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    8.2.1.VP adverbials
    quickinfo

    This section discusses various types of VP adverbials. A first group, which will be referred to as process adverbials, consists of adverbials that modify the eventuality itself by indicating, e.g., a manner, an instrument or a means. A second group, which we will refer to as agentive, consists of agentive door-PPs, which we find in passive constructions, and comitative met-PPs, which introduce a co-agent. A third group consists of spatio-temporal adverbials, which locate the eventuality in space and time. A fourth group consists of contingency adverbials referring to causes, reasons, purposes, etc. We conclude with a brief discussion of predicate-degree adverbials. The adverbials in (20) restrict the denotation of the verbal predicate and are characterized by the fact that they can be questioned by means of a wh-phrase.

    20
    VP adverbials
    a. Process: manner; instrument; means; volition; domain
    b. Agentive: passive door-PP; comitative met-PP
    c. Spatio-temporal: place; time
    d. Contingency: cause, reason, purpose, result, concession
    e. Predicate-degree: erg'very'; een beetje'a bit'
    readmore
    [+]  I.  Process Adverbials

    Process adverbials restrict the denotation of the verbal predicate by adding specific information about the eventuality and are characterized by the fact that they can be questioned by means of a wh-phrase. We will briefly discuss the five semantic subclasses in (21).

    21
    Process adverbials
    a. Manner: grondig'thoroughly'; hoe'how'.
    b. Instrument: met een schep'with a shovel'; waarmee'with what'
    c. Means: met de bus'by bus'; hoe'how'
    d. Domain: juridisch'legally'; hoe'how'
    e. Volition: vrijwillig'voluntarily'; graag'gladly', ? hoe'how'

          Manner adverbs such as grondig'thoroughly' in (22a) are prototypical cases of process adverbials; they restrict the denotation of the verb phrase by specifying the manner in which the eventuality was performed: the primed examples show that manner adverbs satisfy the two VP-adverbial tests introduced in Section 8.1, sub III. Instrumental adverbials such as met een schep'with a shovel' in (22b) restrict the denotation of the verb phrase by specifying the instrument used in performing the action; the primed examples show that instrumental adverbials satisfy the two VP-adverbial tests. Instrumentals normally have the form of a met-PP although there are also incidental adjectival forms like handmatig'by hand' and machinaal'mechanically'.

    22
    a. Jan heeft het artikel grondig gelezen.
    manner
      Jan  has the article  thoroughly  read
      'Jan has read the article thoroughly.'
    a'. Jan heeft het artikel gelezen en hij deed dat grondig.
    a''. Jan heeft het artikel grondig gelezen. → Jan heeft het artikel gelezen.
    b. Jan heeft het gat met een schep gegraven.
    instrument
      Jan has  the hole  with a shovel  dug
      'Jan has dug the hole with a shovel.'
    b'. Jan heeft het gat gegraven en hij deed dat met een schep.
    b''. Jan heeft het gat met een schep gegraven. → Jan heeft het gat gegraven.

          Another set of process adverbials indicates the means used in performing the action, as in (23a), substantial subsets of these adverbials indicate means of transportation or communication; some typical examples are given in (23b&c). The primed examples again show that these adverbials satisfy the two VP-adverbial tests.

    23
    a. Jan heeft het gat met zand gevuld.
    means
      Jan has  the hole  with sand  filled
      'Jan has filled the hole with sand.'
    a'. Jan heeft het gat gevuld en hij deed dat met zand.
    a''. Jan heeft het gat met zand gevuld. → Jan heeft het gat gevuld.
    b. Jan is met de bus/te voet naar Leiden gegaan.
    means of transportation
      Jan is with the bus/on foot  to Leiden  gone
      'Jan has gone to Leiden by bus/on foot.'
    b'. Jan is naar Leiden gegaan en hij deed dat met de bus/te voet.
    b''. Jan is met de bus/te voet naar Leiden gegaan → Jan is naar Leiden gegaan.
    c. Jan heeft Marie per brief/telefonisch ingelicht.
    means of communication
      Jan has  Marie  by letter/by.phone  informed
      'Jan has informed Marie by letter/phone.'
    c'. Jan heeft Marie ingelicht en hij deed dat per brief/telefonisch.
    c''. Jan heeft Marie per brief/telefonisch ingelicht. → Jan heeft Marie ingelicht.

