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1.2.2.2.Abstract nouns

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Abstract nouns denote entities that have a mental existence only, and therefore do not have any physical properties. Obvious examples are nouns like betekenis'meaning', liefde'love' and geloof'belief'. The set of abstract nouns also include nouns like verwoesting'destruction'; these nouns denote events, which are not directly perceivable and have no objective existence in the physical world, but are rather mental constructs built on the basis of observations relating to the participants and the results of the events in question. Nouns like aanname'assumption' or verzoek'request' are also taken to be abstract nouns; they denote mental constructs that are used to refer to propositional contents. The same thing holds for nouns like grootte'size' or schoonheid'beauty' that, instead of denoting concrete objects, denote properties of these objects.

I. Subclassification
II. Non-prototypical uses

[+] I. Subclassification

Most traditional (and also many theory-specific) discussions of abstract nouns treat these nouns as belonging to one heterogeneous group, their common feature being that they are not concrete. This is hardly surprising, since the category seems to defy systematic classification in terms of clear-cut features comparable to ±shape and ±set, which were used in 1.2.2.1 for the classification of the concrete nouns. Nevertheless, attempts have been made to come to a subclassification depending on the type of abstract entity denoted. Table 6 gives an overview of the types of abstract nouns that will be distinguished here together with a number of examples.

Table 6: Five subclasses of abstract nouns

type of noun	denotation	examples
State-of-affairs nouns	action +contr+dyn	verwoesting‘destruction’ behandeling‘treatment’
	process -contr+dyn	val‘fall’ vooruitgang‘progress’
	position +contr-dyn	verblijf‘stay’ volharding‘perseverance’
	state -contr-dyn	bewusteloosheid‘unconsciousness’ ligging‘position’
Proposition nouns	Propositional content	feit‘fact’ aanname‘assumption’
Speech-act nouns	statement	verklaring‘statement’, belofte‘promise’
	question	vraag‘question’, verzoek‘request’
	order	bevel‘order’, opdracht‘order’
Property nouns	Physical property	lengte‘length’, schoonheid‘beauty’
	Mental property	geduld‘patience’, verlegenheid‘shyness’
Emotion nouns	Emotion	liefde‘love’, angst‘fear’

In what follows, these types will be described in some detail. A brief discussion of differences in syntactic and morphological behavior between these subcategories will also be included.

[+] A. State-of-affairs nouns

State-of-affairs nouns, which are sometimes also referred to as event or process nouns, can be used to refer to states of affairs, that is, to actions (like verwoesting'destruction'), processes (like val'fall'), positions (like verblijf'stay'), states (like bewusteloosheid'unconsciousness'), and the like. As these states of affairs take place or obtain at a particular time and place, state-of-affairs nouns can be modified by time or place adverbials. Similarly, as states of affairs have participants, these nouns have arguments like agents, themes and recipients, even if these arguments are often not overtly present.
Let us consider some examples. The head noun verwoesting'destruction' in (75a) is used to denote an action, the noun val'fall' in (75b) denotes a process, the noun wonen'living' in (75c) denotes a position and the noun hebben'having' in (75d) denotes a state. In all these examples, the head noun is complemented by one or more noun phrases referring to the participant(s) in the state of affairs referred to by the noun phrase as a whole; see Section 2.2.3 for a more detailed discussion of these complements. Note that in all these examples the state-of-affairs nouns are typically derived from verbs; in view of their meaning, this will not come as a surprise.

a.		de verwoesting	van de stad	action: [+dynamic][+controlled]
		the destruction	of the city

b.		de val	van de regering	process: [+dynamic][-controlled]
		the fall	of the government

c.	het wonen	in een stad	position: [-dynamic][+controlled]
	the living	in a city
	'living in a city'

d.	het hebben	van blauwe ogen	state: [-dynamic][-controlled]
	the having	of blue eyes
	'having blue eyes'

[+] B. Proposition nouns

Proposition nouns are sometimes also referred to as content nouns; they denote entities that are assumed to have contents, such as facts, ideas, assumptions, beliefs etc. These entities function as propositions in the sense that they can be given a truth-value: they can be said to be true or untrue, they can be believed or denied, agreed with or rejected etc. The nouns in question have a complement, which typically takes the form of a clause or a PP: in (76a-c) the noun is complemented by a dat-clause denoting the content of the proposition and in (76d) a prepositional van-phrase is used.

