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1.3.5.The residue

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The three adjective classes discussed in the previous sections leave us with a residue of adjectives that neither attribute a property to the head noun, nor express a kind-of relation, nor imply some negative or positive evaluation. Often, these adjectives seem to be related to adverbs. The following subsections discuss some subclasses of this residue.

I. Modal adjectives
II. Amplifiers
III. Quantifiers
IV. Restrictors
V. Adjectives related to adverbial phrases
VI. Non-prototypical use of set-denoting adjectives

[+] I. Modal adjectives

The modal adjectives are comparable to the modal adverbs in that they express some notion of modality. In (158a), for instance, vermeend'alleged/supposed' expresses the fact that the person we are talking about has been mistaken for or is supposed to be the culprit. In (158b) we express the fact that the thing we are talking about may turn out to be a counterexample. In (158c), finally, we express the fact that Peter may possibly leave. As is illustrated in the primed examples, the modal adjectives, not being set-denoting, cannot be used predicatively.

158

a.		de	vermeende	dader
		the	alleged	culprit

a'.	*	De dader	is vermeend.
		the culprit	is alleged

b.		het	potentiële	tegenvoorbeeld
		the	potential	counterexample

b'.	*	Het tegenvoorbeeld	is potentieel.
		the counterexample	is potential

c.		Peters	eventuele	vertrek
		Peterʼs	possible	departure

c'.	*	Peters vertrek	is eventueel.
		Peterʼs departure	is possible

[+] II. Amplifiers

The second subclass is constituted by the amplifiers like those in (159), which scale upwards from some implicitly assumed norm. These adjectives do not attribute a property to the head noun but emphasize that the description provided by noun phrase is applicable to the subject of the copular clause. This means that the adjectives are clearly not set-denoting, which correctly predicts that they cannot be used in the predicative position of the primed examples. The adjectives are, however, clearly related to the adverbs in the doubly-primed examples, which have a similar amplifying meaning.

159

a.		Hij	is een	echte	held
		he	is a	true	hero

a'.	*	Deze held	is echt.
		this hero	is true

a''.		Hij	is	echt	een held.
		he	is	truly	a hero

b.		Dat is absolute onzin
		that is absolute nonsense

b'.	*	Deze onzin	is absoluut.
		this nonsense	is absolute

b''.		Dit	is absoluut	onzin.
		this	is absolutely	nonsense

c.		Dit is een	duidelijke	fout
		this is a	clear	mistake

c'.	*	Deze fout	is duidelijk.
		this mistake	is clear

c''.	Jan heeft	duidelijk	een fout	gemaakt.
	Jan has	clearly	a mistake	made
	'Jan clearly made a mistake.'

[+] III. Quantifiers

The third subclass is constituted by quantifiers like gedeeltelijk'partial', half'half', volledig'total' in (160). With (perhaps) the exception of the last example, quantifiers cannot be used predicatively. They are, however, clearly related to the adverbs in the doubly-primed examples.

160

a.		een	gedeeltelijke	vergoeding
		a	partial	compensation

a'.	*?	De vergoeding was gedeeltelijk.
		the compensation was partial

a''.		De schade	werd	gedeeltelijk	vergoed.
		the damage	was	partially	compensated

b.		een	halve	toezegging
		a	half	promise

b'.	*?	De toezegging	was	half.
		the promise	was	half

b''.		Jan had het	al	half toegezegd.
		Jan had it	already	half promised

c.		een	volledige	onderwerping
		a	total	submission

c'.	?	De onderwerping	was volledig.
		the victory	was total

c''.		De vijand	werd	volledig	onderworpen.
		the enemy	was	completely	submitted

[+] IV. Restrictors

The fourth subclass is constituted by restrictors such as those in (161), which restrict the reference of the noun. Like the subclasses above, they cannot be used predicatively (with the intended meaning). They differ from these classes, however, in that the restrictors do not have an adverbial counterpart.

161

a.		een	zeker	persoon
		a	certain	person

a'.

