to an object, you must make it a subject with the
> help of voices and such (passive, applicative)?
>
That's my understanding of Malagasy.  It's the same in Malay/Indonesian--
the relativized constituent _must_ be the subject of the relative clause.

Relativized subject:
orang yang membeli rumah itu, namanya Ali
Person REL-subj.act-buy house that, name-his Ali
The person who bought that house is named Ali.

Relativized object:
Saya melihat rumah yang dibeli (oleh) orang itu
I   see     house  REL-subj Passive-buy (by) person that
I saw the house that was bought by that person = I saw the house that that
person bought

You can relativize other constituents, but it's awkward (and may be due to
influence of western languages)--

Saya membeli buku yang penulisnya (adalah) orang Perancis
I   buy   book REL-??? writer-its (is) person French
I bought a book whose author (~the author of which) is French or "funny"
Engl: I bought a book which its author is French.

Adalah Ali yang saya membeli kuda itu daripadanya
(it)is Ali REL-??? I buy horse from-him
It's Ali from whom I bought the horse.

In such cases, the rel.pron yang is sort-of hanging there in space, serving
only to show that the two clauses are related.  Paraphrases are available.