/ instituut voor de Nederlandse taal / Taalportaal
bibliography glossary about
  • Dutch
  • Frisian
  • Saterfrisian
  • Afrikaans
Show all
    Clause
    quickinfo

    The prepositional complement of the adjective may be realised as a dummy pronoun which anticipates a following clause, as in the example below:

    1
    Ten Have is der bliid mei dat Tjeu ek komt
    Ten have is R happy with that Tjeu also comes
    Ten Have is happy (with it) that Tjeu comes also
    readmore

    The prepositional complement of the adjective may be realised as a clause, which is related to the selected Adposition Phrase (PP). In some cases, the related PP can be dropped. In the example below, the finite clause is related to the discontinuous PP consisting of the preposition mei with and the R-pronoun der there, it:

    2
    a. Ten Have is bliid dat Tjeu ek komt
    Ten have is happy that Tjeu also comes
    Ten Have is happy that Tjeu comes also
    b. Ten Have is der bliid mei dat Tjeu ek komt
    Ten Have is R happy with that Tjeu also comes
    Ten Have is happy that Tjeu is also coming

    Dropping the PP is only allowed in case the clause occurs in the postverbal field. If the clause is preposed to the beginning of the sentence, the PP must be present:

    3
    a. *[Dat Tjeu ek komt] is Ten Have bliid
    that Tjeu also comes is Ten Have happy
    That Tjeu is also coming, Ten Have is happy about
    b. [Dat Tjeu ek komt] is Ten Have bliid mei
    that Tjeu also comes is Ten Have happy with
    That Tjeu is also coming, Ten Have is happy about
    c. [Dat Tjeu ek komt] dêr is Ten Have bliid mei
    that Tjeu also comes R is Ten Have happy with
    Ten Have is happy about the fact that Tjeu is also coming

    The sentences above also show that in the case of a preposed clause, the R-pronoun dêr there, it need not be phonologically realised.

    Dropping the PP is only allowed with adjectives that take an optional PP anyhow. In other cases, the occurrence of the PP is obligatory. In the example below, the PP cannot be dropped without a change of meaning, and correspondingly, it must also be present in case a finite clause is present. In the following example, the related PP cannot be dropped in the presence of a clause.

    4
    a. *Ten Have is siik dat Tjeu komt
    Ten Have is sick that Tjeu comes
    Ten Have is disgusted by Tjeu's coming
    b. Ten Have is der siik fan dat Tjeu komt
    Ten Have is R Sick of that Tjeu comes
    Ten Have is disgusted by Tjeu's coming

    This may be related to the fact that dropping the PP leads to a non-monotonic change in meaning. This is illustrated below, where the first sentence does not entail the second:

    5
    a. *Ten Have is der siik fan
    Ten Have is R sick of
    Ten Have is sick of it
    b. Ten Have is siik
    Ten Have is sick
    Ten Have is sick

    Although the clause can in theory also be realised as an infinitival clause, this is in actual practice a somewhat marginal, in the sense of infrequent, option, which is likely to be an interference from Dutch.

    References
      About this article
      Author(s): Eric Hoekstra, Joke Weening
      Category: Frisian Syntax
      Keywords: prepositional complementclause
      Version: 1.0, December 2015
      Version history:
      version editor(s) date remarks
      1.0 Eric Hoekstra, Joke Weening December 2015
      printreport errorcite
      Jump to:
      X