a.	het feit	dat	de aarde	rond	is
	the fact	that	the earth	round	is
	'the fact that the earth is round'

b.	het idee	dat	schapen	gekloond	kunnen	worden
	the idea	that	sheep	cloned	can	be
	'the idea that sheep can be cloned'

c.	de aanname	dat	er	leven	op de maan	is
	the assumption	that	there	life	on the moon	is
	'the assumption that there is life on the moon'

d.	het nieuws	van het aanstaande huwelijk van de kroonprins
	the news	of the forthcoming marriage of the crown.prince
	'the news of the crown princeʼs forthcoming marriage'

Like state-of-affairs nouns, proposition nouns are typically, though not necessarily, deverbal; cf. the use of the simple nouns feit'fact' and idee'idea' in (76a&b). With the deverbal cases, the input verb belongs to the class of so-called verbs of thinking (such as geloven'to believe', aannemen'to assume', veronderstellen'to suppose', denken'to think', menen'to think/believe', argumenteren'to argue/reason', redeneren'to reason', etc.) or verbs denoting actions requiring some mental activity on the part of the speaker or hearer (like impliceren'to imply', bewijzen'to prove').
The primed examples in (77) show that deverbal proposition nouns all seem to have infinitival counterparts that are clearly related in meaning.

a.		de aanname
		'the assumption'

a'.		het aannemen
		'the assuming'

b.		de argumentatie
		'the argumentation'

b'.		het argumenteren
		'the arguing'

c.		de redenering
		'the reasoning/argumentation'

c'.		het redeneren
		'the reasoning'

Nevertheless, there are important semantic and syntactic differences between the two forms. As far as the semantics is concerned, deverbal proposition nouns like aanname, argumentatie, and redenering denote the content of the argumentation or (line of) reasoning, whereas the infinitival nouns function as state-of-affairs nouns, denoting the action of arguing or reasoning. In other words, while the former are preferred in contexts like (78a) where it is the content that is referred to, the latter are more acceptable in contexts like (78b) where some action is referred to.

a.		Zijn redenering	was niet	bepaald	logisch.
		his reasoning	was not	exactly	logical

a'.	??	Zijn	redeneren	was niet	bepaald	logisch.
		his	to.reason	was not	exactly	logical

b.	Logisch	redeneren	is niet	zijn sterkste punt.
	logically	to.reason	is not	his strongest point
	'Reasoning logically isnʼt his strongest point.'

b'.	??	Logische	redenering	is niet	zijn sterkste punt.
		logical	reasoning	is not	his strongest point

We refer the reader to Section 2.2.3.2 for a more detailed discussion of these forms and the syntactic differences between them (such as the optional/obligatory realization of the complement).

[+] C. Speech-act nouns

Speech-act nouns denote a type of abstract entity that can be described as a speech act. Nouns of this type, such as vraag'question', bevel'order', belofte'promise', verzoek'request', mededeling'announcement' denote some form of verbal interaction, and are typically derived from verbs denoting such activities, that is, the input verb is a verb of saying like vragen'to ask', bevelen'to order', beloven'to promise', verzoeken'to request', etc.
Like proposition nouns, speech-act nouns can take a clausal complement introduced by a complementizer denoting the contents of the speech act. This is illustrated in example (79) for the speech-act nouns mededeling'announcement' and verzekering'assurance', which take a clausal complement introduced by the complementizer dat'that'.

a.	De mededeling	dat de trein vertraagd was,	was niet	te verstaan.
	the announcement	that the train delayed was	was not	to hear
	'The announcement that the train was delayed couldnʼt be heard.'

b.	De verzekering	dat het probleem niet ernstig was,	stelde	ons	gerust.
	the assurance	that the problem not serious was	put	us	at.ease
	'The assurance that the problem wasnʼt serious put our minds at ease.'

Speech-act nouns can also take an infinitival complement introduced by the complementizer om, provided the input verb is able to do so, too. The implied subject PRO of the infinitival complement clause is interpreted as being coreferential with an argument of the speech-act noun. Which argument functions as antecedent depends on the context, just as in the case of verbs; cf. Section V5.2.2.1 for extensive discussion. The examples in (80) serve to illustrate this: in (80a), it is the genitive noun phrase Jans, referring to the person making the request, that will be interpreted as coreferential with PRO, and in (80b), it is the noun phrase Peter, the recipient of the request, that is interpreted as the PRO subject of the interpretation.

a.	Jans verzoek aan Peter	[om PRO	te mogen	blijven]	werd	genegeerd.
	Janʼs request to Peter	comp	to be.allowed	stay	was	ignored
	'Janʼs request to Peter for permission to stay was ignored.'

b.	Jans verzoek aan Peter	[om PRO	te blijven]	werd	genegeerd.
	Janʼs request to Peter	comp	to stay	was	ignored
	'Janʼs request to Peter to stay was ignored.'

