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

    The clausal complement may be finite. The complementiser must remain absent in case a complex wh-subject is extracted from subject position. Furthermore, clausal complements need not be syntactically subordinated, even if indirect speech is involved.

    readmore

    A noun may take a finite clausal complement. In the example below, it has the form of a clause introduced by a question word (a wh-clause).

    1
    Se rekken ek meiinoar oan it tsieren oer de fraach wa fan harren as de foarnaamste jilde koe
    they got also with.each.other at the quarrelling about the question who of them as the most.important count could
    They also began to quarrel about the question which of them could be regarded as the most important

    The example above is an example of syntactically subordinated indirect speech. Syntactic subordination is signalledd by the word order characteristic of syntactically subordinated clauses, with the tensed verb at the end of the clause. Indirect speech is signalledd, in the example above, by the past tense of the verb. Incidentally, the example above involves short preposing of a complex wh-phrase wa fan harren who of them from subject position. Apparently, this blocks the presence of a complementiser, see also embedded wh-phrase):

    2
    *Se rekken ek meiinoar oan it tsieren oer de fraach wa fan harren dat as de foarnaamste jilde koe
    they got also with.each.other at the quarrelling about the question who of them that as the most.important count could
    They also began to quarrel about the question which of them could be regarded as the most important

    The corresponding object extraction in the example below is grammatical:

    3
    Se rekken ek meiinoar oan it tsieren oer de fraach wa fan harren dat ik as de foarnaamste seach
    they got also with.each.other at the quarrelling about the question who of them that I as the most.important saw
    They also began to quarrel about the question which of them I regarded as the most important

    A corresponding extraction of a simple subject does not sound well:

    4
    *Se rekken ek meiinoar oan it tsieren oer de fraach wa dat as de foarnaamste jilde koe
    they got also with.each.other at the quarrelling about the question who that as the most.important count could
    They also began to quarrel about the question which of them two could be regarded as the most important

    These facts should be further investigated. The clausal complement may also constitute an example of indirect speech that is not syntactically subordinated, as shown below:

    5
    Hy stelde har ûnder it befel fan Publius Vitellius, mei de hjitting, hja soene fierders de wei oer lân nimme
    he put them under the command of Publius Vitellius, with the instruction they should for.the.remainder the road across land take
    He put them under the command of Publius Vitellius with the instruction that they should travel by land for the remainder of the journey

    The lack of syntactic subordination is signalledd by the word order, characteristic of main clauses, with the tensed verb soene should in second position. Indirect speech is signalledd in the example above by the past tense of the verb. (6) is an example of a clausal complement in direct speech. Direct speech is signalledd by the second person pronoun jim you:

    6
    Jim komme ûnder it befel fan Publius Vitellius mei de hjitting, jim sille fierders de wei oer lân nimme
    you come under the command of Publius Vitellius with the instruction you shall for.the.remainder the road across land take
    You shall be under the command of Publius Vitellius, with the instruction "you shall travel by land for the remainder of the journey"

    The preposition fan of may be used to introduce such clausal complements, regardless of whether they are direct or indirect speech, syntactically subordinated or not. The example below illustrates this for direct speech which is not syntactically subordinated:

    7
    Jim komme ûnder it befel fan Publius Vitellius mei de hjitting fan, jim sille fierders de wei oer lân nimme
    you come under the command of Publius Vitellius with the instruction of you shall for.the.remainder the road across land take
    You shall be under the command of Publius Vitellius, with the instruction "you shall travel by land for the remainder of the journey"

    The example below illustrates this for direct speech which is syntactically subordinated:

    8
    Jim komme ûnder it befel fan Publius Vitellius mei de hjitting fan dat jim fierders de wei oer lân nimme sille
    you come under the command of Publius Vitellius with the instruction of that you for.the.remainder the road across land take shall
    You shall be under the command of Publius Vitellius, with the instruction that you shall travel by land for the remainder of the journey

    This use of fan of belongs to spoken rather than written language, especially if it does not involve syntactic subordination. Factive finite clauses may somewhat marginally be introduced by prepositions. The example below involves a deadjectival noun selecting the preposition oer about.

    9
    a. Tsjerk is lilk oer dat er net útnoege is
    Tsjerk is angry about that he not invited is
    Tsjerk is angry about not being invited
    b. Syn lilkens oer dat er net útnoege is
    his angriness about that he not invited is
    His angriness about not being invited

    The example below involves an agentive deverbal noun:

    10
    a. Aristoteles ûntduts dat de ierde rûn wie
    Aristoteles discovered that the earth round was
    Aristotle discovered that the earth was round
    b. Aristoteles wie de ûntdekker fan dat de ierde rûn is
    Aristotle was the discoverer of that the earth round is
    Aristotle was the discoverer of the fact that the earth is round
    References
      About this article
      Author(s): Eric Hoekstra
      Category: Frisian Syntax
      Keywords: finite clause
      Version: 1.0, December 2015
      Version history:
      version editor(s) date remarks
      1.0 Eric Hoekstra December 2015
      printreport errorcite
      Jump to:
      X