Relative clauses 365
In (127), nase' precedes both the matrix adverbial bari' ‘yesterday’ and the
complementizer ja', so it is a constituent of the matrix clause. The sentence in
(127) does not allow the idiomatic reading but admits only the literal interpreta-
tion. The same effect is seen in the sentences in (128), this time with the idiom
ajam atellor e berras ‘She or he has it easy’ (lit. ‘A chicken laid an egg in the
rice’).
(128) a. Siti namto-wagi ja' ajam a-tellor e berras.
Siti AV.certain-AGI COMP chicken AV-lay.egg at rice
‘Siti is certain that he or she has it easy.’
lit. ‘Siti is certain that the chicken laid an egg in the rice.’
b. Siti namto-wagi ajam ja' a-tellor e berras.
Siti AV.certain-AGI chicken COMP AV-lay.egg at rice
‘Siti is certain about the chicken that it laid an egg in the rice.’
Idiom chunks in this structure operate not as they would a raising analy-
sis, but as idioms operate in the English proleptic object construction. Note that
idiomatic interpretations are not possible in either (129b) or (130b), which is
pragmatically odd.
(129) a. Kelsey believed that the cat would be out of the bag by now.
b. Kelsey believed about the cat that it would be out of the bag.
(130) a. Ashley predicted that the fur would fly at the next committee meeting.
b. #Ashley predicted about the fur that it would fly at the next committee
meeting.
All considered, although raising should not be completely ruled out for
the language, the Madurese construction has the characteristics more typically
found in a prolepsis structure and not a raising structure.
- Relative clauses
The primary relative clause structure in Madurese consists of the relative par-
ticle se followed by a clause with a gap corresponding to the role of the head
noun in the modifying clause. In basic structure, relative clauses follow the
heads they modify, with the exception of headless relative clauses (which can
be viewed as relative clauses with null pronominal heads). The basic structure is
illustrated by the relative clauses in (131) and (132).