Adnominalisation (Relative clause - noun - copula structure): What does it mean? How can we translate it?


I have two examples of this structure which does not obviously correspond to a
pattern in English although it is quite common. I'd like to know what it
means, why it is used and how it should be translated (because if I can do
that I know I understand it).

**Example 1**

I heard this on a TV series yesterday. The final scene of one part portrayed
two sisters, かよ and はな. かよ was grieving over the death of her fiance and はな
could not say anything to her and get a calm reasonable response. The narrator
said:

> かよに何も言えないはなでした。ごきげんよう、さよなら。
>
> [FINIS]

It is easy to reword this final sentence as

> はなはかよに何も言えなかったんだ。

And capture most of the literal meaning. In English I might have narrated,
"Hana could not say anything to Kayo." or perhaps "Poor Hana, as far as Kayo
was concerned, what ever Hana said, it was the wrong thing to say." but
something, I am not sure what, is missing.

**Example 2**

The following is the final paragraph from a magazine article on how
convenience stores have developed over the past 40 years, particularly since
the earthquake in March 2011:

> 誕生から４０年、柔軟に形を変えながら成長してきたコンビニ。次は、どんなサービスを展開し、どう進化していくのか。楽しみである。

This is in "newspaper Japanese" so the copula is omitted. I would have
written:

> コンビニは誕生から４０年、柔軟に形を変えながら成長(してきた)。

In both examples the writers seem to have deliberately chosen this "relative
clause - noun - copula" structure (in the second case a zero copula). We have
some questions on 体言止め help with my first question below I should be grateful
if somebody could explain:

1) Why or when is this structure used?  
2) How it should be translated? (because if I can do that I know I understand
it).  
3) Are there any redundant subjects/topics omitted because they not necessary?
(eg If we take AはBでした as a complete sentence then in example 1 we have "Bでした"
but not "Aは"）

* * *

_Supplementary note_  
Last night I thought I had a new example from the TV. After a doing bungy jump
a woman said to the camera 「挑戦してよかった、あたし」. It sounded like the construction in
example one. Then I realised it is just an example of somebody inverting the
order of the parts a spoken sentence. It may just be coincidence but the
similarity of how this exclamation and example one sounded to me as a listener
(and how the information is received) struck me.)




How about using the English copula in this case too? "And there **was**
Hanako, lost for words to comfort her sister, Kayo"

Or in the case of the second, "the" could work too: " **The** ever evolving
convenience store: with 40 years since its inception, blah blah blah"

As for meaning, it doesn't mean anything special per se, but to me it feels
"defining" for lack of a better word, or like something used in narrative
(like your example). Almost like the tone used in English nature documentaries
if that helps:

"The fickle and mysterious domestic cat: superb hunter and ubiquitous human
companion animal"

