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1.3.3.Non-spatial/temporal prepositions

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This section discusses non-spatial/temporal adpositional phrases. Subsection I starts by discussing predicative adpositional phrases and Subsection II discusses adpositional phrases with other functions.

I. Prepositions that take a “reference object”
II. Prepositions that do not take a “reference object”

[+] I. Prepositions that take a “reference object”

Many of the spatial/temporal prepositions can also be used to denote a non-spatial/temporal relation. Such prepositional phrases often involve a metaphorical spatial relation in the sense that they express that the “located object” is in the state denoted by the “reference object”; example (370a), for instance, expresses that the house is in the state of being afire. If (370a) is indeed comparable to the locational construction, the (b)-examples are comparable to the change of location construction; these examples express that a change of state takes place.

370

a.	Het huis	staat	in brand.	state
	the house	stands	on fire
	'The house is on fire.'

b.	Het huis	raakt	in brand.	change of state
	the house	gets	on fire
	'The house bursts into flames.'

b'.	Jan zet/steekt	het huis	in brand.	change of state
	Jan puts	the house	on fire
	'Jan sets the house on fire.'

More examples of the same sort are given in (371). Example (371a) expresses that Jan is in the state of being in trouble, whereas the (b)-examples express that a change of state is taking place.

371

a.	Jan zit	in de problemen.	state
	Jan sits	in the problems
	'Jan is in problems/trouble.'

b.	Jan raakt	in de problemen.	change of state
	Jan gets	into the problems
	'Jan gets into problems/trouble.'

b'.	Peter brengt	Jan in de problemen.	change of state
	Peter brings	Jan into the problems
	'Peter gets Jan into problems/trouble.'

There are numerous prepositional predicates of this type that denote mental states, and are therefore predicated of human subjects only. Most of these predicates, a small sample of which are given in (372), have an idiomatic flavor. This is clear from the fact that attributive modification of the nominal complement of the preposition is normally excluded; an exception is op zijn (dooie) gemak'at his ease', in which dooie'dead' functions as an amplifier and cannot be replaced by any other adjective. The PPs in (372) are normally used predicatively, although op zijn (dooie) gemak again constitutes an exception in that it can also be used as an adverbial phrase of manner: Jan werkte op zijn dooie gemak'Jan worked at his ease'. For the possible origin/meaning of the unglossed words in small caps, we refer to the Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal.

372

a.	Jan is (zeer)	op zijn gemak.
	Jan is very	at his ease
	'Jan is at his ease.'

b.	Jan is (helemaal)	in zʼn knollentuin/nopjes/sas/schik.
	Jan is completely	in his vegetable garden/nopjes/sas/schik
	'Jan is (very) pleased'

c.	Jan was/raakte	(erg)	uit zijn humeur.
	Jan was/got	very	out his mood
	'Jan was/got in a bad mood.'

d.	Jan is niet	(helemaal goed)	bij	zijn verstand.
	Jan is not	totally well	with	his senses
	'Jan isnʼt in possession of his senses.'

e.	Jan is (goed)	op zijn hoede.
	Jan is very	on his guard
	'Jan is on the alert.'

f.	Jan is (flink)	bij	de pinken.
	Jan is quite	with	the pinken
	'Jan is (very) smart.'

g.	Jan is (erg)	in de contramine.
	Jan is very	in the contramine
	'Jan is (very) uncooperative.'

h.	Jan is/komt	helemaal	op gang/dreef.
	Jan is/comes	completely	on going/dreef
	'Jan has/gets the hang of it.'

i.	Jan was/raakte	(zeer)	van streek.
	Jan was/got	very	of streek
	'Jan was/got upset.'

Section 3.3, sub I, will show that PPs of this sort behave like adjectives in several respects; for the moment it suffices to note that their modification possibilities are more typical for adjectival than for prepositional phrases; the amplifier zeer'very' in (372a&i), for example, can normally be used for modification of adjectives only. See Section A3 for a comprehensive discussion of modification of APs.
The examples in (370) to (372) all involve a (change of) state. The examples in (373), on the other hand, are perhaps more appropriately described as involving a path. They express a (gradual) change from one state into another; cf. (343).

