a construction in which a noun complement (a dependent clause) modifies a noun - head. The noun head is not necessarily a ( salient) participant in the event denoted by the noun complement. Example: the fact that the student bought the book is an example of a noun complement clause construction: that the student bought the book is the noun complement, and the fact is the head noun. The noun complement clause construction also includes examples such as Japanese [dareka ga doa o tataku] oto 'the sound of someone knocking on the door', where the head noun oto 'sound' is modified by the noun complement dareka ga doa o tataku 'someone is knocking on the door'. (Section 19.2.4)