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    3.1.3.Modification by a complex intensifying phrase
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    This section discusses modification of scalar adjectives by means of complex (and sometimes discontinuous) intensifying phrases. We will discuss intensifying phrases headed by zo'so/as' (Subsection I), te'too' (Subsection II), ( on) voldoende'(in)sufficiently' (Subsection III), and genoeg'enough' (Subsection IV). Some preliminary examples are given in (114), subsection II also includes a discussion of the modification of measure adjectives like hoog'high' and lang'long'.

    114
    a. zo: zo snel dat ...'so fast that ...'; zo snel mogelijk'as fast as possible'
    b. te: te mooi om ...'too pretty to ...'
    c. ( on)voldoende: (on)voldoende hersteld om ...'(in)sufficiently recovered to ...'
    d. genoeg: mooi genoeg om...'pretty enough to ...'

    Before we discuss these complex phrases in more detail, it should be noted that they cannot be inherently considered amplifiers or downtoners. Section 3.1.2 has argued that amplifiers and downtoners can be distinguished by placing them in the frames in (115): intensifiers that can occur in the context of (115a) must be considered amplifiers, and intensifiers that can occur in (115b) must be considered downtoners.

    115
    a. NPi is A; Pronouni is zelfs MODIFIER A.
      NP is A  is even
    b. NPi is A; Pronouni is in ieder geval MODIFIER A.
      NP is A  is in any case

    Now, consider the examples in (116): the two (b)-examples show that the complex phrases zo ziek dat ...'so ill that ...' and te ziek om ...'too ill to ...' can occur in both frames in (115).

    116
    a. Jan is ziek.
      Jan is ill
    b. Hij is zelfs/in ieder geval zo ziek dat hij thuis moet blijven.
      he  is even/in any case  so ill  comp  he home must stay
      'Heʼs even/in any case so ill that he must stay home.'
    b'. Hij is zelfs/in ieder geval te ziek om te kunnen komen.
      he  is even/in any case  too ill  comp  to be.able  come
      'Heʼs even/in any case too Ill to be able to come.'

    The examples in (117) show that the same thing holds for the complex phrases voldoende aangesterkt om ...'sufficiently recuperated to ...' and sterk genoeg om ...'strong enough to ...'.

    117
    a. Marie is aangesterkt.
      Marie is recuperated
    a'. Ze is zelfs/in ieder geval voldoende aangesterkt om weer te trainen.
      she  is even/in any case   sufficiently  recuperated  comp  again  to train
      'Sheʼs even/in any case sufficiently recuperated to train again.'
    b. Marie is sterk.
      Marie is strong
    b'. Ze is zelfs/in ieder geval sterk genoeg om die tafel op te tillen.
      she  is even/in any case  strong enough  comp  that table  prt.  to lift
      'Sheʼs even/in any case strong enough to lift that table.'

    The fact that the complex modifiers under discussion can be used in both frames shows that it largely depends on the extra-linguistic context whether the complex intensifier in question functions as an amplifier or a downtoner.

    readmore
    [+]  I.  Intensifying phrases headed by zo

    The intensifier zo can occur with or without a complement. In the former case, the complement can be a finite or infinitival clause, the element mogelijk, or an als-phrase. The different options will be discussed in separate subsections.

    [+]  A.  Zo without a complement

    Generally speaking, the modifier zo must be combined with a complement; if the examples in (118) are pronounced with a neutral intonation pattern, the result is not very felicitous.

    118
    a. # Zijn computer is zo klein.
      his computer  is that small
    b. # Hij knipte haar haar zo kort.
      he  cut  her hair  that short

    If these examples are pronounced with accent on the element zo, the result improves considerably, but it is disputable whether zo acts as an intensifier in such cases. It instead seems to function as a deictic element: sentences such as (118) are normally accompanied by a manual gesture that specifies the size or length of the object under discussion, and stressed zo refers to this gesture. Observe this deictic element zo may also occur in isolation as in zijn computer is zò [gesture: thumb up], which means “His computer is terrific".

    119
    a. Zijn computer is zo klein.
      his computer  is that small
    b. Hij knipte haar haar zo kort.
      he  cut  her hair  that short

    Another way of making the examples in (118) acceptable is by lengthening the vowel of the element zo; cases like these are also characterized by an intonational “hat" contour, that is, with a rising accent on zóóó and a falling accent on the following adjective, and do exhibit an amplifying effect. This use of zóóó is especially possible when the speaker intends to give special emphasis or to express feelings of sympathy, endearment, etc. Some typical examples are given in (120).

    120
    a. Dat boek is zóóó geinig.
      that book  is so.very  funny
    b. Haar dochter is zóóó lief.
      her daughter  is so.very  sweet

          The element zo can be also used in isolation in a number of very specific syntactic contexts. In (121), some examples are given of negative imperatives. In this construction, zo may be added to the predicate of a copular construction with zijn'to be', as in (121a), to supplementives predicated of the object of the clause, as in (121b), and to manner adverbs, as in (121c).

    121
    a. Wees niet zo dom!
      be not  that  stupid
      'Donʼt be so stupid!'
    b. Eet je soep niet zo heet!
      eat  your soup  not  that  hot
      'Donʼt eat your soup so hot!'
    c. Loop niet zo snel!
      walk  not  that  fast
      'Donʼt walk so fast!'

    In these cases, the interpretation of zo is evoked by the non-linguistic context: in (121a) the speaker expresses that the addressee must not be as stupid as he apparently is at the time of utterance, in (121b) the addressee is advised to not eat the soup as hot as it is at that very moment, and in (121c) the addressee is requested to not walk as fast as he is doing at that time.
          If zo is preceded by the negative adverb niet in a declarative clause, as in (122a), a downtoning effect arises. This downtoning effect is lost as soon as an als-phrase of comparison is added: (122a) implies that the bag is not very heavy, but this implication is entirely absent in (122b), which just expresses that the bag is less heavy than the suitcase.

    122
    a. Die tas is niet zo zwaar.
      that bag  is not  so heavy
    b. Die tas is niet zo zwaar als die koffer.
      that bag  is not  as heavy  as that suitcase

          The examples in (123a) and (123b) show that z o can also be used in contrastive or concessive constructions. In these examples, an amplifying effect arises: it is implied that Jan is quite young/smart. For completeness’ sake, observe that the examples in (123) do not allow the addition of the als-phrase of comparison.

    123
    a. Jan wil op kamers gaan wonen, maar hij is nog zo jong (*als Peter).
      Jan wants  on rooms  go  live but  he  is  still  so young    as Peter
      'Jan wants to move into lodgings, but heʼs still so young.'
    b. Al is Jan nog zo slim (*als Peter), hij kan niet voor zichzelf zorgen.
      even  is Jan prt  so smart      as Peter  he  can  not  for himself  take.care
      'Although admittedly Jan is quite smart, heʼs unable to look after himself.'

          If deictic or emphatic zo is combined with an attributively used adjective, it must precede the indefinite determiner een. The combination zo + een is generally phonetically reduced to zoʼn. This is illustrated for (118a) and (120b) in (124).

    124
    a. Jan heeft zoʼn kleine computer.
      Jan has  that.a  small  computer
    b. Marie heeft zóóóʼn lieve dochter.
      Marie has  such.a  sweet  daughter

    Example (124a) (but not example (124b)) is actually ambiguous: either the element zo may function as a modifier of the adjective, in which case the sentence may be combined with a gesture that indicates the size of the computer, or zoʼn may act as a complex demonstrative, in which case the sentence may be combined with a pointing gesture to a computer of a comparable size or type; the latter, demonstrative use of zoʼn is discussed in Section N.5.2.3. Observe that the modified adjective must follow the indefinite article een, that is, constructions of the English type that/so big a computer, in which the adjective precedes the article, are not acceptable in Dutch.

    125
    a. Jan heeft zoʼn grote computer gekocht.
      Jan has  that.a  big  computer  bought
    b. * Jan heeft zo groot een computer gekocht.
      Jan has  so/that  big  a computer  bought

    Note, finally, that zoʼn cannot be used if the head noun is plural; Dutch employs the determiner zulk'such' in such cases. Like zoʼn, the determiner zulke can be used both as a modifier of the adjective and as a demonstrative.

    126
    a. Jan heeft zulke/*zoʼn kleine computers.
      Jan has  such/such.a  small  computers
    b. Marie heeft zulke/*zoʼn lieve dochters.
      Marie has  such  sweet  daughters
    [+]  B.  Zo + finite clause

    The modifier zo is normally accompanied by some other element and we will argue that it can be considered the head of a complex intensifying phrase. This subsection discusses cases such as (127), in which zo is combined with a finite clause, which we will from now on call degree clauses.

    127
    a. Die lezing was zo saai [dat ik ervan in slaap viel].
      that talk  was so  boring   that  I  thereof  in sleep  fell
      'That talk was so boring that I fell asleep.'
    b. De taart was zo lekker [dat iedereen nog een stuk wilde].
      the cake  was so tasty   that  everyone  yet  a piece  wanted
      'The cake was so tasty that everyone wanted to have another piece.'

    The string zo A dat ... forms a constituent, which is clear from the fact illustrated in (128) that it can be placed in clause-initial position; cf. the constituency test.

    128
    a. Zo saai [dat ik ervan in slaap viel] was die lezing niet.
      so boring   that I thereof in sleep fell  was that talk  not
    b. Zo lekker [dat iedereen nog een stuk wilde] was die taart ongetwijfeld.
      so tasty  that everyone yet a piece wanted  was that cake  undoubtedly

    There is at least one reason for assuming that it is the element zo, and not the adjective, that selects the degree clause. The availability of the clause depends on the presence of the element zo; if the latter is dropped, the result is completely ungrammatical. This is shown in (129).