The clausal complement of the speech-act noun vraag'question' is interrogative. As with the verb vragen'to ask', the interrogative complement can be a yes/no-question, introduced by the complementizer of, or a wh-question, introduced by a wh-phrase.

a.	de vraag	[of	we	moesten	komen]	yes/no-question
	the question	comp	we	must	come
	'the question as to whether we had to come'

b.	de vraag	[hoe	we	nu	moesten	handelen]	wh-question
	the question	how	we	now	must	act
	'the question as to how we should act in such cases'

Speech-act nouns can also take PP-complements. These complements can denote the contents of the speech act, in which case the choice of preposition often depends on the speech-act noun.

a.		zijn verzoek	om salarisverhoging
		his request	for pay rise

b.		zijn mededeling	over het volgende uitje
		'his announcement about the next excursion'

c.		het verbod	op roken	in dit gebouw
		the ban	on smoking	in this building

d.		de vraag	naar olie
		the request	for oil

A postnominal PP can, of course, also refer to the participants of the speech act, in which case the prepositions van'of' and aan'to' are used, followed by a noun phrase referring to the speaker and the addressee, respectively, as in (83). Note that both the van-PP and the aan-PP precede the om-complement in (83), regardless of whether the latter is a PP or a clause.

a.		het verzoek	van Marie	aan de commissie	om extra hulp
		the request	of Marie	to the committee	for extra help

b.		het verzoek	van Marie	aan de commissie	[om PRO	te worden	toegelaten]
		the request	of Marie	to the committee	comp	to be	admitted

The examples in (84) show that a postnominal PP can also have the function of an adverbial adjunct. These examples also show that a PP-complement must precede the PP-adjunct, whereas a complement clause follows it instead. For more details on the complementation of speech-act nouns, see Section 2.3.

a.		het verbod	<op stelen>	in de Bijbel <??op stelen>
		the ban	on stealing	in the Bible

b.		het verbod	<??[om PRO	te stelen]>	in de Bijbel <[om PRO te stelen]>
		the ban	comp	to steal	in the Bible

[+] D. Property nouns

Property nouns are those nouns that denote properties of entities. Two basic subtypes can be distinguished: (i) nouns describing physical/perceptible properties of concrete entities, such as hoogte'height', grootte'size', vorm'form', etc. and (ii) nouns describing abstract properties, such as character traits, like geduld'patience' or beleefdheid'politeness'. Property nouns, if derived, typically have an adjectival basis, such as hoog'high', breed'wide', groot'big', beleefd'polite', etc. Some basic property nouns, such as duur'duration' and kleur'color' have a verbal counterpart (duren'to last' and kleuren'to color'), but whether these nouns have been derived from the verbs in question or the other way round is an open question.

[+] 1. Physical property nouns

Since the physical properties denoted by property nouns are typically used to describe some other entity, they usually occur with a van-complement, as shown by examples (85a&b). Example (85c) shows that it is sometimes also possible to use a possessive pronoun or a genitive noun phrase.

a.		de hoogte van de toren	is indrukwekkend
		the height of the tower	is impressive

b.		De vorm van de vraag	is belangrijk.
		the form of the question	is important

c.		de lengte van Jan/Jans lengte/zijn lengte
		the height of Jan/Janʼs height/his height

Genitive noun phrases can only be used if the referent is +human, as in (85c), but possessive pronouns can also be used to refer to a -animate entity. This is, however, subject to certain restrictions that are not fully understood, and using a pronominalized van-PP is often preferred; see Section 5.2.2.1 for detailed discussion. Example (86c) shows that using a pronominalized van-PP to refer to a +human referent gives rise to a degraded result.

a.	De hoogte ervan/$Zijn hoogte	is indrukwekkend.
	the height of.it/his height	is impressive
	'Its height is impressive.'

b.	De vorm ervan/$Zijn vorm	is belangrijk.
	the form of.it/his form	is important
	'Its form is important.'

c.		Zijn[+human] lengte/??de lengte ervan[+human]
		his height/the height of him

A van-complement is not used if the reference is nonspecific or generic: in the former case the property noun will be preceded by the indefinite article, as in (87a), and in the latter case it may appear without a determiner, as in (87b).

a.		Elk gebouw	heeft	een hoogte,	een lengte	en	een breedte.
		every building	has	a height	a length	and	a width

b.	Vorm	is belangrijker	dan inhoud.
	form	is more important	than content
	'Form is more important than content.'

