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The Imperativus-pro-Infinitivo construction
quickinfo

The Imperativus-pro-Infinitivo construction (IPI) is a kind of infinitival construction. It has several characteristic properties. One characteristic property is the position of the verb, which is found at the beginning of the embedded infinitival clause. An example is given below:

1
De plysje soe by him komme en helje him op
the police would at him come and fetch him up
The police would visit him and collect him

The verb helje fetch occurs at the very beginning of the infinitival clause, right adjacent to the element that is homophonous to the coordinating conjunct en and.

The IPI comes in two varieties, depending on its function in the sentence. In the first place, the IPI can be an adjunct clause in the scope of a modal operator, such as a modal verb. This is illustrated by the example above, which is therefore referred to as an instance of the adjunct IPI. The adjunct IPI cannot be directly selected by a modal verb. In the literature, this type of IPI may also be referred to as the coordinating IPI.

In the second place, the IPI can function as the argument of a predicate selecting non-infinitival clauses. An example is given below:

2
Heerd doarde it net oan en rin it hiem op
Heerd dared it not AdP and walk the premises up
Heerd did not dare to go and set foot on the premises

In this example, the IPI is the coreferent of the cataphor it it, which functions as the direct object of the verb doare dare. This type of IPI is consequently referred to as the argument IPI. In the literature, this variety of IPI may also be referred to as the subordinating IPI. The two types of Imperativus-pro-Infinitivo (IPI) differ with respect to their history and their dialect-geographical spread.

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More details about the imperativus-pro-infinitivo construction can be found by following the corresponding links:

extra
Literature

More details can be found in Hoekema (1958), De Haan (1990), Hoekema (1971), Hoekstra (1997), Hoekstra (1987), Van der Meer (1972), Van der Meer (1975), Van der Meer (1987), Van der Meer (1989), Miedema (1957), Veldman (1991), Waart (1971) and De Waart (1972).

References
  • Haan, Germen J. de1990De Friese Imperativus-Pro-InfinitivoTaal en tongval Themanummer DialectsyntaxisXLII87-107
  • Hoekema, Teake1958In spesifyk Frysk syntagmeUs Wurk717-23
  • Hoekema, Teake1971Sentences with imperativus pro infinitivoUs Wurk2061-74
  • Hoekstra, Jarich1987'Verb second' en de 'imperativus pro infinitivo' in het FriesTabu: taalkundig bulletin van het Nederlands Instituut van de Rijksuniversiteit Groningen1796-121
  • Hoekstra, Jarich1997The syntax of infinitives in FrisianGroningenRijksuniversiteit GroningenThesis
  • Meer, Geart van der1972'Is it de muoite wurdich en lêz dit?' (A description of the so-called 'en [plus] imperative construction' in Frisian)Us wurk: tydskrift foar Frisistyk Bydragen wijd oan de neitins fan mr. M.G. Oosterhout (1920-1970).21-22151-166
  • Meer, Geart van der1975The imperativus pro infinitivo reconsideredUs wurk: tydskrift foar Frisistyk2419-34
  • Meer, Geart van der1987Wurdfolchoarder nei dat en de en + ymperatyfsin : (inkelde diskusjebijdragen)Us wurk: tydskrift foar Frisistyk361-13
  • Meer, Geart van der1989The so-called imperativus pro infinitivo (IPI) in West-Frisian : (on the interplay to syntax, semantics and morphology)NOWELE : North-Western European language evolution Nowele49-85
  • Miedema, Hendrikus T.J1957It bynwurd 'en' mei in ymperatyf of in ynfinityfDe Pompeblêdden: tydskrift foar Fryske stúdzje28232-236
  • Veldman, F1991De en-constructie in het GroningsUs Wurk42104-121
  • Waart, A.A.J. de1971Constructies met en + 'imperatiefzin' in het moderne Westerlauwerse FriesStúdzjekonferinsje Frysk 6 en 7 april 1971 to Grins organisearre fan 'e Ynteruniversitaire Stúdzjerie Frysk
  • Waart, A.A.J. de1972Twee aspecten van de Friese imperativus pro infinitivo: 'saamhorigheid' en 'content phrases': naar aanleiding van Hoekema's 'Sentences with imperativus pro infinitivo', met een aanhangsel naar aanleiding van Van der Meers 'Is it de muoite wurdich en lêzLjouwertYSF
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