Catalan to Swahili: relative clauses require class, role and time choices
Catalan que does not choose one universal Swahili relative form
Catalan que can introduce a relative clause referring to a person or a thing. Swahili relative constructions also connect a noun with a modifying clause, but their agreement depends on the antecedent’s noun class. Identifying the Catalan relative word is therefore only the beginning of the translation decision.
The IEC illustrates el llibre que llegies, the book you were reading, alongside a phrase about a man reading the newspaper. The same Catalan que can belong to different grammatical roles inside its clause. A translator must identify both the antecedent and whether that antecedent is doing something or being acted upon.
Thompson and Schleicher’s Swahili reference grammar contrasts human rafiki ambaye with mti ambao for a tree. These short combinations show that the link changes with the noun being modified. A single memorised target replacement for Catalan que would fail to preserve that agreement.
Keep the subject and object roles inside the relative clause
A Catalan phrase about the book someone was reading contains two participants: the book and its reader. The book is the object of reading even though it stands before the relative clause. In a phrase about a man who reads, the antecedent instead supplies the reader. The outward similarity of the source link does not erase that contrast.
The Swahili grammar provides separate subject-relative and object-relative examples. Its amba- pattern can introduce either, so the relative form alone does not identify every role in the clause. Verbal agreement and any required object marking still have work to do.
This is useful in Catalan descriptions distinguishing the person who contacted a customer from the person the customer contacted. Reversing those roles changes who initiated the exchange. In Swahili, correct noun-class agreement on the relative link would not compensate for assigning the action to the wrong participant.
Relative marking can occur inside the verb
The reference grammar illustrates Niliona mti ambao ulianguka for seeing a tree that fell. It also teaches a relative construction with marking incorporated into the verb. A valid target relative clause therefore need not contain a separate word corresponding visibly to Catalan que.
The same grammar distinguishes a tenseless relative strategy from explicitly tensed alternatives. These strategies should not be selected merely to shorten the sentence: the target must retain whether the Catalan describes a particular past occurrence or a characteristic activity.
The IEC also notes that Catalan relatives such as qui can include an understood person antecedent. A source need not always print a separate noun before its relative expression. Recover that person meaning before constructing the Swahili clause; do not translate it as though an antecedent had accidentally gone missing. Together, antecedent class, participant role and event time provide a more useful translation map than lining up the relative words.
Language references