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    Position of the relative clause that is separated from its antecedent (extraposition)
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    Relative clauses need not be found internal to the noun phrase (NP) with which they are construed. They are regularly found at the end of the clause in which the NP occurs with which they are construed.

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    The antecedent of a relative clause can have any syntactic function as long as the clause is right-adjacent to its antecedent. However, relative clauses are often found at the end of the clause, separated from their antecedent. This phenomenon is sometimes referred to as extraposition from NP. Extraposition allows for any verbal argument, though the process is sensitive to pragmatic factors (going by various names such as presupposition, information structure and the like).

    The following sentence shows that a subject can be construed with a clause-final relative clause:

    1
    Omdat iemand my gebel het wat sy nommer nie gelos het nie.
    because somebody me phone.PST have.AUX that.REL his number not leave.PST have.AUX PTCL.NEG
    Because somebody phoned me who did not leave his phone number.
    VivA-KPO

    The following example shows that an indirect object can be construed with a clause-final relative clause:

    2
    Omdat ek iemand bietjie geld gegee het wat nie sy huur kon betaal nie.
    because I somebody little money give.PST have.AUX that.REL not his rent can.AUX.MOD.PRT pay PTCL.NEG
    Because I gave somebody some money who could not pay his rent.
    VivA-KPO

    The following example shows that a prepositional complement can be construed with a clause-final relative clause:

    3
    Nou sit ek met die donner wat nie sy gulp kan toe hou nie
    now sit I with the thunder that.REL not his fly can.AUX.MOD close keep PTCL.NEG
    Now I’m sitting with the bastard who can’t keep his fly closed.
    VivA-KPO

    The following example shows that a direct object can be construed with a clause-final relative clause:

    4
    Nou moet ons net hoop die storms kom wat ek verwag het tussen 2-3pm.
    now must.AUX.MOD we just hope the storms come that.REL I expect have.AUX between 2-3pm
    Now we must just hope that the storms which I was expecting between 2-3 pm, will start appearing.
    VivA-KPO, adapted
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      About this article
      Author(s): Adri Breed; Johanita Kirsten
      Category: Afrikaans Syntax
      Keywords: modificationextrapositionrelative clauserelative pronoun
      Version: 1.0, May 2020
      Version history:
      version editor(s) date remarks
      1.0 Adri Breed; Johanita Kirsten May 2020
      This is a beta version.
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