In subject-final languages relative clauses always present the head noun to the left of the restricting clause.
Standardized
IF subject full noun phrases follow object full noun phrases, THEN relative clauses always present the head noun to the left of the restricting clause.
Keywords
order, subject, object, relative clause
Domain
syntax
Type
implication
Status
achronic
Quality
absolute
Basis
Malagasy, Batak [Toba Dialect], Fijian, Gilbertese (all Malayo-Polynesian), Tzeltal (Mayan), Otomi (Oto-Manguean), Ineseño Chumash (Hokan), Baure (Arawakan), Tzotzil, Kekchi (both Mayan), Tsou (Formosan, Austronesian), although the last three languages are not surveyed in the paper
1. By SUBJECT-FINAL languages Keenan means any language in which full noun phrase subjects must follow noun phrase direct objects in the pragmatically less marked sentence types (which contain both subjects and direct objects) of the language. Sentences which are pragmatically less marked place the fewest restrictions on their contexts of appropriate use. 2. Cf. W. Lehmann’s claim (#107); Lehmann supposes that relative clause should follow the head noun in VO languages. The languages surveyed by Keenan are of VOS order, therefore it is questionable whether the order of possessor and possessee NPs is directly dependent on the property of being subject-final.
1. By SUBJECT-FINAL languages Keenan means any language in which full noun phrase subjects must follow noun phrase direct objects in the pragmatically less marked sentence types (which contain both subjects and direct objects) of the language. Sentences which are pragmatically less marked place the fewest restrictions on their contexts of appropriate use. 2. Cf. W. Lehmann’s claim (#107); Lehmann supposes that relative clause should follow the head noun in VO languages. The languages surveyed by Keenan are of VOS order, therefore it is questionable whether the order of possessor and possessee NPs is directly dependent on the property of being subject-final.