    129
    a. * Die lezing was saai dat ik ervan in slaap viel.
    b. * De taart was lekker dat iedereen nog een stuk wilde.

          Since the phrase zo A dat ... must be considered a constituent, and the presence of the degree clause depends on the presence of zo, we may conclude that the degree clause is selected by (that is, is a complement of) zo. If the clauses in (127) are embedded, as in (130), the degree clause must be in extraposed position, that is, follow the finite verb in clause-final position. The fact that extraposition is obligatory is a hallmark of a larger set of dependent clauses.

    130
    a. dat die lezing zo saai was [dat ik ervan in slaap viel].
    b. dat de taart zo lekker was [dat iedereen nog een stuk wilde].

    Given that the adjective and its complement clause must occur discontinuously in (130), it does not really come as a surprise that the modified adjective can be topicalized in isolation, as illustrated by the primeless examples in (131). The primed examples show, however, that the degree clause cannot be topicalized, that is, it cannot be placed in a position preceding the AP.

    131
    a. Zo saai was die lezing niet [dat ik ervan in slaap viel].
    a'. * [dat ik ervan in slaap viel] was die lezing zo saai.
    b. Zo lekker was die taart [dat iedereen nog een stuk wilde].
    b'. * [dat iedereen nog een stuk wilde] was de taart zo lekker.

          A pattern similar to that of the predicatively used adjectives in (130) emerges when the adjective is used attributively; as is shown in (132), the degree clause cannot be adjacent to the prenominal adjective, but must be placed in postnominal position; see Section 6.4, sub II, for cases in which the complete AP occurs postnominally.

    132
    a. Het was een zo saaie lezing [dat ik ervan in slaap viel].
      it  was  a  so boring  talk   that I thereof in sleep fell
    b. Het was een zo lekkere taart [dat iedereen nog een stuk wilde].
      it was  a  so tasty  cake   that everyone yet a piece wanted

    The fact that the finite clause cannot be adjacent to the adjective reflects a general property of attributive adjectives, which can be expressed by means of the Head-final Filter on attributive adjectives in (133), which requires that adjectives carrying the attributive - e/-∅ ending be adjacent to the noun they modify; see Section 5.3, sub IB, for a more thorough discussion of this filter.

    133
    Head-Final Filter on attributive adjectives: The structure [NP .. [AP ADJ XP] N#] is unacceptable, if XP is phonetically non-null and N# is a bare head noun or a noun preceded by an adjective phrase: [(AP) N].Head-Final Filter on attributive adjectives: The structure [NP .. [AP ADJ XP] N#] is unacceptable, if XP is phonetically non-null and N# is a bare head noun or a noun preceded by an adjective phrase: [(AP) N].

    This is not all, however, given that the examples in (134) show that the degree clause is not only postnominal, but must also follow the finite verb in clause-final position in the embedded counterparts of the main clauses in (132); the degree clauses are in extraposed position, just as in the examples in (130).

    134
    a. dat het een zo saaie lezing was [dat ik ervan in slaap viel].
    b. dat het een zo lekkere taart was [dat iedereen nog een stuk wilde].

          In (132) and (134), the indefinite article precedes the element zo. Although this gives rise to an acceptable result, this order sounds somewhat marked; the element zo is preferably placed in front of the article, which is illustrated in (135) for the examples in (132). Observe that, in contrast to the cases we discussed in Subsection A, these examples are not ambiguous; the reading in which zoʼn acts as a complex demonstrative is not available.

    135
    a. Het was zoʼn saaie lezing [dat ik ervan in slaap viel].
    b. Het was zoʼn lekkere taart [dat iedereen nog een stuk wilde].

    Note that the construction in which zo follows the indefinite determiner een'a' differs from the construction in which it precedes it in that only in the former case can zo be replaced by the (somewhat formal) demonstrative dusdanig'such'.

    136
    a. Het was een dusdanig saaie lezing [dat ik ervan in slaap viel].
      it  was a  such  boring talk    that I thereof in sleep fell
    a'. * Het was dusdanig een saaie lezing [dat ik ervan in slaap viel].
    b. Het was een dusdanig lekkere taart [dat iedereen nog een stuk wilde].
      it was a such  tasty cake    that everyone yet a piece wanted
    b'. * Het was dusdanig een lekkere taart [dat iedereen nog een stuk wilde].
    [+]  C.  Zo + infinitival clause

    The element zo can also be combined with an infinitival degree clause. The examples in (137) show that infinitival degree clauses differ from finite ones in that they must precede the element zo. Furthermore, the primeless examples show that they must be strictly adjacent to zo: separating the degree clause and zo by, e.g., an adverbial phrase like weer'again' leads to ungrammaticality. Note that (137a') is fully acceptable under the irrelevant reading “Jan is so kind to kiss someone".

    137
    a. Jan is <weer> [om PRO te zoenen] <*weer> zo lief.
      Jan is   again comp  to kiss  so sweet
      'Jan is again so sweet that one would like to kiss him.'
    a'. # Jan is weer zo lief [om PRO te zoenen].
    b. De lezing was <weer> [om PRO bij in slaap te vallen] <*weer> zo saai.
      the talk  was  again  comp  at  in sleep  to fall  so boring
      'The talk was again so boring that one would fall asleep during it.'
    b'. * De lezing was weer zo saai [om PRO bij in slaap te vallen].

          The examples in (138) show that the infinitival and finite degree clauses are mutually exclusive, which indicates that the two have a similar or identical function.

    138
    a. * Jan is [om PRO te zoenen] zo lief [dat iedereen hem wou vasthouden].
      Jan is comp  to kiss  so sweet    that  everyone  him  wanted  prt.-hold
    b. * De lezing was [om PRO bij in slaap te vallen] zo saai [dat iedereen vroeg wegging].
      the talk  was comp  with in sleep  to fall  so boring  that  everyone  early  left

          The primeless examples in (139) illustrate that the infinitival degree clause and the adjective can be placed in clause-initial position together, which shows that they make up a constituent; cf. the constituency test. The primed examples show that the infinitival clause cannot be moved into clause-initial position in isolation, which is consistent with the fact illustrated by the primeless examples in (137) that the infinitival clause must be strictly left-adjacent to the adjective.

    139
    a. [AP [Om PRO te zoenen] zo lief] is Jan.
    a'. * [Om PRO te zoenen]i is Jan [APti zo lief].
    b. [AP [Om PRO bij in slaap te vallen] zo saai] was die lezing.
    b'. * [Om PRO bij in slaap te vallen]i was die lezing [APti zo saai].

    For completeness’ sake, note that the primed examples in (139) become fully acceptable if the sequence zo + A functions as an afterthought, in which case it must be preceded by an intonation break, as in (140a&b). In these examples, the infinitival clause does not function as a degree clause but as a complementive of the copular construction; that the AP does not function as the predicate is clear from the fact that it can be dropped and must follow the clause-final verb in the primed examples.

    140
    a. [Om PRO te zoenen] is Jan (, zo lief).
    a'. dat Jan [om PRO te zoenen] is (, zo lief)
    b. [Om PRO bij in slaap te vallen] was die lezing (, zo saai).
    b'. dat die lezing [om PRO bij in slaap te vallen] is (, zo saai.)

          The infinitival degree clauses in (137) contain two interpretative gaps. The first one is the implied subject PRO, which is normally found in infinitival clauses and which, in this case, must be construed as disjoint in reference from the logical subject of the AP, Jan. The second interpretative gap, on the other hand, is interpreted as identical to Jan. The second gap can perform several functions in the infinitival clause: it functions as the direct object of the verb zoenen'to kiss' in (137a), and in (137b) it functions as the complement of the preposition bij'at'. The examples in (141) show that these implied arguments cannot be overtly realized.

    141
    a. * Jan is [om PRO hem te zoenen] zo lief.
      Jan is  comp  him  to kiss  so sweet
    b. * De lezing was [om PRO er bij in slaap te vallen] zo saai.
      the talk  was  comp  there  at  in sleep  to fall so boring

    There are good reasons for assuming that the second gap is the result of movement. This is clear from the fact that the preposition met surfaces in its stranded form mee in (142); see the contrast between Jan pronkt [met zijn ring]'Jan is showing off his ring' versus de ring waari Jan pronkt [mee ti]'the ring that Jan is showing off'. Therefore, the degree clauses in (137) and (142) probably involve an empty operator OP which has been moved into clause-initial position, and which is construed as co-referential with the subject of the adjective.

    142
    Die ringi is [OPi om PRO mee/*met ti te pronken] zo mooi.
      that ring is  comp  with  to show.off  so beautiful
    'That ring is so beautiful that one should be showing it off.'

          Although we have seen that an empty operator may be present, the construction does not require it; if the infinitival degree clause is in the passive voice or contains an unaccusative verb, only the implied subject PRO is present. In the passive construction in (143a), PRO is interpreted as co-referential with the subject of the adjective (the infinitival is a fixed expression meaning “to look as neat as a new pin"). If we are dealing with an unaccusative verb, such as bevriezen'to freeze' in (143b), PRO will be construed arbitrarily.

    143
    a. Jan is [om PRO door een ringetje gehaald te worden] zo netjes.
      Jan is comp  through  a ring  gotten  to be  so neat
      'Jan was so cleanly that he looked as neat as a new pin.'
    b. Het is hier [om PRO te bevriezen] zo koud.
      it  is here  comp  to freeze  so cold
      'Itʼs so cold here that one may freeze.'

          The infinitival degree clauses in (137) resemble the infinitival clauses that we find in the so-called easy-to-please-construction in (144), which is discussed in Section 6.5, sub IVA. They differ, however, in several respects. First, the presence of an empty operator, that is, the second interpretative gap, is obligatory in the easy-to-please-construction. Second, the infinitival clause of the easy-to-please-construction must follow the adjective, as is shown by the (a)-examples in (144). Finally, example (144b) shows that if the adjective in the easy-to-please-construction is preceded by zo, the AP must contain an additional degree clause.

