Oblique­-headed relative clauses (Synya Khanty)

RCnonObl & RelPro

RCnonObl: While the nominal head of an oblique­headed relative clause can be understood to fulfill an oblique role in the clause, this role is not marked grammatically; instead, the noun is only marked for its syntactic role in the main clause.

RelPro: Oblique­headed relative clauses include both the nominal head of the relative clause in the main  clause  and  an  obligatory  coreferential  pronoun in the relative  clause,  generally marked for its oblique role.


(1) mā sēm-a pit-ǝm kūrt-em ūn lɔ̄r pitar-n ɔ̄mas-l.

I eye-lat fall-ptcp.pst village-1sg big marsh_lake shore-loc sit-prs.3sg

‘The village, where I was born, is on the shore of a large lake.’ (S. O.)


(2) kūʀ, xota mā sēm-a pit-s-ǝm, ūn lɔ̄r pitar-n ɔ̄mas-l.

village where I eye-lat fall-pst-1sg big marsh_lake shore-loc sit-prs.3sg

‘The village, where I was born, is on the shore of a large lake.’ (S. O.)


In Synya Khanty, the head noun of a relative construction does not reflect its function in its immediate clause because it takes the case ending corresponding to its sentence function. Subordination is typically expressed by participle constructions (1) in Synya Khanty. In example (1), the kūʀ ‘village’ (kūrt with the possessive suffix) takes the nominative suffix because it is the subject of the sentence, although it should be marked by a locative suffix if its function within the relative construction were considered. Clausal subordination, where the interrogative pronoun (e.g. xota ‘where’, hier in the function of a relative pronoun) represents the head noun in the relative clause (2), is rare in Synya Khanty (Honti 1984: 102‒106, Nikolaeva 1999a: 77‒88, S. O., F. L.).

Author: 

Nikolett F. Gulyás