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    5.2.3.Circumpositions
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    Circumpositional phrases are generally spatial in nature, and R-pronominalization is quite productive. Below, we will group the examples according to the second member of the circumposition. As is shown in (72), circumpositional phrases with aan as their second member can readily be pronominalized.

    72
    P … aan
    a. De kinderen liepen achter de optocht aan.
      the children  walked  behind the parade  aan
      'The children followed the parade.'
    a'. De kinderen liepen erachter aan.
    b. Jan liep tegen de ladder aan.
      Jan walked  against the ladder  aan
      'Jan ran into the ladder.'
    b'. Jan liep ertegen aan.

          Adpositional phrases headed by van ... af'from' also allow pronominalization; it must however be noted that the van + NP part of the construction can also be replaced by an R-word, as in the perhaps slightly marginal example (73c).

    73
    Van ... af
    a. Jan sprong van het dak af.
      Jan jumped  from the roof  af
      'Jan jumped from the roof.'
    b. Jan sprong ervan af.
    b'. (?) Jan sprong eraf.

          The examples in (74) show that R-pronominalization of circumpositional phrases with door as their second member give rise to fully acceptable results.

    74
    P … door
    a. Jan reed onder de brug door.
      Jan drove  under the bridge  door
      'Jan drove underneath the bridge.'
    a'. Jan reed eronder door.
    b. Jan reed tussen de bomen door.
      Jan drove  between the trees  door
      'Jan drove through the trees.'
    b'. Jan reed ertussen door.

          Circumpositional phrases with heen as their second member, on the other hand, show mixed behavior: normally R-pronominalization is fine, but in the case of langs ... heen'along', which is somewhat marked anyway, the result is severely degraded. Recall that the circumposition om ... heen'around' differs from the preposition om'around' in that the latter cannot undergo R-pronominalization; cf. example (42).

    75
    P … heen
    a. Jan liep door/om/?langs het huis heen.
      Jan walked  through/around/along  the house  heen
      'Jan walked through/around/along the house.'
    a'. Jan liep erdoor/om/*?langs heen.
    b. Jan sprong over het hek heen
      Jan jumped  over the gate  heen
      'Jan jumped over the gate.'
    b'. Jan sprong erover heen.

          The examples in (76) show that circumpositional phrases with in as their second member are again fully compatible with R-pronominalization.

    76
    P … in
    a. Jan zwom tegen de stroom in.
      Jan swam  against  the current  in
      'Jan swam against the current.'
    a'. Jan zwom ertegen in.
    b. Jan zit tussen twee meisjes in.
      Jan sits  between  two girls  in
      'Jan is sitting between two girls.'
    b'. Jan zit ertussen in.

          The same thing seems to hold for circumpositional phrases with langs as their second member, although the resulting structures in (77b') feel perhaps somewhat uncomfortable; this may be due to the fact that the circumpositions boven/onder ... langs are not very commonly used.

    77
    P … langs
    a. Jan liep achter/voor het huis langs.
      Jan walked  behind/in.front.of  the house  langs
      'Jan walked along the back/front of the house.'
    a'. Jan liep erachter/voor langs.
    b. Jan liep boven/onder de brug langs.
      Jan walked  above/under  the bridge  langs
      'Jan walked above/down along the bridge.'
    b'. (?) Jan liep erboven/onder langs.

          Circumpositional phrases with om as their second member seem exceptional in not readily allowing R-pronominalization; the primed examples in (78) are marginally acceptable at best. In passing, note that these examples become fully acceptable if er is omitted, which shows that achterom, voorom and buitenom can be used as intransitive adpositions; it is not clear to us whether this is related to the degraded status of the primed examples.

    78
    P … om
    a. Jan liep achter/voor het huis om.
      Jan walked  behind/in.front.of  the house  om 
      'that Jan walked around the back/front of the house.'
    a'. *? Jan liep erachter/voor om.
    b. De waterleiding loopt buiten het huis om.
      the waterworks  go  outside  the house  om
      'The waterworks go around the exterior of the house.'
    b'. *? De waterleiding loopt erbuiten om.

          Circumpositional phrases with tegen ... op'against' are again fully compatible with R-pronominalization.