          Adverbials like juridisch'legally', lichamelijk'physically', medisch'medically', psychologisch'psychologically', and wetenschappelijk'scientifically' are known as domain adverbials because they restrict the process to a specific (e.g. legal, medical, or scientific) domain.

    24
    a. Jan vecht zijn ontslag juridisch aan.
      Jan fights  his dismissal  legally  prt
      'Jan contests his dismissal on legal grounds.'
    a'. Jan vecht zijn ontslag aan en hij doet dat juridisch.
    a''. Jan vecht zijn ontslag juridisch aan. → Jan vecht zijn ontslag aan.
    b. Marie onderzocht de kat medisch.
      Marie examined  the cat  medically
      'Marie medically examined the cat.'
    b'. Marie onderzocht de kat en zij deed dat medisch.
    b''. Marie onderzocht de kat medisch. → Marie onderzocht de kat.

          Volitional adverbials like gedwongen'forced', met opzet'on purpose', met tegenzin'reluctantly', met plezier'with pleasure', noodgedwongen'by necessity', opzettelijk'deliberately', per ongeluk'by accident', and vrijwillig'voluntarily' specify the relation between the eventuality denoted by the verb (phrase) and the person performing/undergoing it. These adverbials are often considered subject-oriented, which is well-founded in the case of vrijwillig'voluntarily', as passivization of example (25a) shifts the orientation of this adverb from agent to theme.

    25
    a. De dokter onderzocht Marie vrijwillig.
    agent
      the doctor  examined  Marie voluntarily
      'The doctor examined Marie of his own volition.'
    b. Marie werd vrijwillig onderzocht.
    theme
      Marie was  voluntarily  examined
      'Marie was examined of her own free will.'

    However, adverbials such as opzettelijk'deliberately' and per ongeluk'by accident' are oriented towards the (implied) agent only, as is clear from the fact that passivization of example (26a) does not affect the orientation of these adverbials.

    26
    a. Jan beledigde Marie opzettelijk.
    agent
      Jan insulted  Marie deliberately
    b. Marie werd opzettelijk beledigd.
    implied agent
      Marie was  deliberately insulted

    The examples in (27) show for the adverbials vrijwillig in (25a) and opzettelijk in (26a) that volitional adverbials satisfy the two VP-adverbial tests.

    27
    a. De dokter onderzocht Marie en hij deed dat vrijwillig.
      the doctor  examined  Marie  and  he  did  that  voluntarily
    a'. De dokter onderzocht Marie vrijwillig. → De dokter onderzocht Marie.
    b. Jan beledigde Marie en hij deed dat opzettelijk.
      Jan insulted  Marie  and  he  did  that  deliberately
    b'. Jan beledigde Marie opzettelijk. → Jan beledigde Marie.

          That process adverbials are VP adverbials is also supported by the fact that, under a neutral (that is, non-contrastive) intonation, they follow modal adverbials such as waar s chijnlijk'probably'; this is illustrated in (28). We will see in Section 8.2.2, sub XI, however, that domain adverbials such as juridisch in (28d) may also be used as clause adverbials.

    28
    a. Jan heeft het gat waarschijnlijk met zand gevuld.
      Jan has  the hole  probably  with sand  filled
      'Jan has probably filled the hole with sand.'
    b. Jan is waarschijnlijk met de bus/te voet naar Leiden gegaan.
      Jan is probably  with the bus/on foot  to Leiden  gone
      'Jan has probably gone to Leiden by bus/on foot.'
    c. Jan heeft Marie waarschijnlijk per brief/telefonisch ingelicht.
      Jan has  Marie probably  by letter/by.phone  informed
      'Jan has probably informed Marie by letter/phone.'
    d. Hij vecht zijn ontslag waarschijnlijk juridisch aan.
      he  fights  his dismissal  probably  legally  prt
      'He probably contests his dismissal on legal grounds.'
    e. Jan beledigde Marie waarschijnlijk opzettelijk.
      Jan insulted  Marie probably  deliberately
      'Jan probably insulted Marie deliberately.'
    [+]  II.  Agentive adverbials

    There are two types of agentive adverbials. The agentive door-PP in (29a) refers to the agent of the eventuality in passive constructions, while the comitative met-PP in (29b) introduces a co-agent. The primed examples show that these adverbials satisfy the first VP-adverbial test, provided we also passivize the conjoined pronoun doet dat clause in (29a').