    144
    a. De film was leuk [OPi om PRO naar ti te kijken].
      the movie  was nice  comp  at  to look
      'It was nice to watch that movie.'
    a'. * De film was [OPi om PRO naar ti te kijken] leuk.
    b. De film was zo leuk [OPi om PRO naar ti te kijken]] .. .. *([dat ik er geen genoeg van kon krijgen]).
      the movie  was so nice  comp  at  to look ..        that  I  there  not enough  of  could  get
      'It was so nice to watch that movie that I could not get enough of it.'

          Because the adjective is leftmost in its phrase, the Head-final Filter in (133) leads us to expect that the complex phrases in (137) can also be used attributively. As can be seen in (145), this expectation is indeed borne out. Observe that zo never precedes the indefinite article in these cases.

    145
    a. een [[om te kussen] zo lieve] jongen
    a'. * zoʼn om te kussen lieve jongen
    b. een [[om bij in slaap te vallen] zo saaie] lezing
    b'. * zoʼn om bij in slaap te vallen saaie lezing

          The infinitival clause can also be preceded by the negative element niet'not'. Despite the fact that niet is external to the infinitival clause (it precedes the complementizer om), it must be assumed to be part of the AP given that it can be pied-piped under topicalization, as is shown in (146b).

    146
    a. Die pindaʼs zijn niet [om PRO te eten] zo zout.
      those peanuts  are  not  comp  to eat  so salty
      'Those peanuts are so salty that one cannot eat them.'
    b. [AP Niet [om PRO te eten zo zout]] zijn die pindaʼs.

    Note that the examples in (146) can be readily confused with the near synonymous constructions without the complementizer om in (147).

    147
    a. Die pindaʼs zijn niet [PRO te eten] zo zout.
      those peanuts  are  not  to eat  so salty
      'Those peanuts are so salty that they are inedible.'
    b'. Niet [PRO te eten] zo zout zijn die pindaʼs.

    There are several differences between these constructions, though. The first is illustrated in (148) and involves the placement of the AP zo zout: if om is present, it must precede the clause-final verbs, whhile it is possible (and perhaps even preferred) to place it after these verbs if om is absent.

    148
    a. dat die pindaʼs niet om te eten zo zout zijn.
      that  those peanuts  not  comp  to eat  so salty are
    a'. * dat die pindaʼs niet om te eten zijn zo zout.
    b. ? dat die pindaʼs niet te eten zo zout zijn.
      that  those peanuts  not  to eat  so salty  are
    b'. dat die pindaʼs niet te eten zijn zo zout.

    The second difference concerns whether the presence of the AP zo zout is obligatory: only if om is absent can zo zout be dropped. Given that the resulting construction in (149b) clearly involves a modal infinitive (cf. Chapter 9), we want to suggest that the same thing holds for the constructions in (147), but we realize that this may require further research in the future.

    149
    a. * dat die pindaʼs niet om te eten zijn.
      that  those peanuts  not  comp  to eat  are
    b. dat die pindaʼs niet te eten zijn.
      that  those peanuts  not  to eat  are
      'that those peanuts are inedible.'
    [+]  D.  Zo + mogelijk'possible'

    A special case of intensification with zo is constituted by the discontinuous degree phrase zo A mogelijk'as A as possible'. As with the degree clauses in (127), the presence of the element zo is required for the element mogelijk'possible' to occur. The zo A mogelijk phrase does not readily occur in copula and vinden-constructions for semantic reasons (hence the percentage sign in (150a&b)), but it is possible in resultative constructions and adverbial phrases like (150c&d). The unacceptability of the primed examples in (150) shows that the element mogelijk must be right-adjacent to the adjective and thus cannot undergo extraposition.

    150
    a. % dat het artikel zo kort mogelijk is.
      that  the article as short as.possible  is
    b. % dat ik Jan zo aardig mogelijk vind.
      that  I  Jan as nice as.possible  consider
    c. dat Jan zijn artikel zo kort mogelijk maakte.
      that  Jan his article  as short as.possible  made
      'that Jan made his paper as short as possible.'
    c'. * dat Jan zijn artikel zo kort maakte mogelijk.
      that  Jan his article  as short made  as.possible
    d. dat Marie zo snel mogelijk rende.
      that  Marie as quickly as.possible  ran
    d'. * dat Marie zo snel rende mogelijk.
      that  Marie as quickly  ran  as.possible

          If the adjective takes a prepositional complement, the element mogelijk must be placed between the adjective and the complement, which is unexpected given the general rule that a selecting head is normally closer to its complement than to its modifiers. We will not discuss this problem here but postpone it to Section 4.3.1, where it is argued that the word order results from leftward movement of the adjective across mogelijk: zo bangi mogelijk ti voor honden.

    151
    dat ik Jan zo bang <mogelijk> voor honden <*mogelijk> maak.
      that  I  Jan as afraid  as.possible  of dogs  make

          Since mogelijk must be right-adjacent to the adjective, the Head-final Filter on attributive adjectives in (133) would lead to the prediction that the string zo A mogelijk cannot be used in attributive position. As example (152a) shows, this prediction is clearly false. the acceptability of this example is Probably due to the fact that the attributive -e ending is added to the element mogelijk itself; see Section 5.3, sub IIB, for more discussion. Finally, it can be noted that the element zo preferably follows the indefinite article if it is combined with mogelijk; although the sequence zoʼn A mogelijk(e) N can readily be found on the internet, its frequency is much lower than the competing sequence een zo A mogelijk(e) N.

    152
    a. Jan maakte een zo kort mogelijke nota.
      Jan made  an  as short as  possible  paper
    b. % Jan maakte zoʼn kort mogelijke nota.
    [+]  E.  Zo + als phrase

    This subsection concludes the discussion of the intensifier zo by discussing its occurrence in the discontinuous phrase zo A als ...'as A as ...'. The als-part of the phrase can entertain two kinds of relationship with the modified noun (phrase), which we will refer to as metaphoric and deictic, respectively.

    [+]  1.  The metaphoric use of the zo + als phrase

    Some examples in which the complex zo + als phrase creates metaphoric comparison are given in (153): (153a) expresses that Jan is extremely strong (just like a bear), (153b) expresses that Jan is very hungry (just like a horse), and (153c) expresses that Jan is extraordinarily wealthy (just like king Croesus). Often, these cases are fixed expressions, but new combinations are readily created: (153d) gives an example that was quite popular in the seventies, and which was invented by Kees van Kooten and Wim de Bie, two popular Dutch entertainers.

    153
    a. Jan is zo sterk als een beer.
      Jan is as strong  as a bear
    b. Jan is zo hongerig als een paard.
      Jan is as hungry  as horse
    c. Jan is zo rijk als Croesus.
      Jan is as wealthy  as Croesus
    d. We zijn zo stoned als een garnaal.
      we are  as stoned  as a shrimp

    The examples in (154) show that the als-phrase need not necessarily follow the adjective, but can also precede the sequence zo + A, although the result may be judged somewhat marked compared to the examples in (153).

    154
    a. (?) Jan is als een beer zo sterk.
    b. (?) Jan is als een paard zo hongerig.
    c. (?) Jan is als Croesus zo rijk.
    d. (?) Jan is als een garnaal zo stoned.

    The placement of the als-phrase is probably not the result of scrambling, because this generally results in placement of the moved element in front of the clausal adverbs. As can be seen in (155), the als-phrase cannot precede but must follow the clausal adverb zeker'certainly'.

    155
    a. Jan is <?zeker> als een beer <*zeker> zo sterk.
    b. Jan is <?zeker> als een paard <*zeker> zo hongerig.
    c. Jan is <?zeker> als Croesus <*zeker> zo rijk.
    d. Jan is <?zeker> als een garnaal <*zeker> zo stoned.

    The same thing is suggested by the constituency test: the examples in (156) show that the als-phrase can be pied-piped by topicalization of the modified adjective regardless of its position. From this, we may conclude that it occupies an AP-internal position in both (153) and (154).

    156
    a. Zo sterk als een beer is Jan.
    a'. (?) als een beer zo sterk is Jan.
    b. Zo hongerig als een paard is Jan.
    b'. (?) als een paard zo hongerig is Jan.
    c. Zo rijk als Croesus is Jan.
    c'. (?) als Croesus zo rijk is Jan.
    d. Zo stoned als een garnaal zijn we.
    d'. (?) als een garnaal zo stoned zijn we.

          If, as we have implicitly assumed so far, the als-phrase were selected by the element zo, we would expect the latter to be obligatorily present in order to license the former. The examples in (157) show that this is expectation is only partly borne out: zo is only obligatory if the als-phrase precedes the adjective; the postadjectival als-phrase, on the other hand, seems not to depend on the presence of zo.

    157
    a. Jan is sterk als een beer.
    a'. * Jan is als een beer sterk.
    b. Jan is hongerig als een paard.
    b'. * Jan is als een paard hongerig.
    c. ? Jan is rijk als Croesus.
    c'. * Jan is als Croesus rijk.
    d. We zijn stoned als een garnaal.
    d'. * We zijn als een garnaal stoned.

          If we embed the clauses in (153), as in (158), the als-phrase may either precede or follow the finite verb in clause-final position. This shows that the als-phrase may but need not undergo extraposition, and in this respect it resembles the PP-complement of an adjective; cf. Section 2.3.1, sub I.

    158
    a. dat Jan zo sterk als een beer is.
    a'. dat Jan zo sterk is als een beer.
    b. dat Jan zo hongerig als een paard is.
    b'. dat Jan zo hongerig is als een paard.
    c. dat Jan zo rijk als Croesus is.
    c'. dat Jan zo rijk is als Croesus.
    d. dat we zo stoned als een garnaal zijn.
    d'. dat we zo stoned zijn als een garnaal.

