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Selecting a to-infinitive
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Modals can select predications headed by a to-infinitive. The resulting clause has an absentive interpretation, as if the particle fuort away or the verb fuortgean go away had been elided. The infinitival verb may be expanded morphologically by incorporation, but it may not be syntacticaly expanded. In this respect, modals are similar to the copula wêze be, the copula gean go and other copulas.

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Verb Phrase (VP) predication involving a to-infinitive is allowed in case the infinitival verb is a verb of activity that is characteristically associated with a designated location away from the subject's expected location:

1
a. Van der Zee woe krekt in dei te fiskjen
Van der Zee wanted just a day to fish.GI
Precisely at that moment Van der Zee wanted to go fishing for a day
b. Syn freon Karst, dêr't er hinne soe te boartsjen
his friend Karst where.R he to would to play
His friend Karst, where he wanted to go to in order to play

Such examples may involve the adposition fuort away or even an adposition accompanied by the perfect participle gean go. The three variants all have almost the same meaning:

2
a. Van der Zee woe krekt in dei fuort te fiskjen
Van der Zee wanted just a day away to fish.GI
Precisely at that moment Van der Zee wanted to go fishing for a day
b. Van der Zee woe krekt in dei fuortgean te fiskjen
Van der Zee wanted just a day away.go to fish.GI
Precisely at that moment Van der Zee wanted to go fishing for a day

The infinitival clause may not be expanded in syntax, that is, it may not be accompanied by material which it subcategorises for:

3
a. *Van der Zee woe krekt in dei op hjerring te fiskjen
Van der Zee wanted just a day on herring to fish.GI
Precisely at that moment Van der Zee wanted to go fishing for a day
b. *Omdat er hjoed it hier te knippen moat
because he today the hair to cut is
Because he must have his hair cut today

The infinitival clause may only be expanded in morphology, that is, it requires the incorporation of material which it subcategorises for:

4
a. Van der Zee woe krekt in dei te hjerringfiskjen
Van der Zee wanted just a day to herring.fish.GI
Precisely at that moment Van der Zee wanted to go fishing for a day
b. Omdat er hjoed te hierknippen woe
because he today to hair.cut wanted
Because he must have his hair cut today

Incorporating to-infinitival clauses may similarly be preceded by an adposition or even an adposition accompanied by the perfect participle gien gone. The to-infinitive may occur on either side of the tensed modal:

5
a. Omdat er hjoed fuort [te hierknippen] woe
because he today away to hair.cut wanted
Because he wanted to go out today to have his hair cut
b. Omdat er hjoed fuort woe [te hierknippen]
because he today away wanted to hair.cut
Because he wanted to go for a haircut today

If the modal is accompanied by the verb of going, then the to-infinitive is preferably placed to the right of the verb:

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a. ?*Omdat er hjoed fuortgean [te hierknippen] woe
because he today away.go to hair.cut wanted
Because he wanted to go for a haircut today
b. Omdat er hjoed fuortgean woe [te hierknippen]
because he today away.go wanted to hair.cut
Because he wanted to go for a haircut today
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