    29
    a. Het pakket werd door Jan bezorgd.
    agentive
      the parcel  was  by Jan  delivered
      'The parcel was delivered by Jan.'
    a'. Het pakket werd bezorgd en dat werd door Jan gedaan.
      the parcel  was  delivered  and  that  was  by Jan  done
      'The parcel was delivered and that was done by Jan.'
    a''. Het pakket werd door Jan bezorgd. → Het pakket werd bezorgd.
    b. Jan heeft met Els het museum bezocht.
    comitative
      Jan has  with Els  the museum  visited
      'Jan has visited the museum with Els.'
    b'. Jan heeft het museum bezocht en hij deed dat met Els.
    b''. Jan heeft met Els het museum bezocht. → Jan heeft het museum bezocht.

    That agentive adverbials are VP adverbials is also supported by the fact illustrated in (30) that, under a neutral intonation, they follow modal adverbials such as waarschijnlijk'probably'. Observe that comitative PPs can easily precede the modal adverbs but only if the nominal complement of met can be accented, which suggests that this order is the result of focus movement; cf. Section 13.3.2.

    30
    a. Het pakket wordt waarschijnlijk door Jan bezorgd.
      the parcel  is  probably  by Jan  delivered
      'The parcel will probably be delivered by Jan.'
    b. Jan heeft <met Els/*ʼr> waarschijnlijk het museum <met Els/ʼr> bezocht.
      Jan has  with Els/her  probably  the museum  visited
      'Jan has probably visited the museum with Els/her.'
    [+]  III.  Spatio-temporal adverbials

    Spatio-temporal VP adverbials restrict the denotation of the predicate by anchoring the eventuality at a certain location or time.

    31
    a. Marie heeft waarschijnlijk in de tuin gewerkt.
      Marie  has  probably  in the garden  worked
      'Marie has probably been working in the garden.'
    b. Marie heeft waarschijnlijk om drie uur koffie gedronken.
      Marie has   probably  at 3 oʼclock  coffee  drunk
      'Marie probably drank coffee at 3 oʼclock.'

    That the adverbials in de tuin and om drie uur in (31) function as VP adverbials is not only suggested by the fact that they follow the modal adverb waarschijnlijk'probably' but also by the fact that they satisfy the VP-adverbial tests from Section 8.1, sub III: this is illustrated in (32), which shows that the primeless examples allowing the pronoun doet dat + adverb paraphrase also pass the entailment test.

    32
    a. Marie heeft in de tuin gewerkt.
      Marie  has  in the garden  worked
      'Marie has been working in the garden.'
    a'. Marie heeft gewerkt en ze deed dat in de tuin.
    a''. Marie heeft in de tuin gewerkt. → Marie heeft gewerkt.
    b. Marie heeft om drie uur koffie gedronken.
      Marie has   at 3 oʼclock  coffee  drunk
      'Marie drank coffee at 3 oʼclock.'
    b'. Marie heeft koffie gedronken en ze deed dat om drie uur.
    b''. Marie heeft om drie uur koffie gedronken. → Marie heeft koffie gedronken.

    The various subtypes of spatio-temporal VP adverbials will be discussed in Subsections A and B. Note that we diverge from more traditional grammars by assuming that spatial phrases are not only used as adverbials but also as complementives. Semantically, adverbial and complementive phrases differ in that an adverbial phrase provides more information about the eventuality as a whole while a complementive phrase provides more information about the subject or the direct object of the clause (which originates as its logical subject). The difference is illustrated in (33): while (33a) expresses that the eventuality of Jan playing takes place in the garden, (33b) merely expresses that Jan’s location is in the garden.

    33
    a. Jan speelt in de tuin.
    adverbial
      Jan plays  in the garden
      'Jan is playing in the garden.'
    b. Jan is in de tuin.
    complementive
      Jan is in the garden

    For a more detailed discussion, we refer the reader to Sections P1.1.2.2 and P4.2.1.1, where it is extensively argued that complementive PPs function as predicates denoting a (change of) location or a direction. Some representative examples discussed in these sections are given in (34).