373

a.		Jan veranderde	(van een verlegen jongen)	in een oproerkraaier.
		Jan changed	from a shy boy	into an agitator

a'.		State 1: Jan is a shy boy
		State ...: Jan is in some intermediate stage
		State n: Jan is an agitator

b.		Het water	wordt	nu	omgezet	in waterstof en zuurstof.
		the water	is	now	converted	into hydrogen and oxygen

[+] II. Prepositions that do not take a “reference object”

Besides the spatial and temporal prepositions, there is a set of prepositions with different meanings. Some of them are used to express certain specific semantic roles in the clause. For example, the preposition aan'to' can be used to introduce a goal and voor'for' can be used to introduce the beneficiary argument of the verb. Prepositions of this kind, which we will conveniently call role prepositions, are discussed in Subsection A. Another group of prepositions consists of prepositions that are selected by the verb, like English for in to wait for. Prepositions of this kind, which we will call functional prepositions, are discussed in Subsection B. Finally, Subsection C discusses prepositions heading non-spatial/temporal adverbial phrases.

[+] A. Prepositions introducing specific semantic roles

This subsection discusses various role prepositions, that is, prepositions that are used to introduce noun phrases with specific semantic roles in the clause.

[+] 1. Door'by'

The role preposition door'by' has three functions. The first function involves the introduction of an agent in a passive clause, as in (374a). Its second function is the introduction of a cause in (active or passive) clauses, as in (374b). Example (374c), finally, shows that door-phrases can also express a means, provided that its complement is an infinitival clause.

374

a.		Jan werd	ontslagen	door zijn baas.
		Jan was	sacked	by his boss

b.		Jan raakte	gewond	door een omvallende boom.
		Jan got	hurt	by a falling tree

c.	Door hard te werken	werd	Jan topmanager van het bedrijf.
	by hard to work	became	Jan top manager of the company
	'By working hard Jan became a top manager of the company.'

Since agentive and causal door-PPs can both occur in a passive construction, they can be easily confused. This is illustrated in the primeless examples in (375). They differ, however, in that R-extraction is only fully acceptable from passive door-phrases; R-extraction from a door-PP introducing a cause gives rise to a marked result. This is illustrated in the primed examples by means of R-extraction in relative clauses.

375

a.	Het ongeluk	werd	door Jan	veroorzaakt.
	the accident	was	by Jan	caused
	'The accident was caused by Jan.'

a'.	de jongen	waar	het ongeluk	door	veroorzaakt	werd
	the boy	where	the accident	by	caused	was
	'The boy by whom the accident was caused.'

b.	Het ongeluk	werd	door nalatigheid	veroorzaakt.
	the accident	was	by negligence	caused
	'The accident was caused by a falling tree.'

b'.	??	de nalatigheid	waar	het ongeluk	door	veroorzaakt	werd
		the negligence	where	the accident	by	caused	was

Agentive door-phrases are not restricted to passive constructions. In (376), it is shown that they can also occur in nominalizations, especially if the noun is derived from a transitive verb; if the noun is derived from an intransitive verb (or if the direct object is not expressed) the preposition van is normally preferred; see N2.2.3.2 for extensive discussion.

376

a.		het lachen	van/?door Urgje
		the laughing	of/by Urgje

b.		het lezen	van boeken	door/*?van Jan
		the reading	of books	by/of Jan

Example (377b) further shows that agentive door-phrases can also be used to express the agent of a transitive verb embedded under the causative verb laten'to make'; cf. V5.2.3.4, sub V.

377

a.	Marie liet	de studenten	het boek	bestuderen.
	Marie made	the students	the book	study
	'Mary made the students study the book.'

b.		Marie liet	het boek	door	de studenten	bestuderen.
		Marie made	the book	by	the students	study

[+] 2. Aan'to' and v oor'for'

The role preposition aan introduces a goal. In the general case, the construction with aan alternates with the double object construction (although not all double object constructions alternate with constructions with an aan-PP; See V3.3.1.1).