    However, the primeless examples in (159) show that, unlike PP-complements, the als-phrase cannot be placed in clause-initial position; cf. Section 2.3.1, sub IIA. The primed examples show that topicalization of the AP cannot strand the als-phrase either.

    159
    a. * Als een beer is Jan zo sterk.
    a'. * Zo sterk is Jan als een beer.
    b. * Als een paard is Jan zo hongerig.
    b'. * Zo hongerig is Jan als een paard.
    c. * Als Croesus is Jan zo rijk.
    c'. * Zo rijk is Jan als Croesus.
    d. * Als een garnaal zijn wij zo stoned.
    d'. * Zo stoned zijn wij als een garnaal.

          The complex phrase zo A als ... cannot readily be used in attributive position. The ungrammatically of the primeless examples in (160) of course follows from the Head-final Filter on attributive adjectives in (133). This does not hold, however, for the primed examples, for which we need some alternative explanation. We have not given an example with stoned because this adjective is never used attributively.

    160
    a. * een zo sterke als een beer jongen
      an  as strong  as a bear  boy
    a'. *? een zo sterke jongen als een beer
    b. * een zo hongerige als een paard jongen
      an  as hungry  as a horse  boy
    b'. *? een zo hongerige jongen als een paard
    c. * een zo rijke als Croesus man
      an  as wealthy  as Croesus  man
    c'. *? een zo rijke man als Croesus

    Since problems with the Head-final Filter do not arise with the order als ... zo A, we correctly predict that the examples in (161) are grammatical.

    161
    a. (?) een als een beer zo sterke jongen
    b. (?) een als een paard zo hongerige jongen
    c. (?) een als Croesus zo rijke man

          The zo A als ... construction under discussion must express metaphoric comparison. This is clear from the fact illustrated in (162a) that it cannot be used to express that two entities are equally A (although Liliane Haegeman informs us that this is possible in some Flemish dialects). In order to express this meaning, one would rather make use of the equative construction in (162b); cf. Section 4.1. Observe that, unlike zo, even is obligatory if a postadjectival als-phrase is present; compare (162b') with (157a-d). even A als ...'as A as ...' in (162b).

    162
    a. *? Marie is zo sterk als Peter.
      Marie is as strong as Peter
    b. Marie is even sterk als Peter.
      Marie is as strong as Peter
    b'. * Marie is sterk als Peter.
      Marie is strong as Peter

    However, modification of the complex phrase zo A als ... results in the loss of the metaphoric force of the construction. Example (163a), in which the complex phrase is modified by the adverb net'just', for instance, no longer expresses that Marie is very much under the influence of dope, but that the extent of her stonedness equals the stonedness of a shrimp (which is not very likely, since shrimp do not use dope in this world, so that the example becomes pragmatically odd). For this reason, the equative construction in (162b) and the construction in (163b) are nearly synonymous. The complex phrase can also be modified by nominal phrases such as twee/drie keer'two/three times', as in (163c), with a similar effect on interpretation.

    163
    a. % Marie is net zo stoned als een garnaal.
      Marie is just as stoned as a shrimp
    b. Marie is net zo sterk als Peter.
      Marie is just as strong  as Peter
    c. Marie is twee/drie keer zo slim als Peter.
      Marie is two/three times  as smart  as Peter

    The similarities between (162b) and (163b-c) go beyond the observation that both involve literal comparison. First, this is clear from the fact illustrated in (164) that both even A als ... and net/twee keer zo A als ... can be used in attributive position if the als-phrase is placed postnominally; compare the contrast with the primed examples in (160).

    164
    a. een even sterke jongen als Peter
      an  as strong  boy  as Peter
    b. een net/twee keer zo sterke jongen als Peter
      a  just/two times  as strong  boy  as Peter

    Second, the pre-adjectival placement of the als-phrase is excluded in both cases, as shown in (165); compare the contrast with the examples in (154).

    165
    a. * Jan is als Peter even sterk.
      Jan is as Peter  as strong
    b. * Jan is als Peter net/twee keer zo sterk.
      Jan is as Peter  just/two times  as strong

          To conclude this subsection, it should be observed that metaphoric comparison is possible not only with scalar adjectives but also with absolute ones that normally do not allow intensification. For example, the adjective dood'dead' in (166) can enter the metaphoric zo ... als construction. If the zo A als phrase is modified by net'just', the resulting structure is unacceptable, which is due to the fact established earlier that this results in the loss of the metaphoric force of the construction; cf. the examples in (163). For the same reason, the adjective dood cannot enter the even ... als'as ... as' construction.

    166
    a. Jan is zo dood als een pier.
      Jan is as dead  as a worm
      'Jan is as dead as a doornail.'
    b. * Jan is net zo dood als een pier.
      Jan is just as dead as a worm
    c. * Jan is even dood als een pier.
      Jan is as dead  as a worm
    [+]  2.  The deictic use of the zo + als phrase

    Some examples of the deictic use of the zo + als phrase are given in (167). In these examples the als-phrase typically contains a deictic element or a proper noun. Unlike the metaphorically used zo + als phrase, the als-phrase must follow the modified noun; compare the examples in (167) to those in (160) and (161).

    167
    a. een <*als vandaag> zo grote vertraging <als vandaag>
      an      as today  as  big  delay
    b. een <*als jij/Jan> zo sterke jongen <als jij/Jan>
      an      as you/Jan  as  strong boy
    c. een <*als deze > zo belangrijke beslissing <als deze>
      an      as this.one  as  important  decision

    The function of the complement of als is to fix the referent of the noun phrase as a whole; comparison does not play a role. The noun phrase in (167b), for example, simply refers to the addressee/the person called Jan, and while doing so attributes to this entity the property of being strong. In other words, example (168b) is less informative but more or less equivalent to (168a). Similarly, the noun phrases in (167a&c) are more informative but more or less equivalent to the noun phrases de vertraging van vandaag'todayʼs delay' and deze beslissing'this decision', respectively.

    168
    a. Een zo sterke jongen <als jij/Jan> kan die tas wel wegbrengen.
      an  as  strong boy    as you/Jan  can that bag  prt  away.bring
    b. Jan/jij kan die tas wel wegbrengen.
      you/Jan  can that bag  prt  away.bring

    In this respect, the examples in (167) crucially differ from the examples in (169), which do involve comparison of different entities: example (169), for example, does not refer to Jan but denotes the set of boys that equal Jan in strength.

    169
    a. een even grote vertraging als vandaag
      an  as  big  delay  as  today
    b. een even sterke jongen als Jan
      an  as  strong boy  as  Jan
    c. een even belangrijke beslissing als deze
      an  as  important  decision  as  this.one

    That the noun phrases in (167) and (169) differ in their referential properties is also clear from the fact that they differ in syntactic distribution. The noun phrases in (167) refer to some known entity from the domain of discourse and they therefore cannot occur in expletive constructions, whereas the noun phrases in (169) can be used to introduce new discourse entities and therefore can occur in expletive constructions. This is shown in (170).

    170
    a. Een zo/*even grote vertraging als vandaag is zeldzaam.
      an  as  big delay as  today  is rare
    b. Er is morgen vast een even/*zo grote vertraging als vandaag.
      there  is tomorrow  surely  an  as  big  delay  as today
      'Surely, there will be another big delay like todayʼs, tomorrow.'

    Another difference related to the referential properties of (167) and (169) is that the noun phrases in (167) cannot be used as the predicate in a copular construction, whereas this is perfectly acceptable with the noun phrases in (169). Example (171a) is excluded since the construction expresses the awkward meaning that yesterdayʼs and todayʼs delay refer to the same entity, (171b) is excluded because it expresses that Peter is Jan, and (171c) is excluded as it is implied that the referent of the demonstrative dit'this' is identical to the referent of the demonstrative deze this one’. The acceptable examples in (172), on the other hand, lack such implications completely.

    171
    a. * De vertraging van gisteren was een zo grote vertraging als vandaag.
      the delay of yesterday  was an  as  big delay  as today
    b. * Peter is een zo sterke jongen als Jan.
      Peter is an  as  strong boy  as Jan
    c. * Dit is een zo belangrijke beslissing als deze.
      this  is an  as  important decision  as this.one
    172
    a. De vertraging van gisteren was een even grote vertraging als die van vandaag.
      the delay of yesterday  was an  as big  delay as  this.one of today
    b. Peter is een even sterke jongen als Jan.
      Peter is an  as  strong boy  as Jan
    c. Dit is een even belangrijke beslissing als deze.
      this  is an  as  important decision  as this.one

          Observe that the deictic als-phrase may also occur in the absence of a modified adjective. This is illustrated in (173). As is shown in the primed examples, the complex demonstrative zoʼn can also be used in this case. As in the deictic examples above, the als-phrase determines the reference of the complete noun phrase.

    173
    a. een vertraging als vandaag
      a delay  as  today
    a'. zoʼn vertraging als vandaag
      such.a  delay as  today
    b. een jongen als jij/Peter
      a boy  as  you/Peter
    b'. zoʼn jongen als jij/Peter
      such.a  boy  as  you/Peter
    c. een beslissing als deze
      a decision  as this.one
    c'. zoʼn beslissing als deze
      such.a  decision  as this.one

    However, if zoʼn is preceded by net'just', as in (174), the comparison reading arises. This is also the case if zoʼn is preceded by net and used with a modified noun, as is illustrated by (175).