    34
    a. Jan ligt in het zwembad.
    location
      Jan lies  in the swimming.pool
    b. Jan valt in het zwembad.
    change of location
      Jan falls  into the swimming.pool
    c. Jan valt/*ligt het zwembad in.
    directional
      Jan falls  the swimming.pool  into

    Finally, it should be noted that spatio-temporal adverbials can also be used as clause adverbials; we will ignore this use here and provide the relevant data in Section 8.2.2, sub IX; the semantic difference between the two cases will be investigated in more detail in Section 8.2.3.

    [+]  A.  Temporal adverbials

    Temporal VP adverbials can be punctual or durational: the adverbial om drie uur'at 3 oʼclock' in (35a) locates the eventuality of Jan walking in the park at a specific point on the time axis while the adverbial de hele dag'the whole day' in (35b) indicates the duration of the eventuality: it refers to an interval on the time axis during which the eventuality of Jan walking in the park took place. The primed examples show that both instances satisfy the VP-adverbial tests.

    35
    a. Jan wandelde om drie uur in het park.
    punctual
      Jan walked  at 3 oʼclock  in the park
      'Jan walked in the park at three oʼclock.'
    a'. Jan wandelde in het park en hij deed dat om drie uur.
    a''. Jan wandelde om drie uur in het park. → Jan wandelde in het park.
    b. Jan wandelde de hele dag in het park.
    durational
      Jan walked  the whole day  in the park
      'Jan walked in the park all day.'
    b'. Jan wandelde in het park en hij deed dat de hele dag.
    b''. Jan wandelde de hele dag in het park. → Jan wandelde in het park.

          In addition, temporal adverbials can be relational or non-relational: cf. Haeseryn et al. (1997). Relational temporal adverbials locate the eventuality expressed by the clause with respect to some other eventuality on the time axis while non-relational temporal adverbials locate the eventuality on the time axis without taking other eventualities into consideration (although the speech time may still function as an anchoring point). Examples of non-relational temporal adverbials are volgende week'next week' and verleden jaar'last year' in (36). Such adverbials can typically be replaced by the temporal proforms nu'now', toen'then (past)' and dan'then (future)'. The adverbials onlangs'recently' and straks'later' or spoedig'soon' are special in indicating proximity to the speech time.

    36
    a. We gaan volgende week/dan naar Maastricht.
      we  go  next week/then  to Maastricht
      'We will go to Maastricht next week/then.'
    b. Jan is verleden jaar/toen gepromoveerd.
      Jan is last year/then  taken.his.PhD
      'Jan was awarded his PhD last year/then.'

    Relational temporal adverbials are typically PPs or clauses. Prototypical punctual examples are given in (35a) and in the (a)-examples in (37); in the latter examples, the adverbials locate Jan’s going home in a position after, respectively, the meeting and the moment that Jan had spoken to Els. That the PP and the clause are relational is also clear from the fact that they can be pronominalized by means of the pronominal PP daarna'after that' in (37b). It should be noted, however, that they can have a non-relational reading as well, as is clear from the fact that they can also be replaced by the non-relational proform toen'then' in (37b').

    37
    a. Jan ging na de vergadering naar huis.
    relational/non-relational
      Jan went  after the meeting  to home
      'Jan went home after the meeting.'
    a'. Jan ging naar huis nadat hij Els gesproken had.
    relational/non-relational
      Jan went  to home  after  he  Els spoken  had
      'Jan want home after he had spoken to Els.'
    b. Jan ging daarna naar huis.
    relational
      Jan went  after.that  to home
    b'. Jan ging toen naar huis.
    non-relational
      Jan went  then  to home

    In the (a)-examples in (38), we provide instances of a prepositional and a clausal adverbial expressing a durational relation. Although the PP and the clause must receive a relational interpretation, they cannot be replaced by a pronominal PP because PPs headed by sinds ‘since’ do not allow pronominalization at all; instead sindsdien'since then' in (38b) is used, which is a fossilized form consisting of the preposition sinds and a case-marked demonstrative meaning “since that moment”.