378

a.		Marie gaf	het boek	aan Peter.
		Marie gave	the book	to Peter

b.		Marie gaf	Peter het boek.
		Marie gave	Peter the book

The role preposition voor introduces a beneficiary. Unlike the goal-construction with aan, the construction with the voor-PP normally does not alternate with a double object construction in Standard Dutch. The construction is common in many other varieties of Dutch, though, for which reason we marked (379b) with a percentage sign.

379

a.		Marie	kocht	een cadeautje	voor Jan.
		Marie	bought	a present	for Jan

b.	%	Marie	kocht	Jan	een cadeautje.
		Marie	bought	Jan	a present

The examples in (380) show that the alternation can also be found in Standard Dutch in a number of more or less fixed expressions; these two examples differ in that (380b) expresses that the drink is intended for Marie, whereas (380a) simply expresses that Jan is performing the action on behalf of Marie, that is, the drink may but need not be for her. We refer the reader to V3.3.1.5 for more discussion.

380

a.		Jan schonk	een borrel	voor Marie	in.
		Jan poured	a drink	for Marie	prt.

b.		Jan schonk	Marie een borrel	in.
		Jan poured	Marie a drink	prt.

Voor-PPs can also be used to refer to the benefit of the action, as in (381a&b). An example such as (381c) is ambiguous between the beneficiary and benefit reading: on the former reading, the example means that Marie does anything for someone who has a pretty face, on the latter that she is doing anything in order to get a pretty face.

381

a.	Jan werkt daar	alleen maar	voor de centen.
	Jan works there	only	for the cents
	'Jan is working there only for the money.'

b.	Jan beledigde	haar	alleen maar	voor de lol.
	Jan insulted	her	only	for fun
	'Jan insulted her just for the fun of it.'

c.	Marie zou	alles	doen	voor een leuk gezichtje.
	Marie would	everything	do	for a pretty face
	'Marie would do anything for a pretty face.'

Finally, voor-PPs may refer to media of exchange with verbs like kopen'to buy' and verkopen'to sell', and betalen'to pay', as in (382a&b). An example such as (382c) is ambiguous between the beneficiary and the countertransfer reading; on the former reading Jan is given 50 euro that he can spend in order to purchase a CD-player, whereas on the second reading he is receiving 50 euro in exchange for his CD-player.

382

a.	Jan (ver)kocht	het boek	voor 15 euro.
	Jan bought/sold	the book	for 15 euro
	'Jan bought/sold the book for 15 euros.'

b.	Jan betaalde	15 euro	voor het boek.
	Jan paid	15 euro	for the book
	'Jan paid 15 euros for the book.'

c.	Jan kreeg	50 euro	voor zijn cd-speler.
	Jan received	50 euro	for his CD-player
	'Jan received 50 euros for his CD-player.'

[+] 3. Met'with'

The role preposition met can perform three functions. It can introduce an instrument, a co-agent, or a located object. In (383), we give several examples with an instrumental met-PP.

383

a.		Jan opende	de kist	met een breekijzer.
		Jan opened	the box	with a crowbar

b.		Marie bekeek	het lijk	met een zaklamp.
		Marie looked.at	the body	with a flashlight

The primeless examples in (384) involve comitative met-PPs, that is, PPs in which met introduces a co-agent. A typical property of such examples is that they alternate with constructions in which the agent and the co-agent are coordinated in subject position; cf. the primed examples. The main semantic difference between the primeless and primed examples is related to prominence; in the primeless examples the referent denoted by the noun phrase in subject position is considered a more prominent participant in the event than the referent in the met-PP, whereas in the primed example the two coordinated noun phrases in subject position are presented as equally important.