    174
    a. Dat was *(net) zoʼn vertraging als vandaag.
      'That was a delay comparable to todayʼs.'
    b. Jan is *(net) zoʼn jongen als jij/Peter.
      'Jan is a boy comparable to you/Peter.'
    c. Dit is *(net) zoʼn beslissing als deze.
      'This is a decision comparable to this one.'
    175
    a. Dat was *(net) zoʼn grote vertraging als vandaag.
      'That was a delay comparable in duration to todayʼs.'
    b. Jan is *(net) zoʼn sterke jongen als jij/Peter.
      'Jan is a boy comparable in strength to you/Peter.'
    c. Dit is *(net) zoʼn belangrijke beslissing als deze.
      'This is a decision comparable in importance to this one.'

    Finally, observe that the grammatical versions of the examples in (175) are actually ambiguous. On one reading the zoʼn + als phrase is construed with the noun (cf. the primeless examples in (176)), and on the second reading the zo + als phrase is construed with the adjective (cf. the primed examples in (176)).

    176
    a. zoʼn vertraging als vandaag
    a'. zo groot als vandaag
    b. zoʼn jongen als jij/Peter
    b'. zo sterk als jij/Peter
    c. zoʼn beslissing als deze
    c'. zo belangrijk als deze
    [+]  II.  Intensifying phrases headed by te'too'

    The intensifying phrase te'too' indicates that the logical subject of the adjective possesses the property denoted by the adjective to an extent that exceeds a certain standard value or norm. This norm may remain implicit or be determined by the context, but it can also be explicitly indicated by means of a voor-PP. Some examples are given in (177).

    177
    a. Jan is te jong (voor de disco).
      Jan is too young   for the disco
    b. Jan is te intelligent (voor die baan).
      Jan is too intelligent   for that job

    The examples in (178) show that the voor-PP cannot readily be replaced by a finite clausal complement.

    178
    a. *? Jan is (er) te jong (voor) dat hij naar de disco gaat.
      Jan  is there  too young   for  that he to the disco goes
    b. *? Jan is (er) te intelligent (voor) [dat hij in een magazijn werkt].
      Jan  is there  too intelligent   for   that he in a warehouse  works

    Replacement of the voor-PP by an infinitival clausal complement, on the other hand, is possible, in which case an anticipatory pronominal PP may be optionally present. Observe that the implied subject PRO of the infinitival clauses in (179) must be interpreted as coreferential with the subject of the adjective, which is expressed here by means of coindexation of the two noun phrases.

    179
    a. Jani is (er) te jong (voor) [om PROi naar de disco te gaan].
      Jan  is there  too young   for  comp  to the disco  to go
      'Jan is too young to go to the disco.'
    b. Jani is (er) te intelligent (voor) [om PROi in een magazijn te werken].
      Jan  is there  too intelligent   for  comp  in a warehouse  to work
      'John is too intelligent to work in a warehouse.'

    Note that examples such as (179) can be readily confused with examples like (180a&b), which are characterized by the fact that the infinitival clauses contain a second interpretative gap, indicated by e. In these examples, it is not the implied subject PRO, which receives an arbitrary interpretation, but the second gap e that is interpreted as coreferential with the matrix subject. The anticipatory pronominal PP cannot occur in these examples. These examples are probably instances of the so-called easy-to-please-construction, which is discussed in Section 6.5, sub IVA.

    180
    a. Jan is te jong [om PROarb mee e naar de disco te nemen].
      Jan is too young  comp  with  to the disco  to take
      'Jan is too young to take [him] to the disco.'
    a'. * Jan is er te jong voor [om PROarb mee e naar de disco te nemen].
      Jan is there  too young  for  comp  with  to the disco  to take
    b. Het ijs is te zacht [om PROarbe lang te bewaren].
      the ice.cream  is too soft  comp  long to preserve
      'The ice-cream is too soft to preserve [it] long.'
    b'. * Het ijs is er te zacht voor [om PROarbe lang te bewaren].
      the ice.cream  is there  too soft  for  comp  long  to preserve

          In examples such as (181a), the voor-PP does not determine the norm, but instead refers to the person whose evaluation is given, that is, the person who sets the norm. Constructions like these alternate with construction such as (181b), in which the complement of the preposition voor in (181a) appears as a dative noun phrase.

    181
    a. Die soep is te zout voor mij.
      that soup  is too salty  for me
    b. Die soep is mij te zout.
      that soup  is me  too salty

          The string te A voor ... in (177) forms a constituent, which is clear from the fact that it can be placed in clause-initial position; cf. the constituency test. This is illustrated in (182a) for example (177a). Similarly, the string te A om ... from the examples in (179) can be placed in clause-initial position. When this is done, however, the anticipatory pronominal PP er voor is preferably absent. This is demonstrated for (179a) in the (b)-examples of (182).

    182
    a. [Te jong voor de disco] is Jan niet.
      too young for the disco  is Jan not
    b. [Te jong [om naar de disco te gaan]] is Jan niet.
      too  young  comp  to the disco to go  is Jan not
    b'. ?? [Er te jong voor [om naar de disco te gaan]] is Jan niet.
      there  too young  for  comp  to the disco to go  is Jan not

    The examples in (183) show, however, that the voor-PP and dative noun phrase from (181) cannot readily be pied-piped by topicalization of the modified adjective. Stranding of the PP and the dative noun phrase seems to provide a distinctly better result (although some speakers may consider it somewhat marked in the case of the dative phrase).

    183
    a. ? Te zout voor mij is die soep niet.
      too salty  for me  is  that soup  not
    a'. Te zout is die soep niet voor mij.
      too salty  is that soup  not  for me
    b. ?? Mij te zout is die soep niet.
      me too salty  is that soup  not
    b'. (?) Te zout is die soep mij niet.
      too salty is that soup me not

          There are at least two reasons for assuming that the voor-PP is not selected by the adjective but by the intensifier te. First, the availability of the voor-PP depends on te; if the latter is dropped, realization of the voor-PP becomes completely impossible. This is shown in (184) for the examples in (177b), (179b) and (181a).

    184
    a. * Jan is intelligent voor die baan.
      Jan is intelligent for that job
    b. * Jan is (er) intelligent (voor) om in een magazijn te werken.
      Jan is there  intelligent   for  comp  in a warehouse  to work
    c. * Die soep is zout voor mij.
      that soup  is salty  for me

    Example (185a) shows that the same thing holds for the dative noun phrase in (181b). Observe that (185b) is only a seeming counterexample to the claim that the dative noun phrase is selected by the intensifier te; the copular/epistemic verb lijken'to seem' differs from zijn'to be' in that it is able to select a dative phrase. This is clear from the fact that the dative noun phrase in this example can be combined with a voor-PP selected by the adjective, as illustrated by (185b'). This example also shows that in this case the voor-PP cannot be replaced by a dative noun phrase, which may be related to the more general tendency in languages to avoid the presence of two (adjacent) dative noun phrases in a single clause; see Den Dikken (1995:253ff.) for a good summary of some French data and references.

    185
    a. * Die soep is mij zout.
      that soup  is  me  salty
    b. Die soep lijkt mij zout.
      that soup  seems  me  salty
      'That soup seems salty to me.'
    b'. Die soep lijkt mij <*hem> te zout <voor hem>.
      that soup  seems  me     him  too salty     for him
      'That soup seems to me to be too salty for him.'

    The second reason for assuming that the voor-PP is not selected by the adjective but by the intensifier te is related to the complementizer om of the infinitival clause. The examples in (186) show that this infinitival complementizer is obligatorily present.

    186
    a. Jan is (er) te jong (voor) [om PRO naar de disco te gaan].
      Jan is there  too young  for  comp  to the disco  to go
    a'. * Jan is (er) te jong (voor) [PRO naar de disco te gaan].
    b. Jan is (er) te intelligent (voor) [om PRO in een magazijn te werken].
      Jan is there  too intelligent   for  comp  in a warehouse  to work
    b'. * Jan is (er) te intelligent (voor) [PRO in een magazijn te werken].

    However, if an adjective combines with an infinitival complement optionally introduced by an anticipatory pronominal PP, the complementizer om is excluded; cf. Section 2.1, sub IIA, example (21). This suggests that the infinitival clause has adjunct status with respect to the adjective due to the fact that it is part of the complex modifier headed by te'too'. Note that this argument carries over to the infinitival clauses that are part of the complex intensifying phrases headed by voldoende'sufficiently' and genoeg'enough', which are discussed in Subsections III and IV.
          The examples in (187) show that complex APs headed by te cannot be modified by means of an intensifier such as erg/vrij'very/rather', whereas modification by means of enigszins'somewhat' and een beetje'a bit' is possible. However, unlike the case in (57), these elements do not have the function of a downtoner but quantify the extent to which the assumed norm is exceeded.

    187
    a. * erg/vrij te jong (voor ...)
      very/rather  too young   for
    b. een beetje te jong (voor ...)
      a bit  too young   for
    c. enigszins te jong (voor ...)
      somewhat  too young   for

    One might try to account for the unacceptability of (187a) by appealing to the fact illustrated in (188) that the addition of the intensifiers erg'very' and vrij'rather' seems to have the same result as the addition of te in the sense that it licenses the occurrence of a voor-phrase.

    188
    a. Jan is te dik voor die broek.
      Jan is too fat  for those trousers
      'As for the trousers, Jan is too fat.'
    b. Jan is erg/vrij dik voor die broek.
      Jan is very/rather fat  for those trousers
      'As for the trousers, Jan is very/rather fat.'

    This similarity is only apparent, however, given that (189a) shows that the topicalization of the modified erg/vrij A cannot pied-pipe the voor-PP, which suggests that the AP and the voor-PP do not form a constituent. Furthermore, example (189b) shows that replacement of the noun phrase die broek in (188b) by a clause leads to a strange result. This shows that the voor-phrases in these examples differ from the voor-phrases selected by the intensifier te, which can be pied-piped under topicalization and be replaced by infinitival clause; see the discussion above. The PP in (188b) can probably be seen as an independent adverbial phrase that restricts the assertion expressed by the clause as a whole.