    38
    a. Jan heeft sinds haar vertrek erg hard gewerkt.
      Jan has  since her departure  very hard  worked
      'Jan has worked very hard since her departure.'
    a'. Jan heeft erg hard gewerkt sinds zij vertrokken is.
      Jan has  very hard  worked  since  she  left  is
      'Jan has worked very hard since she left.'
    b. Jan heeft sindsdien erg hard gewerkt.
      Jan has  since.then  very hard  worked
      'Jan has worked very hard since then.'

    Temporal PPs such as om drie uur'at 3 oʼclock', op zondag'on Sunday', in (het jaar) 1990 'in (the year) 1990', op eerste kerstdag'on Christmas Day', in/tijdens de vakantie'in/during the vacation', tijdens de oorlog'during the war', which are more or less conventionalized means of referring to specific (often recurring) points/intervals on the time axis, are strictly non-relational: they can only be replaced by a temporal pro-form. Some examples are given in (39).

    39
    a. We gaan in de vakantie naar Maastricht.
      we go  in the vacation  to Maastricht
      'We are going to Maastricht in the vacation period.'
    a'. We gaan dan/*daarin naar Maastricht.
      we go  then/there.in  to Maastricht
    b. Jan is in 2013 gepromoveerd.
      Jan is in 2013 taken.his.PhD
      'Jan took his PhD in 2013.'
    b'. Jan is toen/*daarin gepromoveerd.
      Jan is then/there.in  taken.his.PhD

          Temporal adverbials may also refer to a repeated action: example (40a) may express the single eventuality of Jan ringing the doorbell three times (e.g. as a means of identifying himself). That we are dealing with VP adverbials is again clear from the (b)-examples, which show that the two VP-adverbial tests can be satisfied.

    40
    a. Jan belde drie keer (achter elkaar) aan.
      Jan rang  three times after each.other  prt.
      'Jan rang the doorbell three times (in succession).'
    b. Jan belde aan en hij deed dat drie keer (achter elkaar).
    b'. Jan belde drie keer (achter elkaar) aan. → Jan belde aan.
    [+]  B.  Spatial adverbial phrases

    Spatial adverbial PPs such as in het park'in the park' in (41a) are normally locational; directional PPs as well as PPs denoting change of location function as complementives and will therefore not be discussed here. The (b)-examples show once more that clauses with locational adverbial PPs satisfy the two VP-adverbial tests.

    41
    a. Jan heeft in het park gespeeld.
      Jan has  in the park  played
      'Jan has played in the park.'
    b. Jan heeft gespeeld en hij deed dat in het park.
    b'. Jan heeft in het park gespeeld. → Jan heeft gespeeld.

    It seems that locational adverbial PPs can refer to a specific location or to a distance: in (41a) the PP in het park simply refers to the specific location where the eventuality of Jan playing takes place, while in (42a) the adverbial phrase refers to the distance Jan has covered by running. It might be tempting to analyze the noun phrase de hele weg naar huis/4 kilometer as a direct object, as would certainly be appropriate for an example such a Jan rende de 100 meter in 12 seconde n'Jan ran the 100 meters in 12 seconds', but the fact that the noun phrase can occur in a conjoined pronoun doet dat clause in (42b) is sufficient to show that this is not correct because direct objects are not able to do that.

    42
    a. Jan heeft de hele weg naar huis/4 kilometer gerend.
      Jan has  the whole way to home/4 kilometer  run
      'Jan has run the whole way home/for 4 kilometers.'
    b. Jan heeft gerend en hij deed dat de hele weg naar huis/4 kilometer.
    b'. Jan heeft de hele weg naar huis/4 kilometer gerend. → Jan heeft gerend.

    For completeness’ sake, it should be noted that the distance reading of spatial PPs comes quite close sometimes to the duration reading of temporal PPs: the adverbial de hele weg naar huis in (43) can easily be construed as referring to the time span needed to cover the track.

    43
    Jan heeft de hele weg naar huis gekletst.
      Jan has  the whole way to home  talked
    'Jan has chatted the whole way home.'

