Taalportaal - the digital language portal

Dutch
Frisian
Saterfrisian
Afrikaans

Show all

The 2SG subject pronoun

quickinfo

The subject form of the 2SG pronoun do [do:] you behaves differently from the other pronouns. This is presumably due to the nature of its relation with the inflected, tensed verb.

In case the pronoun do 2SG follows the verb in a tensed clause, it cannot be independently present. Instead, it must cliticise onto the verb:

*Dan moatst do op bêd

then must.2SG you on bed

Then you'll have to go to bed

Dan moatsto op bêd

then must.2SG.you on bed

Then you'll have to go to bed

The grammatical example could be the result of assimilation of the voiced /d/ of the full form do you to the voiceless ending of the verb. However, that does not explain why the presence of the full form, which could otherwise occur in slow or emphatic speech, is forbidden even in slow or emphatic speech. Furthermore, pronouns can ordinarily be premodified by certain adverbial elements like sels even. An example is given below:

Dan moat sels hy op bêd

then must even he on bed

Then even he must go to bed

This is excluded in the case of the 2SG subject pronoun:

*Dan moatst sels do op bêd

then must even you on bed

Then even you must go to bed

The same pattern of facts is found in case the pronoun follows the complementiser:

Omdat sels hy op bêd moat

because even he on bed must

Because even he must go to bed

*Omdatst sels do op bêd moatst

because.2SG even you on bed must.2SG

Because even you must go to bed

These facts may be related to the fact that the 2SG agreement ending -st 2SG is the only ending that must appear on the complementiser (if present) and on the tensed verb. Hence an embedded clause has an agreement ending both on the complementiser and on the verb, as shown in the example below:

Omdatst op bêd moatst

because.2SG on bed must.2SG

Because you have to go to bed

In case the pronoun precedes the verb in a main clause, the pronoun may be absent altogether. This phenomenon is also referred to as pro-drop:

Do moatst op bêd

you must on bed

You must go to bed

Moatst op bêd

must.2SG on bed

You must go to bed

In case the pronoun follows the verb or the complementiser, the pronoun may also remain absent:

Dan moatst dat boek sels skriuwe

then must.2SG that book yourself write

Then you must write that book yourself

Alternatively, the pronoun may be cliticised onto the verb or complementiser. The pronoun may retain its full vowel or it may be weakened to a schwa:

Dan moatst-o / moatst-e dat boek sels skriuwe

then must.2SG.you must.2SG.you that book yourself write

Then you must write that book yourself

Omdatsto / Omdatste dat boek sels skriuwe moatst

because.2SG.you because.2SG.you that book yourself write must.2SG

Because you must write that book yourself

Weakening to schwa was common in older Frisian, but it sounds old-fashioned nowadays. Nowadays, either the full vowel is retained or the pronoun is altogether absent. In case the pronoun is embedded in a coordination structure, it cannot be completely absent. Instead, it must cliticise onto the complementiser:

Omdatsto en Lutske te let wiene

because.2SG.you and Lutske too late were.PL

Because you and Lutske were too late

*Omdatst en Lutske te let wiene

because.2SG and Lutske too late were.PL

Because you and Lutske were too late

extra

Literature

More details about the 2SG pronoun can be read in De Haan (1997), Hoekstra (2010: 215. 231), Hoekstra (1994), De Haan (1997) and Van der Meer (1991).

References

Haan, Germen J. de1997Voegwoordcongruentie in het FriesHoekstra, E. & Smits, C. (eds.)Vervoegde voegwoorden: lezingen gehouden tijdens het Dialectsymposion 1994Cahiers van het P.J. Meertens-Instituut 9Amsterdam50-67
Haan, Sies de1997Grammaticale status en betekenis van het voltooid deelwoord in het Nederlands: een probleemverkenningElffers, Els, Horst, Joop M. van der & Schermer-Vermeer, Ina C. (eds.)Grammaticaal spektakel: artikelen aangeboden aan Ina Schermer-Vermeer bij haar afscheid van de Vakgroep Nederlandse Taalkunde aan de Universiteit van AmsterdamVakgroup Nederlandse Taalkunde, Universiteit van Amsterdam89-101
Hoekstra, Eric1994Agreement and the Nature of SpecifiersGroninger Arbeiten zur Germanistischen Linguistik37159-168
Hoekstra, Jarich, Visser, Willem & Jensma, Goffe2010More is going on upstairs than downstairs: Embedded root phenomena in FrisianHaan, Germen J. de, Hoekstra, Jarich, Visser, Willen & Jensma, Goffe (eds.)Studies in West Frisian Grammar. Selected papers by Germen J. de HaanJohn Benjamins99-129
Meer, Geart van der1991The 'conjugation' of subclause introducers : Frisian -stNOWELE : North-Western European language evolution Nowele1763-84

⇑ Back to top

About this article

Author(s): Eric Hoekstra

Category: Frisian Syntax

Keywords: subject pronoun

Version: 1.0, December 2015

Version history:

version	editor(s)	date	remarks
1.0	Eric Hoekstra	December 2015

printreport errorcite

Jump to:

introduction
references
related articles