Page 517 - A GRAMMAR OF BHOJPURI _ PhD Dissertation 2020 TU

strategies that can be used in Bhojpuri relative clauses will be discussed. They include
gap, pronoun retention and the use of different correlative pronouns.

a) The gap strategy
The relativized noun phrase can be left out in a relative clause or we can say,
there can be a 'gap' after the correlative pronoun in a relative clause. This strategy helps

identify the grammatical relation of the 'left out' noun phrase within the relative clause:

(73) ऊ जे िसिडओ का लगे देखल2 हमरा के त कहले जे ई त 0कृित के बात बा ।
u je siɖio kɑ lʌɡe dekʰlẽ ɦʌmrɑ ke

u [je siɖio kɑ lʌɡe dekʰ-ʌl-ẽ ɦʌm-ʌr-ɑ ke]
COR REL CDO GEN with see-PP-3.PST.MH 1SG-GEN-SPEC ACC

tʌ kʌɦlẽ je i tʌ prʌkriti ke bɑt
tʌ kʌɦ-ʌl-ẽ je i tʌ prʌkriti ke bɑt

COND say-PP-3.PST.MH COMP PROX COND nature GEN matter

bɑ
bɑ
be.3SG.PRES

'He, who saw me there near the CDO, said, "It is the matter of nature."' (04.084)
Hence a gap is created after the relativizer जे /je/ 'that' for the relativized NP ऊ

/u/ 'it'. The grammatical role of this NP is the subject.
b) The pronoun retention strategy

In this strategy, a pronoun that explicitly references the grammatical relation of
the relativized NP by its position, its form, or both is retained within the relative clause:

(74) ऊ उहे लइका ह जे हम ओकर चेहरा किहओ ना िबसरेम ।
u uɦe lʌikɑ ɦʌ je ɦʌm okʌr ceɦrɑ kʌɦio

u uɦe lʌikɑ ɦʌ je ɦʌm o-ʌr ceɦrɑ kʌɦio
3SG COR boy be.3SG.PRES REL 1SG 3SG-GEN face any time

nɑ bisʌrem
nɑ bisʌr-em

NEG forget-FUT.H
'That is the boy whose face I can never forget.' (Lohar 2010:87)

The relative clause in the brackets has retained the possessive pronoun ओकर
/okʌr/ 'his/her'. This pronoun indicates the grammatical relation of the relativized NP.

However, this type of strategy is not very frequently used in Bhojpuri.

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