    189
    a. *? Erg/vrij dik voor die broek is Jan niet.
      very/rather fat  for those trousers  is Jan not
    b. * Jan is (er) erg/vrij dik (voor) [om PRO die broek te dragen]
      Jan is  there  very/rather fat   for  comp  those trousers  to wear

          Given that the modifiers in (187b&c) do not function as downtoners, it will not come as a surprise that the complex phrase te A'too A' can also be modified by other elements that do not occur as amplifiers or downtoners. Some examples are given in (190a) and (190b), which contain, respectively, the quantifier veel and the noun phrase een stuk'lit: a piece'. The case in (190c), in which the noun phrase twee jaar'two years' indicates the precise extent to which the norm has been exceeded, is interesting, given that nominal modifiers like these are normally restricted to the class of so-called measure adjectives. Besides the noun phrase een ietsje, the elements iets/ietwat and wat can also be used as modifiers of te, as is shown in (190d-f).

    190
    a. veel te jong (voor ...)
      much  too young   for
    d. een ietsje te jong (voor ...)
      somewhat  too young   for
    b. een stuk te jong (voor ...)
      much  too young   for
    e. iets/ietwat te jong (voor ...)
      somewhat  too young   for
    c. twee jaar te jong (voor ...)
      two years  too young   for
    f. wat te jong (voor ...)
      somewhat  too young   for

          The examples in (191) show that the voor-PPs in (177) and (181a) need not necessarily follow the adjective, but can also precede it. If this is the case, the voor-PP must also precede the modifier of the complex phrase te A (if there is one).

    191
    a. Jan is <voor de disco> een stuk <*voor de disco> te jong.
      Jan is  for the disco  a lot  too young
    b. Jan is <voor die baan> veel <*voor die baan> te intelligent.
      Jan is  for that job  much  too intelligent
    c. De soep is <voor mij> veel <*voor mij> te zout.
      the soup  is   for me  much  too salty

    The examples in (192) show that voor-phrases in post- and pre-adjectival position differ in that only the former allow R-extraction, which suggests that the pre-adjectival position of the voor-PP is the result of movement; cf. freezing. This is also supported by the fact that the voor-PP also precedes sentence adverbs such as zeker'certainly': Jan is voor de disco zeker een stuk te jong, and must therefore occupy an AP-external position.

    192
    a. Jan is er een stuk te jong voor.
      Jan is there  a lot  too young  for
    a'. * Jan is ervoor een stuk te jong.
    b. Jan is er veel te intelligent voor.
      Jan is there  much  too intelligent  for
    b'. * Jan is ervoor veel te intelligent.
    c. De jongen waar de soep veel te zout voor is.
      the boy  whom  the soup  much too salty  for  is
    c'. * De jongen waar de soep voor veel te zout is.

    Since the anticipatory pronominal PP that introduces the infinitival clause obligatorily undergoes R-extraction, we also expect that the clause cannot occur if the anticipatory pronominal PP er voor precedes the adjective. That this expectation is borne out is demonstrated in (193); see (179) for the grammatical counterparts of these examples.

    193
    a. * Jan is er voor te jong [om naar de disco te gaan].
      Jan is there  for  too young  comp  to the disco  to go
    b. * Jan is er voor te intelligent [om in een magazijn te werken].
      Jan is there  for  too intelligent  comp  in a warehouse  to work

          The examples in (194) show that the voor-PP may either precede or follow the finite verb in clause-final position.

    194
    a. dat Jan te jong <voor de disco> is <voor de disco>.
      that  Jan too young   for the disco  is
    b. dat Jan te intelligent <voor die baan> is <voor die baan>.
      that  Jan too intelligent    for that job  is
    c. dat die soep te zout <voor mij> is <voor mij>.
      that  that soup  too salty    for me  is

    The infinitival complement, on the other hand, must follow the verb in clause-final position; if present, the anticipatory pronominal PP of course obligatorily precedes the verb due to the fact that R-extraction is only possible from this position. This is shown in (195).

    195
    a. dat Jan (er) te jong (voor) is [om naar de disco te gaan].
      that  Jan there  too young   for is comp  to the disco  to go
    a'. ?? dat Jan te jong [om naar de disco te gaan] is.
    b. dat Jan (er) te intelligent (voor) is [om in een magazijn te werken].
      that  Jan there  too intelligent   for  is comp  in a warehouse  to work
    b'. ?? dat Jan te intelligent [om in een magazijn te werken] is.

    Given that the examples in (194) and (195) show that the adjectival phrase may occur discontinuously, it does not come as a surprise that the adjective can be topicalized in isolation.

    196
    a. Te jong is Jan niet voor de disco.
      too young  is Jan not  for the disco
    b. Te intelligent is Jan niet voor die baan.
      too intelligent  is Jan not  for that job
    c. Te zout is die soep niet voor mij.
      too salty  is that soup  not  for me
    197
    a. Te jong is Jan niet [om naar de disco te gaan].
      too young  is Jan not  comp  to the disco  to go
    b. Te intelligent is Jan niet [om in een magazijn te werken].
      too intelligent  is Jan not  comp  in a warehouse  to work

          The v oor-PP can be moved not only into some clause-internal position, as in (191), but also into the clause-initial position, as in (198).

    198
    a. Voor de disco is Jan nog te jong.
      for the disco  is Jan still  too young
    b. Voor die baan is Jan eigenlijk te intelligent.
      for that job  is Jan actually  too intelligent
    c. Voor mij is die soep veel te zout.
      for me  is that soup  much too salty

    The infinitival clause, on the other hand, normally cannot. The exception is the left dislocation construction, shown in (199), in which the preposed constituent is immediately followed by (the pronominal part of) a resumptive PP, which in this case has a function similar to the anticipatory pronominal PP discussed earlier.

    199
    a. * [Om naar de disco te gaan] is Jan te jong.
      comp  to the disco to go  is Jan too young
    a'. [Om naar de disco te gaan], daar is Jan te jong voor.
      comp  to the disco to go  there  is Jan too young  for
    a''. [Om naar de disco te gaan], daarvoor is Jan te jong.
      comp  to the disco to go   for.that  is Jan too young
    b. * [Om in een magazijn te werken] is Jan te intelligent.
      comp  in a warehouse to work  is Jan too intelligent
    b'. [Om in een magazijn te werken] daar is Jan te intelligent voor.
      comp  in a warehouse to work  there  is Jan too intelligent  for
    b''. [Om in een magazijn te werken] daarvoor is Jan te intelligent.
      comp  in a warehouse to work  for.that  is Jan too intelligent

          Intensifying phrases headed by te can also be used in attributive position. The voor-phrase, however, can never intervene between the adjective and the modified noun, which follows from the Head-final Filter in (133).

    200
    a. een <voor de disco> veel te jonge <*voor de disco> knul <voor de disco>
      a   for the disco  much too young  kid
    b. een <voor die baan> te intelligente <*voor die baan> student <voor die baan>
      a   for that job  too intelligent  student
    c. een <voor mij> te zoute <*voor mij> soep <voor mij>
      a   for me  too salty  soup

    The discussion of (192) and (193) has shown that anticipatory pronominal PPs are obligatorily split and that the stranded preposition must follow the adjective. When the AP is used attributively, this necessarily gives rise to a violation of the Head-final Filter. The examples in (201) show that, as a result of this, the anticipatory pronominal PP cannot be realized overtly if the intensifying phrase is used attributively.

    201
    a. * een er <voor> te jonge <voor> knul [om naar de disco te gaan]
      a  there   for  too young  kid  comp  to the disco  to go
    a'. een te jonge knul [om naar de disco te gaan]
      a  too young  kid  comp  to the disco  to go
    b. * een er <voor> te intelligente <voor> student [om in een magazijn te werken]
      a  there  for  too intelligent  student comp  in a warehouse to work
    b'. een te intelligente student [om in een magazijn te werken]
      a  too intelligent  student  comp  in a warehouse to work
    [+]  III.  Intensifying phrases headed by (on)voldoende'(in)sufficiently'

    The intensifying phrase voldoende'sufficiently' indicates that the extent to which the logical subject of the adjective has the property denoted by the adjective satisfies a certain standard value or norm. Its negative counterpart onvoldoende'insufficiently' indicates that this norm is not satisfied. The norm may remain implicit or be determined by the context, but it can also be explicitly expressed by means of a voor-PP. Some examples are given in (202).

    202
    a. Els bleek (on)voldoende aangesterkt (voor de training).
      Els appeared  (in)sufficiently  recuperated   for the training
      'Els turned out (not) to be sufficiently recuperated (for the training).'
    b. De soep was (on)voldoende afgekoeld (voor directe consumptie).
      the soup  was  (in)sufficiently  cooled.off   for immediate consumption
      'The soup was (not) sufficiently cooled off (for immediate consumption).'

    The examples in (203) show that complex adjectival constructions with ( on) voldoende are not eligible for further modification. Since voldoende and onvoldoende behave in the same way in all relevant respects, we will from now on illustrate the discussion by means of the former only.

    203
    a. * erg/vrij/een beetje (on)voldoende aangesterkt
      very/rather/a bit   (in)sufficiently  recuperated
    b. * erg/vrij/een beetje (on)voldoende afgekoeld
      very/rather/a bit   (in)sufficiently  cooled.off

          A remarkable property of the modifier voldoende is that it combines most naturally with adjectivally used past/passive participles, as in (202), or with pseudo-participles, as in (204). With the latter group, the addition of a voor-PP leads to a certain degree of markedness, which may be related to the fact that the pseudo-participles generally take a PP-complement of their own; cf. Section 2.3.1, sub I.

