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    After definite articles
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    Noun ellipsis after the article is not allowed. Instead, the distal demonstrative must be used, which does not have demonstrative semantics in noun ellipsis. Rather, it functions as a stand-in for the article.

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    Frisian articles are unstressed. Frisian does not allow the neuter or common article to carry the weight of a noun ellipsis construction, whereas adjectives can do so. The minimal pairs in the example below contrasts the behaviour of the determiner with that of the adjective when it occurs adjacent to the position of the ellipted noun.

    1
    a. Determiner
    It skip bûtendoar wie te keap mar it skip yn 'e loads net
    the ship outside was for sale but the ship in the hangar not
    The ship outside was for sale, but the one in the hangar was not
    *It skip bûtendoar wie te keap mar it ____ yn 'e loads net
    the ship outside was for sale but the in the hangar not
    The ship outside was for sale, but the one in the hangar was not
    b. Adjective
    It reade skip wie te keap mar it griene skip net
    the red ship was for sale but the green ship not
    The red ship was for sale, but the green ship was not
    It reade skip wie te keap mar it griene ____ net
    the red ship was for sale but the green not
    The red ship was for sale, but the green ship was not

    The equivalent of ellipsis following an article is expressed by using the distal demonstrative instead of the determiner, as shown by the minimal pair below. The semantics of this element in this function is neither demonstrative (deictic) nor distal: it is interpreted as just a neutral pronoun.

    2
    a. *It skip bûtendoar wie te keap mar it ____ yn 'e loads net
    the ship.NG outside was for sale but the.NG in the hangar not
    The ship outside was for sale, but the one in te hangar was not
    b. It skip bûtendoar wie te keap mar dat ____ yn 'e loads net
    the ship.NG outside was for sale but that.NG in the hangar not
    The ship outside was for sale, but the one in te hangar was not
    c. *De boat bûtendoar wie te keap mar de ____ yn 'e loads net
    the ship.CG outside was for sale but the.CG in the hangar not
    The ship outside was for sale, but the one in te hangar was not
    d. De boat bûtendoar wie te keap mar dy ____ yn 'e loads net
    the ship.CG outside was for sale but that.CG in the hangar not
    The ship outside was for sale, but the one in te hangar was not

    Furthermore, the common gender demonstrative dy that can be used in spoken language to antecede the neuter object skip ship, whereas the neuter demonstrative dat that cannot be used to antecede the common gender object boat boat. This makes it clear that there is a strong tendency to use common gender dy that for all objects, regardless of the gender of the corresponding words. Although judgments on the grammaticality may vary, there is no discussion about the relative contrast:

    3
    a. It skip bûtendoar wie te keap mar dy ____ yn 'e loads net
    the.NG ship outside was for sale but that.CG in the hangar not
    The ship outside was for sale, but the one in te hangar was not
    b. *De boat bûtendoar wie te keap mar dat ____ yn 'e loads net
    the ship.CG outside was for sale but that.NG in the hangar not
    The ship outside was for sale, but the one in te hangar was not

    Thus the common gender demonstrative may antecede both genders, but the neuter demonstrative may not.

    One may wonder why the demonstrative functions as a stand-in for the definite article. This use dates back to Early Modern Frisian and earlier, when the definite article and the demonstrative had the same form.

    References
      About this article
      Author(s): Eric Hoekstra, Joke Weening
      Category: Frisian Syntax
      Keywords: distal demonstrative
      Version: 1.0, December 2015
      Version history:
      version editor(s) date remarks
      1.0 Eric Hoekstra, Joke Weening December 2015
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