Why is the particle の used instead of が in phrases like 身寄り **の** ない人 or the
sentence 琵琶湖の向こう岸に虹 **の** 立つのを、麻子は見た。?

While I understand the meanings of these examples, I would have expected to
find the nominative particle が. I've mostly seen this kind of pattern in
dependent clauses and noun phrases. Does that have anything to do with it?

Does が have to be replaced with の in all cases like this, or would が be
acceptable too? If so, is there any difference in nuance or style?
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2014-05-12T09:24:14.670
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2014-05-13T05:48:34.757
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question
grammar particles particle-の particle-が
Why is the particle の used instead of が in these phrases?
As an adjectival phrase modifying a noun, の tends to be used more often in the
modern language, as mentioned by Yang Muye. Sometimes its use is more of a
matter of emphasis or style, as in your second example.

  * 琵琶湖の向こう岸に虹 **の** 立つのを、麻子は見た。

Here, the bold の is used to subtly alter the meaning. Translating this is
subjective, but might be useful to demonstrate:

  * 琵琶湖の向こう岸に虹 **の** 立つのを、麻子は見た。  
Asako saw the rising **of** the rainbow on the opposite shore of Lake Biwa.  
vs.

  * 琵琶湖の向こう岸に虹 **が** 立つのを、麻子は見た。  
Asako saw the rainbow rising on the opposite shore of Lake Biwa.

In the latter example using が, the rainbow becomes the subject of the embedded
clause, **虹** が立つ, with the emphasis on the subject. Meanwhile, in the former
example using の, the emphasis is on the verb itself, 虹の **立つ** , with the
emphasis on that verb.

Hope that helps explain things. :)
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answer