Can one noun be modified by both a clause and a の marked noun?


I have tried to create a sentence wherein a noun is modified by both a clause
and の marked noun, but found it to be difficult with my current understanding:

Intended sentence: I stole the king’s treasure that the warrior hid.

王の戦士が隠した宝を奪った = I stole the treasure that the king's warrior hid. (warrior is
modified instead of treasure)

戦士が隠した王の宝を奪った = I stole the treasure of the king who the warrior hid. (king is
modified instead of treasure)

I expect the second sentence to be closest to the intended meaning, I suppose
it may be as ambiguous as if it was phrased in English as: “I stole the
treasure of the king that the warrior hid.”? I would say that what the clause
in this sentence is modifying is up to interpretation in English, however, in
Japanese...

  1. Is it possible for modifying clauses to not be modifying the noun directly following it?
  2. Are modifying clauses able to bypass a の marked noun and directly describe the noun after it?
  3. Would doing so always be ambiguous?




You can use 戦士が隠した王の宝を奪った. Technically, it is indeed ambiguous:

> 戦士が隠した王の宝を奪った。
>
>   1. I stole the treasure of the king **which** the warrior hid.
>   2. I stole the treasure of the king **who** the warrior hid.
>

Practically, however, the verb 隠す tends to be connected with a noun which is
usually hidden, which is 宝 in this sentence. Almost everyone would take this
sentence as 1 even if there is no context.

* * *

>   1. Is it possible for modifying clauses to not be modifying the noun
> directly following it?
>

Yes, and the context and your "common sense" is often the only key to
disambiguate. English has many similar examples, but the situation is a little
worse in Japanese, because Japanese is a strictly [head-final
language](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Head_\(linguistics\)#Head-
initial_vs._head-final_languages). This means if there are two noun modifiers,
both must come before the noun.

>   2. Are modifying clauses able to bypass a の marked noun and directly
> describe the noun after it?
>

Yes, and the same is true in English. For example, in "the price of lunch I
paid", the relative clause "I paid" is modifying "price", _bypassing_ another
modifier ("of lunch"). But you don't think this is an ambiguous phrase, and
it's because you know "lunch" is not something you can "pay".

>   3. Would doing so always be ambiguous?
>

No. We all know which verb is typically used with which noun. For more
examples, please see this question: [Are Japanese modifiers "greedy", "anti-
greedy", or do they mean whatever people choose them to
mean?](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/46817/5010)




You can use 戦士が隠した王の宝を奪った. Technically, it is indeed ambiguous:

> 戦士が隠した王の宝を奪った。
>
>   1. I stole the treasure of the king **which** the warrior hid.
>   2. I stole the treasure of the king **who** the warrior hid.
>

Practically, however, the verb 隠す tends to be connected with a noun which is
usually hidden, which is 宝 in this sentence. Almost everyone would take this
sentence as 1 even if there is no context.

* * *

>   1. Is it possible for modifying clauses to not be modifying the noun
> directly following it?
>

Yes, and the context and your "common sense" is often the only key to
disambiguate. English has many similar examples, but the situation is a little
worse in Japanese, because Japanese is a strictly [head-final
language](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Head_\(linguistics\)#Head-
initial_vs._head-final_languages). This means if there are two noun modifiers,
both must come before the noun.

>   2. Are modifying clauses able to bypass a の marked noun and directly
> describe the noun after it?
>

Yes, and the same is true in English. For example, in "the price of lunch I
paid", the relative clause "I paid" is modifying "price", _bypassing_ another
modifier ("of lunch"). But you don't think this is an ambiguous phrase, and
it's because you know "lunch" is not something you can "pay".

>   3. Would doing so always be ambiguous?
>

No. We all know which verb is typically used with which noun. For more
examples, please see this question: [Are Japanese modifiers "greedy", "anti-
greedy", or do they mean whatever people choose them to
mean?](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/46817/5010)