Deze persoon is zeker.

b.		de	enige	gelegenheid
		the	only	occasion

b'.

Deze gelegenheid is enig.

c.		het	precieze	antwoord
		the	precise	answer

c'.

Het antwoord is precies.

Perhaps time adjectives such as gewezen/voormalig/vroeger'former', huidig'present(day)', toekomstige'future', and vorige'previous' also fall into this class.

162

a.		de	voormalige	koningin
		the	former	queen

a'.

De koningin is voormalig.

b.		de	huidige	koningin
		the	present	queen

b'.

De koningin is huidig.

c.		de	toekomstige	koning
		the	future	king

c'.

De koning is toekomstig.

d.		de	vorige	vergadering
		the	previous	meeting

d'.

De vergadering is vorig.

[+] V. Adjectives related to adverbial phrases

Besides the cases discussed in the previous subsections, there are many adjectives that do not seem to fall into a well-defined class, but which do seem to be related to adverbs. Some typical examples are given in (163); observe that the nouns are all deverbal.

163

a.		een	snelle	berekening
		a	quick	calculation

b.		een	harde	werker
		a	hard	worker

a'.

De berekening is snel.

b'.

De werker is hard.

a''.		Hij	berekent	het	snel.
		he	calculates	it	quickly

b''.		Hij	werkt	hard.
		he	works	hard

c.		een	zware	roker
		a	heavy	smoker

d.		een	frequente	bezoeker
		a	frequent	visitor

c'.

De roker is zwaar.

d'.

De bezoeker is frequent.

c''.		Hij	rookt	zwaar.
		he	smokes	heavily

d''.		Hij	bezoekt	de bioscoop	frequent.
		he	visits	the cinema	frequently

Some more or less idiomatic examples in which the relation of the attributively used adjectives to the adverbially used adjectives is less direct are given in (164). Observe that these adjectives can also be used predicatively, but then the meaning is slightly different. In this respect they resemble the adjectives discussed in Subsection VI.

164

a.		het late journaal
		'the late news; the news that is broadcast late in the evening'

a'.		Het journaal is laat (vandaag).
		'The news is late/later than usual (today).'

b.		een goede moeder
		'a good mother; a mother who takes care of her children well'

b'.		Zijn moeder is goed.
		'His mother is good (not necessarily as a mother).'

c.		een snelle auto
		'a fast car; a car that can drive fast'

c'.	?	Die auto is snel.
		that car is fast

[+] VI. Non-prototypical use of set-denoting adjectives

Some set-denoting adjectives can be used attributively in a non-qualifying manner, which is excluded if they are used predicatively; the predicatively used adjectives in the primed examples in (165) cannot be interpreted in the same manner as the attributively used adjectives in the primeless examples. Example (165c'') shows that the attributively used adjectives cannot be used adverbially either. Examples of this sort have a more or less idiomatic flavor.

165

a.		een	oude	vriend	van me
		an	old	friend	of mine

a'.	#	Deze vriend van mij	is oud.
		this friend of mine	is old

b.		de	gewone	man
		the	common	man

b'.	#	Deze man	is gewoon.
		this man	is common

c.		een	grote	eter
		a	big	eater

c'.	#	Deze eter is groot.
		this eater is big

c''.	*	Hij	eet	groot.
		he	eats	big

For completeness’ sake, compare the examples in (165a&c) to those in (166a&b); the latter do seem to behave like set-denoting adjectives, given that they give rise to a more or less acceptable result on the intended reading if they are used in predicative position.

166

a.		een	oude vriendschap
		an	old friendship

a'.

Onze vriendschap is oud.

b.		een	grote eetlust
		a	big appetite

b'.

Mijn eetlust is groot.

References:

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About this article

Author(s): Hans Broekhuis

Category: Dutch Syntax

Keywords: AdjectiveAmplifying AdjectiveModal AdjectiveQuantifying AdjectiveResidueRestrictive Adjective

Version: 1.0, December 2015

Version history:

version	editor(s)	date	remarks
1.0	Hans Broekhuis	December 2015

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