Confusion about usage of "who" in a relative clause



I'm confused about two particular examples where "who" is used as a relative pronoun:


Example-1:
...people who I have no idea who are.
...people who I have no idea who they are.


Example-2:
...people who we have no idea what their intentions are.




  1. What is the correct phrasing for these two examples? Also, is it okay to drop "who"?




  2. I've seen instances of example-1 on various webpages; in fact, a quick google search for "who I have no idea who they are" gave 97,200 hits. So, is it acceptable in colloquial usage regardless of whether it is grammatically correct or not?




Thanks.



Answer



From chompchomp; Robin L Simmons [slightly adjusted]



The Relative Clause


Recognize a relative clause when you see one.


A relative clause—also called an adjective or adjectival clause—will meet three requirements.


First, it will contain a subject and verb.


Next, it will begin with a relative pronoun [who, whom, whose, that, or which] or a relative adverb [when, where, or why].


Finally, it will function as an adjective, answering the questions What kind? How many? or Which one?


The relative clause will follow one of these two patterns:


Relative Pronoun or Adverb + Subject + Verb


Relative Pronoun as Subject + Verb


[possibly + say adverbials]


eg 'which Francine did not accept'


'that dangled from the ceiling'



Here, all of 'who I have no idea who are.', 'who I have no idea who they are.', and 'who we have no idea what their intentions are.' fail the tests. There is an attempt to nest relative, and free relative (or embedded question) clauses. 'who I know' or 'who I don't know' are of the correct form (Relative Pronoun + Subject + Verb).


The constructions here are at best highly colloquial. I'm tempted to say unacceptable to many anglophones.


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