English Translation
We obey our parents because we honor them and we love them.
Why is it が instead of の between 愛している and ゆえに? It seems that ゆえに is functioning as a sort of verb because of the が。
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@ericaw
My short answer is 〜が故に is a set phrase. Although we sometimes drop が when preceded by a noun, we never say 〜の故に. It doesn’t matter which word class is followed by 故に. Don’t sweat it too much. Just accept it.
My long answer is 〜が故に suggests that the speaker tries to pinpoint the root-cause. It’s not “one of the reasons” but “this is the key root-cause”.
As you might know, particle が — comparing particularly with は — plays a role of screening/filtering. There are several possible options. Among them, the speaker picks up one particular option.
In other words, particle が is a vertical comparison to decide which one is best among several options (lower possibilities). Nothing else but X is the right one that fits the description. That’s the connotation behind particle が.
On the other hand, particle は is a horizontal comparison. は sets aside other options, and then talks about the subject. There is no high/low hierarchy. Particle は is like a horizontal border of each territory.
The original Japanese sentence with が故に means that “our respect and love are the ones which lead us to obey our parents. Nothing else.” There is a high/low hierarchy. So, use が.
Let me also explain why が故に can be preceded by a verb. 愛してる in 愛してるが故に is not a pure verb (to love) actually, but a gerund (verb noun; loving) or abstract noun (similar to a noun usually conjugated with “ness” in English like “fondness”). If you are grammatically confused, you may simply want to regard the phrase as a shortened form of 愛してる状態が故に (because of the condition of being loving). Please note that the full sentence version sounds super redundant and unnatural.
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Thanks so much for your thoughtful response, @MsFixer! To make it less redundant, should we remove the second 両親？
Furthermore, in interpreting your explanation of “horizontal” vs. “vertical” comparison, am I correct to say that が “elevates” the preceding subject, whereas は “delimits” separate topics?
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@ericaw
Re: redundancy, it’s better to remove the first 両親.
私たちは尊敬し、愛するが故に両親に従う。
Re: the difference between が and は, your understanding is correct. For example,
- “Who did such a terrible thing?” → "Tom did (or Tom is the one who did it.) = トムがやりました。
- “What is Tom’s occupations?” → “Tom is a doctor.” = トムは医師です。
In the first case, there are several suspects. And, the speaker “elevates” or “picks UP” Tom from the suspect list. If you say トムはやりました, it means “maybe there are more than one culprits, but at least I can say that Tom did”. Therefore, トムはやりました doesn’t “drop OFF” other suspects from the list.
If you use が instead of は in the second case, that means “Tom is THE doctor (that I mentioned/mean)”. There are several doctors, and the speaker picks UP Tom as fitting the description. And the rest of the other doctors are dismissed. So, you cannot say トムが(その)医者です in respond to “What is Tom’s occupation?”
There are many possible occupations or industries. And each worker belongs to a certain industry. It’s similar to one’s nationality. But there is no connotation of better/worse industries or better/worse countries. The speaker simply draws a borderline to define Tom’s identity. Tom is not a lawyer, not a politician, not an engineer, but he is a doctor. That’s the “horizontal” comparison by using は.
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