What is the structure of this sentence?

Question

The king’s 86th birthday is on December 5th, and both sides of the political divide claim legitimacy bestowed by loyalty to the monarchy.

I don't understand the structure. Is "claim something done?"

"claim the legitimacy is bestowed by their loyalty to the monarch?"

Damkerng T. · Accepted Answer · 2013-11-29 11:07:53Z

1

This might help you see through its structure,

(The king’s 86th birthday is on December 5th), and (both sides of the political divide) claim (legitimacy bestowed by loyalty to the monarchy).

This means that they (both sides) both claim the legitimacy, based on the same ground: the loyalty to the monarchy. Not a very pleasant situation.

Love live the king!

answered Nov 29 '13 at 6:21

Damkerng T.

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To me, it's not. It is just [someone] claim(s) [something]. That [something] in this case is "legitimacy", which happens to be bestowed by "loyalty to the monarchy". – Damkerng T. Nov 29 '13 at 11:51
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DamkerngT is correct. It is claiming a thing. "I claim the dogs in the yard" is a parallel construction with a more concrete object. Note that I'm not claiming that they are in the yard, I am claiming them (as my possessions) and using "in the yard" to describe them. – The Photon Nov 29 '13 at 17:46

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