In [one song](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMHHIUDhazg&t=1m) [(lyrics
link)](http://gendou.com/amusic/lyrics.php?id=10052&show=1) the line
"Watashitachi no kore ga precious heartbeat" ("It's our precious heartbeat")
appears, and I'm not sure how best to analyze it due to one particular
grammatical structure.

"kore ga precious heartbeat" is clearly a straightforward verbless copula -
"it's our precious heartbeat". What I'm unsure of is how to syntactically
interpret "watashitachi no" ("our"). Thus far my best guess is that it's a wa-
less topic.

A more straightforward interpretation would be "this of ours". But is this
even plausible? I tried searching on WWWJDIC for "no kore" and found only 3
examples, and all three of them could plausibly be explained as something
other than that. So at this point I don't have any evidence that that's
possible. Is there some structure in Japanese where "watashitachi no kore"
could be a phrase - and if so, what is the structure in question?
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-02-27T05:20:26.040
4831
2015-11-21T14:06:46.163
2015-11-21T14:06:46.163
888
question
syntax particle-の song-lyrics
Syntax of 私たちのこれが〜
"no" performs its role as a genitive case particle.

This structure may appear more familiar/recognizable:

> これが私たちのprecious heartbeat(だ)

(the fact that there is no copula superficially doesn't necessarily mean that
there is no copula)

"私たちのこれがprecious heartbeat" is one of the possible orders. The possessor can
shift (in a relatively non-complex sentence) and maintain the same meaning.

It is `これが`+[`私たち`+`の`+`precious heartbeat`]+(`だ`) then the modifier noun
`私たち` shifts to the front without changing its relation to the modified noun
`precious heartbeat`. It is still underlyingly `[私たちのprecious heartbeat]`.

* * *

Genitive Case: It is the grammatical case that marks a noun as modifying
another noun. A genitive construction involves two nouns - the head (modified)
noun and the modifier noun. The modifier noun modifies the head noun by
expressing some property of it.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-02-27T14:19:25.313
4832
2012-08-07T06:02:39.710
2012-08-07T06:02:39.710
542
542
4831
answer
The particle が can also act as の.

For example: 我{わ}が国{くに} ("my country") can also be written as わたしの国. (cf.
[example source](http://www.weblio.jp/content/%E6%88%91%E3%81%8C%E5%9B%BD))

So, in the example sentence from the lyrics posted, it could potentially also
be written like this:

```

    わたしたちのこれのprecious heartbeat.
    
```

But for something artistic, variety might look better than repetition. I see
this が usage most often in poetry or lyrics.

The が here could be being used to place emphasis on the "THIS is our precious
heartbeat" part, as well.

_Note for the anonymous downvoters:_ just a reminder that song lyrics (as well
as poetry,) can often be wide open to interpretation. Unless one talks to the
song writer to get the original intent behind a line in a song, lyrical
interpretation is mostly speculation. Even when the original meaning is found
out from an author, there still may be more ways to read a line than the
author intended.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-02-27T16:13:33.777
4834
2012-02-27T18:52:02.267
2012-02-27T18:52:02.267
1188
1188
4831
answer
For some reason I don't seem to be able to comment on Flaw's non-answer, so
I'm writing my own non-answer in response.

"There is nothing special going on here. "no" performs its role as a genitive
case particle.

Genitive Case: It is the grammatical case that marks a noun as modifying
another noun. A genitive construction involves two nouns - the head (modified)
noun and the modifier noun. The modifier noun modifies the head noun by
expressing some property of it."

...yes, my entire analysis (and confusion) was based on the fact that
"watashitachi no" was indeed a genitive phrase. As stated, my question was how
this genitive phrase ended up at the beginning of the sentence, separated from
the nominal it modifies - "precious heartbeat" - by the subject of the clause.
You seem to indicate in a comment that this is possible (without assuming that
it was topicialized, as I wondered about). If you could explain the rules
governing such movement in Japanese, that would answer the question I asked.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-02-28T04:14:56.350
4840
2012-02-28T04:14:56.350
1194
4831
answer