    204
    a. Marie is voldoende gebrand op promotie (??voor een betere baan).
      Marie is sufficiently  keen on promotion     for a better job
    b. De redacteur is voldoende ingenomen met het artikel (??voor publicatie ervan).
      the editor  is sufficiently pleased  with the article    for publication of.it

    Simple scalar adjectives, such as deskundig'adept' or goed'good', normally give rise to marked results. They are instead modified by the modifier genoeg'enough', which will be discussed in Subsection IV.

    205
    a. Jan is voldoende ?deskundig/*?goed voor die baan.
      Jan is sufficiently   adept/good  for that job
    b. Jan is deskundig/goed genoeg voor die baan.
      Jan is adept/good  enough  for that job

          The examples in (206) show that, like the intensifier te'too', voldoende can be combined with an infinitival clause, in which case an anticipatory pronominal voor-PP is optionally present: for the moment we will ignore the preadjectival placement of the stranded preposition in (206), but we will return to it later in this subsection. The implied subject PRO of the embedded clauses in (206a) must be interpreted as coreferential with the subject of the AP, but this does not hold for PRO in (206b), which refers to the person(s) for whom the soup is sufficiently cooled off for immediate consumption.

    206
    a. Elsi bleek (er) voldoende (voor) aangesterkt [om PROi weer te trainen].
      Els appeared  there  sufficiently   for  recuperated comp  again  to train
      'Els turned out to be sufficiently recuperated to train again.'
    b. De soep bleek (er) voldoende (voor) afgekoeld [om PROarb hem direct op te eten].
      the soup  appeared  there  sufficiently   for  cooled.off comp  him  immediately  up to eat
      'The soup turned out to be sufficiently cooled off to eat it immediately.'

    Note in passing that example (206a) should not be confused with example (207a), in which the infinitival clause contains an additional interpretative gap, which is indicated by e. In this example, it is not the implied subject PRO, which receives an arbitrary interpretation, but the gap e that is interpreted as coreferential with the matrix subject. The fact illustrated in (207b) that the anticipatory pronominal PP cannot be used suggests that we are probably dealing with a so-called easy-to-please-construction; cf. Section 6.5, sub IVA.

    207
    a. Els is voldoende aangesterkt [om PROarb weer e te laten trainen].
      Els is sufficiently recuperated  comp  again  to let train
      'Els is sufficiently recuperated to let [her] train again.'
    b. * Els is er voldoende voor aangesterkt [om PROarb weer e te laten trainen].

          The primeless examples in (208) show that, despite the fact that the pseudo-participles in (204) cannot readily be combined with a voor-PP, they can take an infinitival degree clause. The primed examples show that the anticipatory pronominal PP must then be absent; note that alternative placements of the stranded preposition (e.g., after the adjective) do not improve the result.

    208
    a. Mariei is voldoende gebrand op promotie [om PROi snel carrière te maken].
      Marie  is sufficiently  keen  on promotion  comp  quickly  career  to make
      'Marie is sufficiently keen on promotion to make a fast career.'
    a'. * Marie is er voldoende voor gebrand op promotie om ...
    b. De redacteuri is voldoende ingenomen met het artikel [om PROi het te plaatsen].
      the editor  is sufficiently  pleased  with the article comp  it  to publish
      'The editor is sufficiently pleased with the article to publish it.'
    b'. * De redacteur is er voldoende voor ingenomen met het artikel om ...

          Unlike with the constructions with te, the voor-PP cannot readily be used to refer to a person whose evaluation is given. Consistent with this is the finding that a dative noun phrase is not possible either. The primed examples in (209) become grammatical if we replace the copula blijken/zijn by lijken'to seem', but this is due to the fact that lijken can take a dative argument of its own; see the discussion of example (185) in SubsectionII.

    209
    a. * Els bleek voldoende aangesterkt voor mij.
      Els appeared  sufficiently  recuperated  for me
    a'. * Els bleek mij voldoende aangesterkt.
    b. *? De soep is voldoende afgekoeld voor mij.
      the soup  is sufficiently  cooled.off  for me
    b'. * De soep is mij voldoende afgekoeld.

          That the string voldoende A voor ... forms a constituent is clear from the fact that it can be placed in clause-initial position; cf. the constituency test. This is illustrated in (210a) for the positive example in (202a). Similarly, the string voldoende A om ... from the examples in (206) can be placed in clause-initial position, in which case the anticipatory pronominal PP er voor is preferably absent; cf. the discussion of the corresponding examples in (182). This is demonstrated in (210b&b') for example (206a).

    210
    a. [Voldoende aangesterkt voor de training] is Els zeker.
      sufficiently recuperated for the training  is Els certainly
    b. [Voldoende aangesterkt [om PRO weer te trainen]] is Els zeker.
      sufficiently recuperated  comp  again  to train  is Els certainly
    b'. ?? [Er voldoende voor aangesterkt [om PRO weer te trainen]] is Els zeker.
      there sufficiently for recuperated  comp  again  to train  is Els certainly

    There are at least two reasons for assuming that it is the modifier voldoende, and not the adjective, that selects the voor-PP or the infinitival clause. First, whether the voor-PP/infinitival clause is possible depends on whether the element voldoende is present; if the latter is dropped, the result is completely ungrammatical. This is shown in (211) for the examples (202a) and (206a).

    211
    a. *? Els bleek aangesterkt voor de training.
      Els appeared  recuperated  for the training
    b. * Els bleek aangesterkt [om PRO weer te trainen].
      Els appeared  recuperated  comp  again  to train

    Second, the examples in (212) show that the infinitival complementizer om must be present in (206) and (208). When the adjective itself selects an infinitival complement optionally introduced by an anticipatory pronominal PP, on the other hand, the complementizer om is excluded; cf. the discussion of example (186) in Subsection II.

    212
    a. * Els bleek voldoende aangesterkt [PRO weer te trainen].
    b. * De soep bleek voldoende afgekoeld [PRO hem direct op te eten].
    c. * Marie is voldoende gebrand op promotie [PRO snel carrière te kunnen maken].
    d. * De redacteur is voldoende ingenomen met het artikel [PRO het te plaatsen].

          As we have seen in (204) and (205), a remarkable property of the modifier voldoende is that it most naturally combines with adjectivally used past/passive participles or pseudo-participles. Section 2.3.1, sub III, has shown that the base position of the complement of these adjectives may either precede or follow the (pseudo-)participle. Concomitant with this, preposition stranding may take place from both positions. The same thing can be observed with the PP-complement of the modifier voldoende, although placement of the full voor-phrase in pre-adjectival position is perhaps slightly marked. This is illustrated in (213).

    213
    a. Els bleek voldoende <?voor de training> aangesterkt <voor de training>.
      Els appeared  sufficiently    for the training  recuperated
      'Els appeared to be sufficiently recuperated for the training.'
    a'. Els bleek er voldoende <voor> aangesterkt <voor>.
      Els appeared  there  sufficiently   for  recuperated
      'Els turned out to be sufficiently recuperated (for it).'
    b. De soep bleek voldoende <?voor directe consumptie> afgekoeld <voor directe consumptie>.
      the soup appeared  sufficiently    for immediate consumption  cooled.off
      'The soup turned out to be sufficiently cooled off for immediate consumption.'
    b'. De soep bleek er voldoende <voor> afgekoeld <voor>.
      the soup  appeared  there  sufficiently  for  cooled.off
      'The soup turned out to be sufficiently cooled off for it.'

          The Head-final Filter in (133) now correctly predicts that the complex intensifying phrases headed by voldoende can only be used attributively if the voor-phrase or stranded preposition voor precedes the adjective. This is illustrated in (214).

    214
    a. de voldoende <?voor de training> aangesterkte <*voor de training> turnster
      the  sufficiently  for the training  recuperated  gymnast
    a'. de er voldoende <voor> aangesterkte <*voor> turnster
      the  there  sufficiently   for  recuperated  gymnast
    b. de voldoende <?voor directe consumptie> afgekoelde <*voor directe consumptie> soep
      the  sufficiently   for direct consumption  cooled.off soup
    b'. de er voldoende <voor> afgekoelde <*voor> soep
      the  there  sufficiently    for  cooled.off  soup

          The examples in (215) show that, like complex intensifying phrases headed by te, the voor-PP can be moved into some AP-external position, which can be either clause-internal or clause-initial.

    215
    a. Els lijkt voor de training nog niet voldoende aangesterkt.
      Els seems  for the training  yet not  sufficiently  recuperated
      'Els didnʼt seem to be sufficiently recuperated for the training.'
    b. Voor de training lijkt Els nog niet voldoende aangesterkt.
      for the training  seems  Els yet not  sufficiently  recuperated

    Despite the fact illustrated by the (a)-examples in (216) that the infinitival complement must be in extraposed position, (216b) shows that it cannot be topicalized in isolation. However, it can occupy the clause-initial position in the left dislocation construction in (216b'), in which case it functions as the antecedent of a pronominal PP with a function similar to the anticipatory PP discussed earlier.

    216
    a. dat Els voldoende aangesterkt lijkt [om PRO weer te trainen].
      that  Els sufficiently  recuperated  seems  comp  again  to train
      'that Els turned out be sufficiently recuperated to train again.'
    a'. * dat Els voldoende aangesterkt [om PRO weer te trainen] lijkt.
    b. * [om PRO weer te trainen] lijkt Els voldoende aangesterkt.
    b'. [om PRO weer te trainen] daar lijkt Els voldoende voor aangesterkt.
      comp  again to train  there  seems  Els sufficiently  for  recuperated
    [+]  IV.  Intensifying phrases headed by genoeg'enough'

    Like the intensifier voldoende'sufficiently', the intensifier genoeg'enough' indicates that the extent to which the subject of the adjective has the property denoted by the adjective satisfies a certain norm. The norm may remain implicit or be determined by the context, but it can also be explicitly expressed by means of a voor-PP, as in (217). However, these examples also illustrate an important difference between the two modifiers; whereas voldoende precedes the adjective, genoeg normally follows it.