384

a.		Jan wandelde	met Peter	naar het park.
		Jan walked	with Peter	to the park

a'.		Jan en Peter	wandelen	naar het park.
		Jan and Peter	walk	to the park

b.		Marie is	gisteren	met Peter	getrouwd.
		Marie has	yesterday	with Peter	married

b'.		Marie en Peter	zijn	gisteren	getrouwd.
		Marie and Peter	have	yesterday	married

A remarkable fact is that the presence of a comitative met-PP triggers plural agreement on a predicatively used noun phrase in (385c). First consider the examples in (385a&b), which show that the singular noun phrase Jan triggers singular agreement on the predicative noun phrase een vriendje van Marie'a friend of Marie', and that the plural noun phrase Jan en Peter triggers plural agreement: vriendjes van Marie'friends of Marie'. The plural agreement on the predicative noun phrase in (385c) has led to the hypothesis that, underlyingly, the phrase headed by met is a coordinate structure (Jan met Peter). This plural coordinated structure acts as the logical subject of the predicatively used noun phrase and thus triggers plural agreement; the surface structure is derived by placing the first conjunct into the subject position of the clause, where it triggers singular agreement on the verb. See Kayne (1994) for more discussion.

385

a.		Jan is	een vriendje	van Marie.
		Jan is	a friend	of Marieʼs

b.		Jan en Peter	zijn	vriendjes van Marie.
		Jan and Peter	are	friends of Marieʼs

c.		Jan is vriendjes/*een vriendje	met Peter.
		Jan is friends/*a friend	with Peter

At first sight, it seems that comitative met-PPs are not only construed with subjects, but also with direct objects, as in (386a). It is not so clear, however, whether the met-PP acts as an independent constituent in this example. Given that it is pied-piped with the direct object under topicalization, it seems more plausible that it acts as a modifier of the noun doperwten'peas' or, perhaps, as the second conjunct of a coordinate structure.

386

a.	Jan eet	graag	doperwten	met biefstuk.
	Jan eats	gladly	peas	with beefsteak
	'Jan likes to eat peas with beefsteak.'

Doperwten met biefstuk eet Jan graag.

The third and final function of the role preposition met is to introduce a located object; cf. Mulder (1992). Consider the examples in (387). Example (387a) is a simple change of location construction, in which it is expressed that the located object het hooi is given a location on the reference object de wagen. The construction in (387b) expresses essentially the same situation (the difference being that in this case the wagon must end up completely filled with hay, or, at least, that the hay is evenly distributed on the wagon). However, the located object no longer acts as the direct object of the construction (the reference object does that) but is expressed as the complement of the met-PP.

387

a.		Jan laadde	het hooi	op de wagen.
		Jan loaded	the hay	on the wagon

b.		Jan belaadde	de wagen	met hooi.
		Jan loaded	the wagon	with hay

This use of the met-PP is very common with verbs that are prefixed with be- or ver- and compound verbs with a preposition/particle as their first member, as in (388). Note that, at least synchronically seen, these verbs are not derivationally related to the verbs dekken'cover', trekken'to draw' or singelen'to gird', which accounts for the fact that they do not alternate with constructions in which the located object surfaces as the direct object and the reference object is expressed by a PP. This is especially clear in the case of omsingelen given that singelen does not belong to the present-day vernacular.

388

a.		Jan be-dekte	de tafel	met een kleed.
		Jan be-covered	the table	with a cloth

b.		Jan over-trok	de stoel	met katoen.
		Jan over-covered	the chair	with cotton

c.		De vijand	om-singelde	de stad	met kanonnen.
		the enemy	om-surrounded	the city	with cannons

This use of the met-PP is quite rare with simplex verbs and verbs without particles: one example is the verb vullen'to fill' in (389a). Example (389b) gives the corresponding example in which the located object acts as a direct object and the reference object is expressed by a PP.

389

a.		Jan vulde	de tank	met water.
		Jan filled	the tank	with water

b.		Jan stopte	water in de tank.
		Jan put	water into the tank

For completeness' sake, it should be noted that met can also be used in phrases of accessory or concomitant circumstance. In this function met is probably not a role preposition but probably related to the preposition in the so-called absolute met-construction, discussed in Section 2.5.1. An example is given in (390a). This suggestion seems supported by the fact that such met-PPs differ from the ones discussed earlier in that they do not allow R-extraction, as will be clear by comparing example (390a') to those in (390b'-d').

