Usage of noun-modifying である

Question

I'm pretty sure I understand the usage of「である」 here:

ピアニストである私{わたし}の姉{あね}は、いつも手{て}に怪我{けが}をしないように気{き}をつけています

My sister, a pianist, is always careful not to injure her hands. (My translation)

But I'm wondering if that usage is appropriate in all cases. For one, my understanding is that「である」is literary-sounding and wouldn't typically be used in speech. Is that the case here, or is that only relevant in the sentence-ending case? Are there other alternatives with the same meaning? For instance, could something like「のある」 or「の」be used in place of that「である」?

Answer 1

This is not an answer but a collection of comments based on my personal feeling, but I post it as an answer because it is too long for a comment.

First, here are two clear facts:

• のある simply does not have the same meaning as である. ピアニストのある私の姉 is incorrect.
• Replacing AであるB with AのB sometimes causes ambiguity. For example, ピアニストの姉 can mean either “(my) sister, who is a pianist” or “a sister of a pianist” depending on the context.

Now I will move on to a less clear part.

I agree with you that AであるB sounds a little too formal for a casual conversation (although I would not call it “literary”). In a casual conversation, I would probably avoid a relative clause in this case and say something along the following.

姉がピアニストなんだけど、いつも手に怪我をしないように気を付けているよ。
My sister is a pianist, and she is always careful not to injure her hands.

The same meaning as AであるB can be also expressed by AのB in some cases, and I agree that AのB can be less formal than AであるB. But in your case, I find using の in place of である less natural:

? ピアニストの私の姉は、いつも手に怪我をしないように気を付けています。

Unfortunately, I do not know why I feel it less natural than ピアニストである私の姉.

Answer 2

My thought went along the line of Tsuyoshi's, but here is another comment:

On top of である being a bit more formal, I also feel that である tends to be used more in nonrestrictive relative clauses, whereas の tends to be used more in restrictive relative clauses:

ピアニストである姉は… My sister, who is a pianist, ... (nonrestrictive use)
ピアニストとドラマーの姉がいるんだけど、ピアニストの姉は…　I have a sister who is a pianist and one who is a drummer. My pianist sister ... (restrictive use)

This isn't a hard rule, just tendencies that I feel. Obviously this will sometimes clash with the "である is more formal" pattern, so if you wanted to use a nonrestrictive relative clause in colloquial speech, e.g.

I, being a pianist, ...

the restrictive/nonrestrictive tendency might speak in favor of

ピアニストである私は…

whereas the formality of である might speak in favor of

ピアニストの私は…

Read here if you're unsure about the restrictiveness thing.