Re: Genitives NPs as Relative Clauses

En réponse à Henrik Theiling <theiling@...>:

>
> 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).
>
I was taught that it meant that indeed.

> 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.
>
Correctly: Watashi wa jitensha o numusu otoko o mimashita. (no "no", relative
subclauses in Japanese aren't marked in any way - except the fact that you
cannot use polite forms for verbs in subclauses -)

> 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. :-)
>
There is no "ga" missing :))) . "ga" marks the subject of a subclause ("no" can
be used instead, BTW), but in this case it's the subject which is relativised,
so there's just a gap in the relative clause.

Of course, I'm by no means an expert on Japanese, but I do know a little bit
about it (two years of Japanese classes... only :((( ).

Christophe.

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