216 Chapter 7 Nominals and noun phrases
Modified adjectives obligatorily occur in a relative clause following the posses-
sor, as in (163) where the modifier koros gallu ‘too skinny’ is grammatical
when in the relative clause (163a) but ungrammatical when occurring between
the noun and the possessor.
(163) a. Koceng-nga Nabun se koros gallu ngeco' juko'.
cat-DEF Nabun REL thin too AV.steal fish
‘Nabun’s cat that is too skinny stole the fish.’
b. *Koceng koros gallu-na Nabun ngakan ngeco' juko'.
too-DEF
The ordering when the adjectival modifier is the predicate of a relative
clause is expected because a relative clause modifier must follow the possessor
of the head N (164) and (165). In the following examples, the relative clauses
are set off in square brackets.
(164) Embi'-na Budi [se ngekke' Ale'] e-pega'.
goat-DEF Budi REL AV.bite yngr.sibling OV-catch
‘Budi’s goat that bit Little Brother was caught.’
(165) Ebu maca sorad-da Ina [se dhateng ba'ari'].
mother AV.read letter-DEF Ina REL come yesterday
‘Mother read Ina’s letter that came yesterday.’
A possessor always precedes a PP, whether the PP modifies the head N
directly (166a) and (167a) or as the predicate in a relative clause (166b) and
(167b).
(166) a. Hadi maca buku-na Bambang bab kopi.
Hadi AV.read book-DEF Bambang about coffee
‘Hadi read Bambang’s book about coffee.’
b. Hadi maca bukuna Bambang se bab kopi.
Hadi AV.read book-DEF Bambang REL about coffee
‘Hadi read Bambang’s book about coffee.’
(167) a. Mored-da Siti dhari Batam ce' penter-ra.
student-DEF Siti from Batam very smart-DEF
‘Siti’s student from Batam is very smart.’
b. Mored-da Siti se dhari Batam ce' penter-ra.
student-DEF Siti REL from Batam very smart-DEF
‘Siti’s student from Batam is very smart.’