          Haeseryn et al. (1997:1190ff.) observe that punctual locational PPs can be relational or non-relational. Relational locational PPs denote a specific location relative to some other location and are pronominalized by means of a pronominal PP. Non-relational locational PPs, on the other hand, refer directly to a specific place and are pronominalized by a bare R-word. Examples with relational location PPs are given in (44a). It should be noted, however, that as in the case of temporal PPs, these PPs also allow a non-relational interpretation; they can be replaced either by a pronominal PP, as in (44b), or by a bare R-word, as in (44b').

    44
    a. Jan verstopt zich achter/onder de bank.
    relational/non-relational
      Jan hides  refl  behind/under the couch
      'Jan is hiding behind/under the couch.'
    b. Jan verstopt zich daarachter/daaronder.
    relational
      Jan hides  refl  there.behind/there.under
      'Jan is hiding behind/under that.'
    b'. Jan verstopt zich daar.
    non-relational
      Jan hides  refl  there
      'Jan is hiding there.'

    It is easy to construct examples in which the locational PP has an exclusive non-relational reading. This is illustrated by the PPs in (45a), which are normally replaced by a bare R-word: the pronominal PPs in (45b) give rise to a marked result and certainly cannot be construed as the counterparts of the PPs in (45a).

    45
    a. Jan werkt in de bibliotheek/op zolder/bij Marie.
    non-relational
      Jan works  in the library/on the.attic/with Marie
      'Jan is working in the library/in the attic/at Maries place.'
    b. Jan werkt daar/#Jan werkt daar in/op/bij.
    non-relational
      Jan works  there/Jan works  there  in/on/with
      'Jan is working there.'

    Haeseryn et al. (1997:1192) claim that non-relational adverbial PPs are mainly headed by op and in, which also occur in a large set of more or less idiomatic adverbial constructions: Jan werkt in een fabriek/op een kantoor'Jan works in a factory/in an office'. This claim is far too strong, however, as the examples in (44) have shown that locational PPs headed by other prepositions often allow both readings. It seems true, however, that complementive PPs are preferably assigned a relational reading when they denote a change of location. This is clear from the difference in behavior of the complementive PPs in examples (34a&b), repeated here as (46a&b): the PP in the locational construction can be replaced either by a pronominal PP or by a bare locational proform, which shows that it can have a relational or a non-relational interpretation. The PP in the change-of-location construction, on the other hand, must be replaced by a bare locational proform, which shows that it can have a non-relational interpretation only. For completeness’ sake, note that the number sign in (46b') is used to indicate that the pro-form daar in (46b') is possible if it is interpreted as an adverbial, but this is not relevant for our present discussion.

    46
    a. Jan ligt in het zwembad.
    location
      Jan lies  in  the swimming.pool
    a'. Jan ligt erin/daar.
    relational/non-relational
      Jan lies in.it/there
    b. Jan valt in het zwembad.
    change of location
      Jan falls  into  the swimming.pool
    b'. Jan valt erin/#daar.
    relational only
      Jan falls  into.it/there

    We provisionally conclude that adverbial locational PPs (as well as complementive PPs denoting a location) prototypically allow both a relational and non-relational reading, while complementive PPs denoting a change of location normally receive a relational reading only. We leave this as a suggestion for future research.

    [+]  IV.  Contingency adverbials

    Contingency adverbials relate the eventuality expressed by the clause to some other concurrent circumstance. Prototypical examples are adverbial phrases indicating cause and reason; the primed examples show that these adverbials satisfy the two VP-adverbial tests. We will follow Quirk et al. (1979: Section 8.7) in assuming that cause can be established more or less objectively while reason involves a subjective and often personal assessment. The distinction can be clarified in Dutch by means of questioning: waardoor'by what' normally evokes an answer providing a cause while waarom'why' normally evokes an answer providing a reason.

    47
    a. De plantenpot barstte door de vorst.
    cause
      the plant.pot  cracked  by the frost
      'The flower pot cracked due to the frost.'
    a'. De plantenpot barstte en hij deed dat door de vorst.
    a''. De plantenpot barstte door de vorst. → De plantenpot barstte.
    b. Els bleef vanwege de regen thuis.
    reason
      Els stayed  because.of the rain  home
      'Els stayed at home because of the rain.'
    b'. Els bleef thuis en ze deed dat vanwege de regen.
    b''. Els bleef thuis vanwege de regen. → Els bleef thuis.

