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A grammar of Pite Saami, 2014

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14 Complex clauses<br />

(27) dä<br />

dä<br />

lin<br />

li-n<br />

then be-3pl.pst<br />

nuora<br />

nuora<br />

álmatja<br />

álmatj-a<br />

ma<br />

ma<br />

lin<br />

li-n<br />

young\pred.pl people-nom.pl rel\nom.pl be-3pl.pst<br />

riejdnohimen<br />

riejdnohi-men<br />

herd-prog<br />

‘They were young people who were herding.’<br />

[pit0906_Ahkajavvre_b.017]<br />

In the previous examples, relative clauses immediately follow the head <strong>of</strong> the<br />

noun phrase they modify. However, it is possible for a postposition to occur<br />

between the modified NP and the relative clause, as illustrated by (28).<br />

(28) dat<br />

d-a-t<br />

lij<br />

li-j<br />

dem-dist-nom.sg be-3sg.pst<br />

‘It was to you they came.’<br />

duv<br />

duv<br />

gugu masa<br />

gugu ma-sa<br />

båhten<br />

båhte-n<br />

2sg.gen to rel-ill.sg<br />

come-3pl.pst<br />

[pit110329.37m04s]e<br />

This shows that it is possible, in this case, for a relative clause to not be embedded<br />

syntactically in the modified NP, as the relative clause can occur outside the<br />

postpositional phrase which the modified NP is a constituent <strong>of</strong>. It should be<br />

emphasized that only a postposition can split a relative clause from the matrix<br />

NP it modifies.<br />

There does not appear to be any restriction on the syntactic function that a<br />

relative pronoun can fill within the relative clause. With the exception <strong>of</strong> abessive<br />

and essive, which are rare in the corpus for all nominals, relative pronouns<br />

are attested for all grammatical cases, as well as being the dependent NP in a<br />

postpositional phrase (in genitive case), as in (29), or similarly as the possessor<br />

NP (also in genitive case) modifying a noun, as in (30).<br />

(29) dat<br />

d-a-t<br />

lä<br />

lä<br />

dem-dist-nom.sg be\3sg.prs<br />

båhtjen<br />

båhtje-n<br />

milk-3pl.pst<br />

buhtsujd<br />

buhtsu-jd<br />

reindeer-acc.pl<br />

náhppe<br />

man<br />

náhppe<br />

ma-n<br />

milking.bowl\nom.sg rel-gen.sg<br />

sisa<br />

sisa<br />

into<br />

‘This is a milking bowl into which they milked reindeer.’<br />

[pit080708_Session02.003]<br />

258

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