390

a.	Jan speelt	altijd	met	veel lawaai.	concomitant circumstance
	Jan plays	always	with	much noise
	'Jan always plays with a lot of noise.'

a'.	*	het lawaai	waar	Jan altijd	mee speelt
		the noise	that	Jan always	with plays

b.		Jan opende	de kist	met een breekijzer.	instrumental
		Jan opened	the box	with a crowbar

b'.		het breekijzer	waar	Jan de kist	mee	opende
		the crowbar	that	Jan the box	with	opened

c.		Jan speelde	met zijn vriendje.	comitative
		Jan played	with his friend

c'.		het vriendje	waar	Jan mee	speelde
		the friend	that	Jan with	played

d.		Jan laadt	de wagen	met hooi.	located object
		Jan loads	the wagon	with hay

d'.		het hooi	waar	Jan de wagen	mee	laadt
		the hay	that	Jan the wagon	with	loads

[+] 4. Bij'with'

The preposition bij in (391a) is used to express inalienable possession; Marie is construed as the inalienable possessor of the body part nek'neck'; cf. Corver (1992). That the bij-PP is dependent on the presence of the possessed entity is clear from the fact that it cannot be used if the PP in de nek is dropped. Note that the possessive bij-phrase alternates with the prenominal genitival possessor in (391b) and the possessive dative in (391c).

391

a.	Jan bijt	bij Marie	*(in de nek).
	Jan bites	with Marie	in the neck
	'Jan is biting in Marieʼs neck.'

b.		Jan bijt	in Maries/?de nek.
		Jan bites	in Marieʼs/the neck

c.		Jan bijt	Marie in de nek.
		Jan bites	Marie in the neck

The inalienable possessive construction in (391a), which in Standard Dutch can only occur if the possessed entity is the complement of predicative locational PP, is more extensively discussed in Section V3.3.1.4.

[+] 5. Van'of' (in noun phrase)

The role preposition van is typically used in noun phrases. The examples in (392a-c) show that it can introduce a possessor, an agent or a theme. The contrast between (392b) and (392d) shows that agentive van-PPs are mainly used in nominalizations of monadic verbs; if the noun is derived from a dyadic verb, an agentive door-phrase is used instead. See Section N2.2.3.2 for more detailed discussion.

392

a.		het	boek	van Jan
		the	book	of Janʼs

b.		het	dansen	van de kinderen
		the	dancing	of the children

c.		het	opeten	van de taart
		the	prt.-eating	of the cake

d.		het	eten	van de pindaʼs	door/*?van de kinderen
		the	eating	of the peanuts	by/of the children

The examples in (393) show that van-PPs can sometimes also be used to express causes.

393

a.		Hij rilt van de kou
		he trembles of the cold
		'He shivers'

b.		Ik sterf van de honger
		I am dying of the hunger
		'I am starving.'

[+] B. Functional prepositions: prepositions heading PP-complements

Classifying prepositions heading PP-complements on semantic grounds does not seem to be useful. The actual choice of the prepositions in (394) is fully determined by the selectional properties of the governing verb, noun or adjective, and does not seem to be necessarily related to the meaning of the preposition itself. This of course does not imply that it is never possible to relate the functional preposition to its spatial meaning: volgen uit'to follow from' or zondigen tegen'to sin against', for example, are cases in which this is possible; in this respect, it is worthwhile to note that many functional prepositions are homophonous with locational prepositions.

394

a.	Jan zoekt	naar	een mooi boek.
	Jan looks	“to”	a nice book
	'Jan is looking for a nice book.'

b.		de lengte	van het pad
		the length	of the pad

c.	trots	op	zijn kinderen
	proud	“on”	his children
	'proud of his children'

Table 29 provides a list of adpositions that can be used as functional prepositions; note that the prepositional complements of nouns are mainly “inherited” arguments of a verb or an adjective under nominalization.

