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    On PP arguments in nominalized gerundial infinitives
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    Adposition Phrase (PP) arguments may be licensed either in the verbal domain or in the nominal domain. It is only the fan of PP that unambiguously signals the presence of the nominal domain.

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    The nominal domain of an infinitive is signalledd by articles and determiners, and by the presence of a fan of phrase. PP arguments of an infinitive must always follow the infinitive if they are to be realised in the nominal domain. Consequently, such PPs never precede ordinary nouns:

    1
    a. *Dat fan grutte jonges getreiter
    that of big boys teasing
    That teasing of big boys
    b. *Dat troch grutte jonges getreiter
    that of big boys teasing
    That teasing by big boys

    The reverse does not hold. PP arguments of an infinitive may either precede or follow the infinitive if they are realised within the verbal domain of the infinitive. The example in (2) illustrates this for a verbal (in the sense of non-nominalized) infinitive. These facts hold regardless of whether the infinitive is an ordinary infinitive or whether it is a gerund:

    2
    a. Ik wol gjin alkohol jaan oan jonge bern
    I want no alcohol give to young children
    I do not want to give alcohol to young children
    b. Ik wol gjin alkohol oan jonge bern jaan
    I want no alcohol to young children give
    I do not want to give alcohol to young children

    Troch by phrases can occur on either side of a verbal infinitive:

    3
    a. Se litte smjunten fêstnimme troch de plysje
    they let villains arrest by the police
    They let villains be arrested by the police
    b. Se litte smjunten troch de plysje fêstnimme
    they let villains by the police arrest
    They let villains be arrested by the police

    Similarly, they can occur on either side of a nominalised verbal infinitive provided they are realised in its verbal domain. More specifically, if they follow the infinitive, they can either be in its nominal or in its verbal domain. If they precede the infinitive, they must be in its verbal domain, seeing that nouns never allow PPs to precede them:

    4
    a. It smjunten troch de plysje fêstnimme litten
    the villains by the police arrest let
    The arresting of villains by the police
    b. It smjunten fêstnimme litten troch de plysje
    the villains arrest let by the police
    The arresting of villains by the police

    It is only the fan of PP which unambiguously signals the presence of the nominal domain. Other PPs following the infinitive may either be in its nominal domain or in its verbal domain. The realisation of Noun Phrase (NP) arguments in the verbal domain (which must precede the infinitive) may be subject to aspectual restrictions, to the effect that bare plural nouns are generally used in order to obtain a grammatical result. This is not further illustrated.

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      About this article
      Author(s): Eric Hoekstra
      Category: Frisian Syntax
      Keywords: nominalized gerundal infinitive
      Version: 1.0, December 2015
      Version history:
      version editor(s) date remarks
      1.0 Eric Hoekstra December 2015
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