    79
    Tegen ... op
    a. Marie klom tegen de muur op.
      Marie climbed  against the wall  op
      'Marie climbed up against the wall.'
    a'. Marie klom ertegen op.

          Circumpositional phrases with toe as their second member in (80) behave ambiguously. Whereas R-pronominalization of circumpositional phrases headed by naar ... toe'to' is perfectly acceptable, it is not possible if tot (aan) ... toe'up to' is the head. Recall that directional PPs headed by the preposition naar'to' do not allow R-pronominalization; cf. example (46).

    80
    P ... toe
    a. Marie gaat naar die film toe.
      Marie goes  to that movie  toe
      'Marie goes to that movie.'
    a'. Marie gaat ernaar toe.
    b. De stenen liggen tot de heg toe.
      the stones lie  until the hedge  toe
      'The stones are lying until the hedge.'
    b'. * De stenen liggen ertoe toe.

    For completeness' sake, note that Section 2.2.1, sub III, has argued that example (81a) does not involve a circumposition tot aan ... toe; instead, we are dealing with the preposition tot, which takes as its complement a circumpositional positional phrase headed by the circumposition aan... toe. Example (81b) shows that this circumpositional phrase does allow R-pronominalization, albeit that the strong form daar in (81b) cannot be replaced by the phonetically weak form er. However, extraction of the R-word from the tot-phrase, as a result of which tot would get the stranded form toe, leads to an unacceptable result. This is shown in (81b').

    81
    a. De stenen liggen tot aan de heg toe.
      the stones lie  until  to the hedge  toe
    b. De stenen liggen tot daar aan toe.
    b'. * De stenen liggen daar toe aan toe.

          R-pronominalization is fully productive for circumpositional phrases with uit as their second member. We give some examples in (82); R-pronominalization of PPs headed by achter/tussen/voor ... uit (lit.: behind/between/in.front.of ... out) leads to equally acceptable results.

    82
    P ... uit
    a. De vlag stak boven de huizen uit.
      the flag  stuck  above  the houses  out
      'The flag stuck out above the houses.'
    a'. De vlag stak erboven uit.
    b. De jurk stak onder de jas uit.
      the dress  stuck  under the coat  out
      'The dress protruded from under (was slightly longer than) the coat.'
    b'. De jurk stak eronder uit.

          The (a)- and (b)-examples in (83) show that circumpositional phrases with vandaan as their second member are normally compatible with R-pronominalization. The circumposition om ... vandaan is perhaps an exception, which may be due to the fact that this formation is restricted to the (somewhat marginal) phrase om de hoek vandaan.

    83
    P ... vandaan
    a. De muis kwam achter/voor/onder de kast vandaan.
      the mouse  came  behind/in.front.of/under  the cupboard  vandaan
      'The mouse came from behind/in front of/under the cupboard.'
    a'. De muis kwam erachter/voor/onder vandaan.
    b. Marie haalde het geheime document tussen de rommel vandaan.
      Marie got  the secret document  between the trash  vandaan
      'Marie got the secret document from between the trash.'
    b'. Marie haalde het geheime document ertussen vandaan.
    c. ? Jan kwam om de hoek vandaan.
      Jan came  around the corner  vandaan
      'Jan came around the corner.'
    c. *? Jan kwam erom vandaan.

    For completeness' sake note that Section 2.2.1, sub I, has argued that example (84a) does not involve a circumposition van achter … vandaan; instead, we are dealing with the preposition van, which takes as its complement a circumpositional positional phrase headed by the circumposition achter ... vandaan. The (b)-examples show that this circumpositional phrase does allow R-pronominalization, but that the R-word must remain within the PP headed by van.

    84
    a. De muis kwam van achter de kast vandaan.
      the mouse  came  from  behind the cupboard  vandaan
      'The mouse came from behind the cupboard.'
    b. De muis kwam van er/daar achter vandaan.
    b'. ?? De muis kwam er/daar van achter vandaan.
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      About this article
      Author(s): Hans Broekhuis
      Category: Dutch Syntax
      Keywords: AdpositionsCircumpositionP ...aanP ...doorP ...heenP ...inP ...langsP ...omP ...toeP ...uitP ...vandaantegen ... opvan ... af
      Version: 1.0, December 2015
      Version history:
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      1.0 Hans Broekhuis December 2015
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