Table 29: Functional Prepositions

verb	noun	adjective
lijden aan 'to suffer from'	de behoefte aan 'the want of'	gehoorzaam aan 'obedient to'
passen bij 'to fit with'	bijlage bij 'appendix to'	betrokken bij 'involved with'
geloven in 'to believe in'	het geloof in 'the faith/belief in'	bedreven in 'skilful in'
dwepen met 'to idolize'	de tevredenheid met 'the contentment with'	tevreden met 'satisfied with'
verlangen naar 'to desire'	het verlangen naar 'the desire for'	nieuwsgierig naar 'curious about'
vechten om 'to fight for'	het gevecht om 'the fight for'	beroemd om 'famous for'
bezwijken onder 'give way under'	het bezwijken onder 'the giving way under'	kalm (blijven) onder '(to remain) calm under'
wachten op 'to wait for'	de jacht op 'the hunt for'	boos op 'angry with'
klagen over 'to complain about'	een artikel over 'an article on'	verontwaardigd over 'indignant about'
zondigen tegen 'to sin against'	de zonde tegen 'the sin against'	gekant tegen 'opposed to'
bijdragen tot 'to contribute to'	een bijdrage tot 'a contribution to'	bereid tot 'willing to'
kiezen tussen 'to choose between'	de keuze tussen 'the choice between'	—
volgen uit 'to follow from'	een selectie uit 'a selection from'	—
houden van 'to love/like'	een tekening van 'a drawing of'	(on)zeker van '(not) convinced of'
zwichten voor 'to knuckle under'	de angst voor 'the angst for'	bang voor 'afraid of'

[+] C. Prepositions heading non-spatial/temporal adverbial phrases

Some common examples of prepositions heading adverbial phrases with a specialized meaning are given in Table 30; it should be kept in mind, however, that many of the prepositions in Table 13 and Table 25 can also express non-spatial and non-temporal meanings. PPs headed by the prepositions in Table 30 can only be used adverbially. It does not seem useful to classify these prepositions any further on semantic grounds, because their meaning seems to be purely a lexical matter.

Table 30: Prepositions with a specialized meaning (normal speech)

preposition	example	translation
dankzij	dankzij zijn hulp	thanks to his help
gezien	gezien deze problemen	in view of these problems
namens	namens zijn broer	in name of his brother
ondanks	ondanks zijn tegenwerking	despite his opposition
ongeacht	ongeacht de kosten	regardless of the costs
per	per post/auto/kilo	by mail/car/the kilo
vanwege	vanwege de kosten	because of the costs
volgens	volgens Peter	according to Peter
wegens	wegens de kou	because of the cold
zonder	zonder zijn broer	without his brother

References:

Corver, Norbert1992"Bij Marie in de nek": interne structuur en extractiegedragGramma/TTT21-40
Kayne, Richard S1994The antisymmetry of syntaxLinguistic inquiry monographs ; 25Cambridge, MAMIT Press
Mulder, René1992The aspectual nature of syntactic complementationLeidenUniversity of LeidenThesis

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About this article

Author(s): Hans Broekhuis

Category: Dutch Syntax

Keywords: doorAdpositionAdpositional PhraseAdpositionsBeneficiaryClassification of AdpositionsFunctional PrepositionGoalIndirect ObjectNon-spatial/temporal Adpositional phraseNon-spatial/temporal Semantic Classification of AdpositionsObjectPassivePassive door-phrasePrepositionPrepositionsRole PrepositionSemantic Classification of AdpositionsSemantic Classification of Adpositions: Non-spatial/temporalVerbVerb Alternationaanbijgezieninmetnaarnamensomondanksonderongeachtopoverpertegentottussenuitvanvanwegevolgensvoorwegenswith 'aan'with 'voor'zonder

Version: 1.0, December 2015

Version history:

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1.0	Hans Broekhuis	December 2015

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