    217
    a. Jan is oud genoeg (voor de disco).
      Jan is old  enough   for the disco
    b. Jan is intelligent genoeg (voor die opdracht).
      Jan is intelligent enough   for that commission

    The only exception is when the modified adjective belongs to the class of (pseudo-)participles; example (218) show that genoeg may then at least marginally occur in front of the adjective. Note that, on the whole, the use of the modifier voldoende is normally preferred with these adjectives.

    218
    a. Jan is <?genoeg) onderlegd <genoeg> in wiskunde voor die opdracht.
      Jan is   enough  grounded  in mathematics  for that commission
    b. Jan is <?genoeg> bekend <genoeg> met het onderwerp voor die opdracht.
      Jan is   enough  familiar  with the subject  for that commission

    Example (219a) shows that, as with voldoende, complex adjectival constructions with genoeg are not eligible for further modification by means of an adjectival intensifier. It is, however, marginally possible to use the phrase meer dan'more than', as in (219b); the fact that this example feels somewhat marked is possibly due to the fact that the intended meaning can also be expressed by means of the modifier zat'plenty' in (219b'), which exhibits the same syntactic behavior as genoeg.

    219
    a. * heel/vrij/een beetje oud genoeg
      very/rather/a bit  old  enough
    b. ? Jan is meer dan oud genoeg om naar de disco te gaan.
      Jan is more than  old enough  comp  to the disco  to go
    b'. Jan is oud zat om naar de disco te gaan.
      Jan is old  more.than.enough  comp  to the disco  to go

          As in the case of te'too' and voldoende'sufficiently', the complement of the preposition voor need not be a noun phrase, but can also be an infinitival clause, in which case an anticipatory pronominal PP may be present. This is illustrated in (220). As with the examples in (179) and (206a), the implied subject PRO of the embedded clauses in (220) must be interpreted as coreferential with the subject of the AP, which is expressed here by means of coindexation.

    220
    a. Jani is (er) oud genoeg (voor) [om PROi naar de disco te gaan].
      Jan  is there  old enough   for  comp  to the disco  to go
      'Jan is old enough to go to the disco.'
    b. Jani is (er) intelligent genoeg (voor) [om PROi die opdracht aan te kunnen].
      Jan is there  intelligent enough for  comp  that comm.  prt. to handle
      'John is intelligent enough to handle that commission.'

    Examples such as (220) can be easily confused with the examples such as (221) in which the infinitival clauses contain an additional interpretative gap, indicated by e. In these examples, it is not the implied subject PRO, which receives an arbitrary interpretation, but the gap e that is interpreted as coreferential with the subject of the AP. The fact that the anticipatory pronominal PP cannot occur in these examples suggests that these examples are probably instances of the so-called easy-to-please-constructions discussed in Section 6.5, sub IVA.

    221
    a. Jan is oud genoeg [om PROarbe naar de disco mee te nemen].
      Jan is old enough  comp  to the disco with  to take
      'Jan is old enough to take [him] to the disco.'
    a'. * Jan is er oud genoeg voor [om PROarbe naar de disco mee te nemen]
    b. Het ijs is koud genoeg [om PROarbe lang te bewaren].
      the ice.cream  is cold enough  comp long to preserve
      'The ice-cream is cold enough to preserve [it] long.'
    b'. * Het ijs is er koud genoeg voor [om PROarbe lang te bewaren].

          Example (222a) shows that, as in the case of te'too', the voor-PP need not refer to the norm, but may also refer to the person whose evaluation is given. This voor-PP alternates with a dative noun phrase, as is illustrated in (222b).

    222
    a. Die soep is (niet) zout genoeg voor mij.
      that soup  is not  salty enough  for me
    b. Die soep is mij (niet) zout genoeg.
      that soup  is me   not  salty  enough

          The string A genoeg voor ... in (217) forms a constituent, which is clear from the fact that the constituting parts can be placed in clause-initial position together; cf. the constituency test. This is illustrated in (223a) for example (217a). Similarly, the string A genoeg om ... in (220) can be placed in clause-initial position. In that case, however, the anticipatory pronominal PP er voor is preferably absent. This is demonstrated for (220a) in (223b&b').

    223
    a. [Oud genoeg voor de disco] is Jan zeker.
      old enough for the disco  is Jan certainly
    b. [Oud genoeg [om naar de disco te gaan]] is Jan zeker.
      old enough   comp  to the disco to go  is Jan certainly
    b'. ?? [Er oud genoeg voor [om naar de disco te gaan]] is Jan zeker.
      there  old enough  for  comp  to the disco  to go  is Jan certainly

          There are at least two reasons for assuming that it is the element genoeg, and not the adjective, that selects the voor-PP or the infinitival clause. First, whether a voor-PP/infinitival clause is possible depends on whether the element genoeg is present; if the latter is dropped, the result is completely ungrammatical. This is shown in (224) for the examples in (229b), (220b) and (222a).

    224
    a. * Jan is intelligent voor die opdracht.
      Jan is intelligent for that commission
    b. * Jan is (er) intelligent (voor) [om PRO die opdracht aan te kunnen.
      Jan is there  intelligent   for  comp  that commission  prt. to handle
    c. * Die soep is zout voor mij.
      that soup  is salty  for me

    Second, the examples in (225) show that the infinitival complementizer om must be present in (220). If the adjective itself selects an infinitival complement optionally introduced by an anticipatory pronominal PP, on the other hand, the complementizer om is excluded; see the discussion of (186) in Subsection II.

    225
    a. * Jan is (er) oud genoeg (voor) [PRO naar de disco te gaan].
      Jan is there  old enough   for  to the disco  to go
    b. *? Jan is (er) intelligent genoeg (voor) [PRO die opdracht aan te kunnen].
      Jan is there  intelligent enough   for  that commission  prt. to handle

          Since genoeg normally follows the adjective, the Head-final Filter on attributive adjectives predicts that the string A + genoeg cannot be used in attributive position. This prediction seems correct insofar the examples in (226a&b) are unacceptable (but see Section 5.3, sub IIB, for a more careful discussion). It seems, however, that for some speakers the attributive e ending can be placed on modifier genoeg; although the primed examples are degraded for many speakers, examples like these are abundantly present on the internet. For the speakers that allow the primed examples, genoeg behaves in the same way as postadjectival mogelijk'possible' discussed in Subsection ID.

    226
    a. * de oud-e genoeg jongen
      the  old  enough  boy
    a'. % de oud genoeg-e jongen
    b. * het koud-e genoeg ijs
      the  cold  enough  ice.cream
    b'. % het koud genoeg-e ijs

          The examples in (227) show that, as with the complex intensifying phrases headed by te and voldoende, the voor-PP can be moved leftward into some clause-internal or clause-initial position. That example (227a) involves movement into some AP-external position is clear from the fact that clausal adverbs such as zeker'certainly' intervene between the voor-phrase and the adjective.

    227
    a. Jan is voor de disco zeker oud genoeg.
      Jan is for the disco  certainly  old enough
    b. Voor de disco is Jan zeker oud genoeg.

    Despite the fact, illustrated by the (a)-examples in (228), that the infinitival complement is preferably in extraposed position, (228b) shows that it cannot be topicalized in isolation. However, it can occupy the clause-initial position in the left dislocation construction in (228b'), in which case it acts as the antecedent of a pronominal PP with a function similar to that of the anticipatory PP discussed earlier.

    228
    a. dat Jan zeker oud genoeg is [om PRO naar de disco te gaan].
      that  Jan certainly  old enough  is comp  to the disco  to go
    a'. ?? dat Jan zeker oud genoeg [om PRO naar de disco te gaan] is.
    b. * [Om naar de disco te gaan] is Jan zeker oud genoeg.
    b'. [Om naar de disco te gaan] daar is Jan zeker oud genoeg voor.
      comp to the disco to go  there  is Jan certainly  old enough  for

          Example (229a) shows that if the modified adjective takes a prepositional complement, the complement is not adjacent to the adjective but follows genoeg. The same thing holds for the stranded preposition in (229b). This is unexpected given the general rule that a selecting head is normally closer to its complement than to its modifiers. We will not discuss this problem here but postpone it to Section 4.3.1, where it will be argued that the word order results from leftward movement of the adjective across genoeg: bangi genoeg ti voor honden.

    229
    a. Jan is al bang <*voor honden> genoeg <voor honden>.
      Jan is already  afraid      of dogs  enough
    b. Jan is er al bang <*voor> genoeg <voor>.
      Jan is there  already  afraid      of  enough

    To conclude this subsection we want to note that genoeg is used not only as an intensifier (modifier of adjectives) but also as a degree modifier of nouns, as in We hebben al <genoeg> problemen <genoeg>'We already have <enough> problems <enough>'. This use is discussed in Section N.6.2.4.

    References:
    • Dikken, Marcel den1995Particles: on the syntax of verb-particle, triadic, and causative constructionsOxford studies in comparative syntaxNew York/OxfordOxford University Press
    About this article
    Author(s): Hans Broekhuis
    Category: Dutch Syntax
    Keywords: Adjective PhraseAnticipatoryAttributive AdjectiveComparisonComplementationComplex Degree ModifierConcessive ConstructionControlDegree ModifierEasy-to-please ConstructionEquative ConstructionExtrapositionHead-final FilterImperativeInfinitival ClauseMetaphoric ComparisonModal InfinitiveModifierModifier PhraseNegative ImperativeNominal Modifier PhrasePPPseudo-Participle
    Version: 1.0, December 2015
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