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Regarding the following sentence, Ein von unbeugsamen Galliern bevölkertes Dorf hört nicht auf, meaning, “A village populated by indomitable Gauls does not quit,” do I read correctly that three adjectives in a row are modifying Dorf? So, more literally, “One indomitable-Gauls-populated village…”? This would be a monstrosity in English, but of course that doesn’t mean it wouldn’t work in German.

And what is the role of von (of) in this sentence? I could understand if the sentence referred to one of (ein von) many villages, but that is not the case here. There is just a single village under discussion.
Thanks.

Mark Featherstone
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1 Answers1

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There is only one adjective modifying the noun: bevölkertes. German allows for adjective phrases, units that are similar to sentences. Compare:

ein [ von unbeugsamen Galliern bevölkert ] -es Dorf

ein Dorf, das [ von unbeugsamen Galliern bevölkert ] ist

In both instances, the prepositional phrase headed by von modifies bevölkern, specifying the agent. For practice, it is fun to start with adjectives and build more and more complex phrases.

ein [ Augenzeugen zufolge seit einigen Jahren von unbeugsamen Gallien bevölkert ] -es Dorf

ein [ arbeitend ] -der Zeichner
[ an einem Comic arbeiten ]
[ heimlich an einem Comic arbeiten ]
[ schon lange heimlich an einem Comic arbeiten ]
[ entgegen den Wünschen seiner Frau schon lange heimlich an einem Comic arbeiten ]

ein Zeichner, der entgegen den Wünschen seiner Frau schon lange heimlich an einem Comic arbeitet

David Vogt
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    Thank you so much! This is so surprising, I want to make doubly sure that I understand correctly. Are you saying that the ein that begins this sentence and the Dorf that comes near the end are actually paired, as in ein Dorf? And the adjective phrase (as you now kindly clarify) von unbeugsamen Galliern bevölkertes is inserted between ein and Dorf? – Mark Featherstone Apr 25 '23 at 22:05
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    Yes on both counts. See also https://german.stackexchange.com/a/70240/35111. – David Vogt Apr 25 '23 at 22:35
  • It's paranthetic phrasing and very common in German. – Janka Apr 25 '23 at 22:44
  • Very, very useful. Thanks again to both! – Mark Featherstone Apr 26 '23 at 00:06