Re: Genitives NPs as Relative Clauses

Hi!

Nik Taylor <fortytwo@...> writes:
> Japanese.  _No_ is both a genitive particle and a relative clause marker
> (also, informally, a question marker).  For example:
>
> Watashi wa otoko ga jitensha o nusumu NO  o mimashita
> I     topic man  nom bicycle acc steal NO acc. saw
> I saw a man stealing a bicycle
That seems to be an example of an internally headed relative clause.
Can this also mean `I saw that a man was stealing a bicycle'?  The
structure is almost identical to what Tyl-Sjok does (although the
embedded clause is totally unmarked there).

For the sentence you wrote, there should also be the externally headed
relative clause, but please do not hit me for mistakes, I speak not a
word of Japanese.  I'd expect:

  Watashi wa jitensha o nusumu no otoko o mimashita.

Is there at least a construction similar to this?  I wonder whether
there is a `ga' missing, but I wouldn't know where to put it. :-)

**Henrik

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