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I know that relative clause compounds are generally made with the following
format.

> sentence/verb/adjective + noun

My Genki I textbook supports this with the following example of a relative
clause compound, with the noun 学生 being italicized in English.

> **あそこで本をよんでいる** 学生はみちこさんです。
>
> _The student_ **who is reading a book over there** is Michiko.

However I remember browsing Japanesestackexchange last year and finding some
users referring to the noun part of a relative clause compound as a 'main
clause'. This has recently made me question where the noun/'main clause' ends
in Japanese sentences.

Edit: In other words, using the above example once more; is the entirety of
学生はみちこさんです the main clause which the relative clause modifies, or is it only
the noun that is being modified; thereby restarting the sentence after the
noun?

I'm asking as in the word doc for a book I'm translating I have two different
examples of relative clause compounds, and I'm wondering which example is
correct.

> Example 1: 返事をした女の子がこちらに近づき、僕の手にナイフを[握]{にぎ}らせる。
>
> Relative Clause: 返事をした
>
> Main Clause: 女の子がこちらに近づき
>
> Example 2: 荒野を渡る風よりもなお、アインの声は冷たかった。
>
> Relative Clause: 渡る
>
> Main Clause/noun: 風
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question
translation relative-clauses nouns
Is the main clause in the relative clause construct an actual clause?
> I know that relative clauses are generally made with the following format.
>

>> sentence/verb/adjective + noun

Strictly speaking, a relative clause refers only to the part **before** the
modified noun. 本をよんでいる学生 **is not** a relative clause although it **has** a
relative clause. The grammatically correct way to explain this phrase is
"本を読んでいる is a relative clause which modifies 学生".

(On this site, you may see people say "本を読んでいる学生 is a relative clause" for the
sake of brevity, but technically speaking that's not the most correct
explanation.)

Do you understand what a clause (節) is in general? Very roughly speaking, it's
a predicate associated with corresponding subject/object/etc (see
[this](https://www.studyandexam.com/types-of-clause.html)). The main clause of
a sentence refers to the outermost clause (=subject-predicate pair). In your
example sentence:

  * **Main clause** :  
学生はみちこさんです  
The student is Michiko

  * **Relative clause** (modifying 学生/student):  
あそこで本を読んでいる  
who is reading a book over there

> referring to the noun part of a relative clause as a 'main clause'.

"The noun part of a relative clause" is not part of the relative clause in the
first place. In your example, 学生 belongs to the main clause.

> where the noun/'main clause' ends (therefore the end of the total relative
> clause construct) in Japanese sentences.

In Japanese, when a relative clause ends, the main clause **(re)starts**
(unless several relative clauses are deeply nested). In a regular Japanese
sentence, the main clause ends always at the end of the sentence.

In English, a relative clause starts with a relative pronoun
(that/which/who/where/etc, although _that_ may be omitted), but the modified
noun before it is not part of the relative clause.

> Is the main clause in the relative clause construct a actual clause?

This question doesn't make sense to me. The main clause refers to the
outermost clause in a sentence. A relative clause never contains a main
clause. (A sentence may have two or more main clauses. See: [compound
sentence](https://www.englishclub.com/grammar/sentence/compound-sentence.htm))

* * *

**EDIT:**

> is the entirety of 学生はみちこさんです the main clause which the relative clause
> modifies, or is it only the noun that is being modified

A clause is a noun? If you know [what a **clause**
is](https://www.studyandexam.com/types-of-clause.html), you don't have to ask
a question like this. A clause is not a noun, but basically a subject-
predicate pair. And a relative clause modifies a **noun** , not a **clause**!

  * Relative clause: 返事を **した** (modifies 女の子)
  * Main clause 1: 女の子がこちらに **近づき**
  * Main clause 2: (女の子が)僕の手にナイフを **握らせる**

  * Relative clause: 荒野を **渡る** (modifies 風)
  * Main clause: 風よりもなおアインの声は **冷たかった**

Note that each clause (main or relative) has one and only one predicate (an
adjective or a verb).
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answer