    The concessive adverbial PPs headed by ondanks'despite' in (48) refer to a potential cause of an effect which did not occur, against the speakerʼs expectation. The primed examples show that the concessive PPs satisfy both VP-adverbial tests.

    48
    a. De plantenpot bleef ondanks de vorst heel.
    concession
      the plant.pot  remained  despite the frost  intact
    a'. De plantenpot bleef heel en hij deed dat ondanks de vorst.
    a''. De plantenpot bleef ondanks de vorst heel. → De plantenpot bleef heel.
    b. Els vertrok ondanks de regen.
    concession
      Els left  despite the rain
      'Els left despite the rain.'
    b'. Els vertrok en ze deed dat ondanks de regen.
    b''. Els vertrok ondanks de regen. → Els vertrok.

    Quirk et al. (1979) show that reason is often also difficult to distinguish from purpose. The actual interpretation depends upon the point of view adopted: in an example such as (49a) earning money or getting pleasure out of it can be seen as indicating Elsʼ motivation or goal for working here. Questioning can again help to clarify the two sides: while waarom'why' calls up an answer providing a reason, waarvoor'for what' evokes an answer providing a goal. Similarly, purpose and result are difficult to distinguish although the latter is often expressed by the preposition tot.

    49
    a. Els werkt hier voor haar plezier/het geld.
    reason/purpose
      Els works  here  for her pleasure/the money
      'Els enjoys working here/works here for the money.'
    a'. Els werkt hier en ze doet dat voor haar plezier/het geld.
    a''. Els werkt hier voor haar plezier/het geld. → Els werkt hier.
    b. Els werkt hier tot haar grote vreugde.
    result
      Els works  here  to her great pleasure
      'Els takes great pleasure in working here.'
    b'. Els werkt hier en ze doet dat tot haar grote vreugde.
    b''. Els werkt hier tot haar grote vreugde. → Els werkt hier.

    All contingency adverbials discussed so far satisfy the two VP-adverbial tests. That they truly are VP adverbials is further supported by the fact that they may follow the modal adverbs under a neutral intonation. It should be noted, however, that at least adverbials indicating cause and reason may also precede the modal adverb, which suggests that they can also be used as clause adverbials: we return to this in Section 8.2.2, sub X.

    50
    a. De plantenpot is waarschijnlijk door de vorst gebarsten.
    cause
      the plant.pot  is probably  by the frost  cracked
      'The flower pot probably cracked due to the frost.'
    b. Els bleef waarschijnlijk vanwege de regen thuis.
    reason
      Els stayed  probably  because.of the rain  home
      'Els probably stayed at home because of the rain.'
    c. Els werkt waarschijnlijk voor haar plezier/het geld.
    reason/purpose
      Els works  probably  for her pleasure the money
      'Els probably enjoys working/works for the money.'
    d. Els werkt waarschijnlijk tot haar grote vreugde.
    result
      Els works  probably  to her great pleasure
      'Els probably takes great pleasure in working.'

    Quirk at al. (1979) also count conditionals as contingency adverbials. We will postpone discussion of such cases to Section 8.2.2, sub X, because there is good reason to believe that they can only be used as clause adverbials. We conclude this subsection by noting that Haeseryn et al. (1997:1212) provide adverbial phrases which do not seem to fall into one of the semantic subclasses above but simply refer to a concomitant circumstance; some examples are given in (51).

    51
    a. De boot vertrok bij slecht weer.
      the boat  left  with bad weather
      'The boat left in bad weather.'
    b. Hij sliep met open ogen.
      he  slept  with open eyes
      'He slept with open eyes.'
    c. Hij vertrok zonder te groeten.
      he  left  without  to greet
      'He left without saying goodbye.'
    [+]  V.  Predicate-degree adverbials

    Section A3.1 has shown that there is a relatively large set of adjectival adverbials that are typically used as degree modifiers of adjectives: prototypical examples are erg'very' and vrij'rather' in erg/vrij aardig'very/rather nice'. A small subset of these adverbials can also be used as modifiers of verbal projections; the examples in (52) show, for example, that this is possible for the intensifier erg'very' but not for the downtoner vrij'rather'.

