Internal relative clauses in Tenyidie (Angami): a case of hierarchical precedence vs. linear precedence?

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to study the nature of the internal relative clause (IRC) in Tenyidie, a dialect of Angami Naga, especially as it concerns the interplay between hierarchical order and constituent word order. We attempt to show that, although in most of the cases hierarchical as well as linear order plays a crucial role in the interpretation of an IRC in Tenyidie, there is an instance where neither plays any role at all. In support of the occurrence of an NP as the head of an IRC we provide two pieces of evidence: (i) the position of occurrence of the constituents in the embedded internal relative clause, and (ii) the presence as well as the absence of overt lexical case markers with the constituent that is being relativized.