36022
> 私の生みの母は、若い未婚の日本人だったため、私を養子に出そうと決心したのです。彼女 **が** こだわったの **は**
> 、私の養子先は日本に住んでいる家族でなければ、ということでした。

The highlighted "は" looks to be there for _thematic reasons_?

The highlighted "ga" looks to be there for _neutral description_?
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-06-19T16:52:33.100
36017
2016-06-21T01:27:41.953
2016-06-19T20:17:56.120
15778
question
subordinate-clauses は-and-が cleft-sentences
Can someone verify the reasons I give for using a "wa" and "ga" in this sentence?
The GA you have highlighted makes the second sentence begin as: The THING that
she was fixating on // obsessing about was...

Actually the key to unlocking this is the NOHA (NO WA) because こだわったの is a
noun-ification of こだわった.

こだわったの refers to a noun now. It is ...whatever she was obsessing over.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-06-19T20:36:44.137
36019
2016-06-19T23:21:57.620
2016-06-19T23:21:57.620
9542
9542
36017
answer
The only reason が is used here is because 彼女 is the subject of a **relative
clause**. Relative clauses don't have topics, so が is used instead of は.

In a main clause, the が in 彼女が would likely be exhaustive rather than neutral
(because it would be weird to have a neutral が attached to something already
in the "universe of discourse"), but here in a relative clause that's not
necessarily true.

The は, on the other hand, is a plain thematic は. It's a very common
construction to have the topic は follow a nominalization:

> 禁煙したのはいいことだ。  
>  It is good that you have quit smoking.

In other words, は is used here simply because there's no reason to use が.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-06-19T21:23:33.620
36022
2016-06-19T21:23:33.620
9749
36017
answer
## I Think You're Right

> 彼女 **が** こだわったの **は** 、私の養子先は日本に住んでいる家族でなければ、ということでした。

  * **は** is marking the new topic that is developed in the following clause, so "thematic reasons" sounds good to me.
  * **が** is used because the fact that it was **彼女** is secondary and supportive to the new topic, so "neutral description" or "theme-subordinate description" makes sense.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-06-20T02:15:38.390
36027
2016-06-21T01:27:41.953
2016-06-21T01:27:41.953
9831
7055
36017
answer