    52
    a. Jan moest erg/*vrij lachen.
      Jan had.to  very/rather  laugh
      'Jan had to laugh a lot.'
    b. De vloer kraakt erg/*vrij.
      the floor  creaks  very/rather
      'The floor creaks terribly.'

    The use of erg ‘very’ has more restrictions. Although it is not clear to us what precisely determines whether its use is possible or not, its seems that erg is common with verbs denoting involuntary bodily actions such as niezen'to sneeze', verbs denoting a psychological state such as zich vervelen'to be bored', verbs of sound emission such as gillen'to scream' and weather verbs such as vriezen'to freeze', while it is less felicitous with verbs denoting voluntary actions like werken'to work', fietsen'to cycle' and praten'to talk'.

    53
    a. Jan niest erg.
      Jan sneezes  very
    c. De kinderen gillen erg.
      the children scream  very
    b. Marie verveelt zich erg.
      Marie bores  refl  very
    d. Het vriest/waait erg.
      it freezes/blows very
    54
    a. ?? Jan werkt/fietst erg.
      Jan works/cycles  very
    b. ?? Jan praat erg.
      Jan talks  very

    Section A3.1 has also shown that nominal degree adverbials modifying adjectives are always downtoners: cf. een beetje ziek'a little bit sick'. The use of such modifiers as downtoners of verbal projections is quite common; they do not only occur with the verbs in (53) but also with the verbs in (54) denoting a voluntary action.

    55
    a. Jan niest een beetje.
      Jan sneezes  a bit
    a'. Jan werkt/fietst een beetje.
      Jan works/cycles  a bit
    b. Marie verveelt zich een beetje.
      Marie bores  refl  a bit
    b'. Jan praat een beetje.
      Jan talks  a bit

    The status of the degree adverbials differs from the VP adverbials discussed in the previous subsections in that they do not provide very clear results when it comes to the pronoun doet dat + adverb paraphrase: the paraphrases of the (a)-examples in (53) and (55) in (56b) are perhaps not impossible but still feel clumsy. They do have the property, however, that they restrict the denotation of the predicate expressed by the lexical domain of the clause, as is clear from the fact that the entailment test in (56c) leads to a positive result.

    56
    a. Jan niest erg/een beetje.
      Jan sneezes  very/a bit
    b. ? Jan niest en hij doet dat erg/een beetje.
    c. Jan niest erg/een beetje. → Jan niest.
    References:
    • Haeseryn, Walter, Romijn, Kirsten, Geerts, Guido, Rooij, Jaap de & Toorn, Maarten C. van den1997Algemene Nederlandse spraakkunstGroningenNijhoff
    • Haeseryn, Walter, Romijn, Kirsten, Geerts, Guido, Rooij, Jaap de & Toorn, Maarten C. van den1997Algemene Nederlandse spraakkunstGroningenNijhoff
    • Haeseryn, Walter, Romijn, Kirsten, Geerts, Guido, Rooij, Jaap de & Toorn, Maarten C. van den1997Algemene Nederlandse spraakkunstGroningenNijhoff
    • Haeseryn, Walter, Romijn, Kirsten, Geerts, Guido, Rooij, Jaap de & Toorn, Maarten C. van den1997Algemene Nederlandse spraakkunstGroningenNijhoff
    • Quirk, Randolph, Greenbaum, Sidney, Leech, Geoffrey & Svartvik, Jan1979A grammar of comtemporary EnglishLondonLongman
    • Quirk, Randolph, Greenbaum, Sidney, Leech, Geoffrey & Svartvik, Jan1979A grammar of comtemporary EnglishLondonLongman
    • Quirk, Randolph, Greenbaum, Sidney, Leech, Geoffrey & Svartvik, Jan1979A grammar of comtemporary EnglishLondonLongman
    About this article
    Author(s): Hans Broekhuis, Norbert Corver
    Category: Dutch Syntax
    Publication date: 22 November 2023
    Keywords: AdverbialAgentiveComitativeConcession AdverbialDomain AdverbialDurational AdverbialFrame AdverbialFrequency AdverbialInstrument AdverbialLocational AdverbialManner AdverbialMeans AdverbialPredicate-degree AdverbialProcess AdverbialPurposeReasonRelational AdverbialSpatio-temporal AdverbialSubject-oriented AdverbialTemporal AdverbialVolition Adverbial
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