[+] 2. Abstract property nouns

The second subcategory of property nouns consists of nouns that denote properties that cannot be observed or measured in a direct way, but which form part of the mental make-up of the entity described. They include nouns denoting (more or less) permanent character traits like geduld'patience', intelligentie'intelligence' or luiheid'laziness'. As with the physical property nouns, these nouns typically occur in combination with a van-PP or, when the property is assigned to a +human entity, with a genitive noun phrase or possessive pronoun. This is illustrated in example (88).

a.		de aantrekkingskracht	van drugs
		the attraction	of drugs

b.		het geduld	van Peter
		the patience	of Peter

b'.		Peters/zijn geduld
		Peterʼs/his patience

[+] E. Emotion nouns

The emotion nouns are the final type of abstract nouns that we will discuss here, These nouns denote (more or less) temporary emotions, like haat'hatred', begeerte'desire', behoefte'need' and verdriet'grief'. In most cases, the emotion denoted involves some other, affected, entity. In this respect, the nouns exhibit a structural parallelism with the verbs to which they are semantically related; this will become clear from comparing the primeless, verbal constructions in (89) with the primed, nominal ones. However, the fact that these nouns select their own preposition (voor, aan, naar, tegen/jegens), which is typically lacking in the verbal constructions, suggests that these nouns cannot be considered derived from the related verbs. See Section 2.1, sub VA5, for some more discussion on the emotion nouns.

a.		Peter	behoeft	rust.	archaic
		Peter	needs	quiet

a'.		Peters	behoefte	aan rust	colloquial
		Peterʼs	need	for quiet

b.		Zij	begeert	macht.
		she	craves	power

b'.		haar	begeerte	naar macht
		her	craving	for power

c.		Hij	haat	zijn rivaal.
		he	hates	his rival

c'.		zijn haat	tegen/jegens zijn rivaal
		his hatred	of his rival

[+] II. Non-prototypical uses

In many cases nouns that can be used to refer to abstract entities can also be used to refer to concrete entities. This type of ambiguity has often been referred to as the difference between state-of-affairs nouns and result nouns, with the former denoting an event and the latter the concrete result of that event; cf. Abney (1987: 115), Grimshaw (1990), De Haas & Trommelen (1993: 241) and Alexiadou et al. (2007: part IV, Section 1.3). Examples of such nouns are uitvinding'invention' and bestrating'surfacing/surface' in example (90). Observe the difference in complementation between the two (a)-examples in (90), with the van-PP referring to the invention and the inventor, respectively; see Section 2.2.3.3 for more details on the complementation of ing-nominalizations.

a.		De uitvinding van de telefoon	dateert	uit de 19e eeuw.	process noun
		the invention of the telephone	dates	from the 19th century

a'.	De uitvinding van Bell	hing	aan de muur.	result noun
	the invention of Bell	hangs	on the wall
	'Bellʼs invention is hanging on the wall.'

b.		De bestrating van de weg	duurde	drie weken.	process noun
		the surfacing of the road	took	three weeks

b'.	De bestrating van deze weg	moet	vernieuwd	worden.	result noun
	the surface of this road	needs	renewed	be
	'This road is in need of a new surface.'

The distinction between result and process nouns covers only a small number of the many ambiguities that may occur with abstract nouns. Many nouns can be used to denote an abstract entity like an action or process as well as a concrete entity that is not the result of the state of affairs but in some other way related to it. In examples (91a'&b'), for instance, the nouns vergadering and bezoek refer to participants (namely, the agents) of the action denoted by the verbs vergaderen'to meet' and bezoeken'to visit', and in (91c') the noun huisvesting'housing' refers to the (concrete) means through which the action of housing is accomplished. In all three cases the nouns in the primeless sentences are state-of-affairs nouns.

a.		De vergadering	duurde	drie uur.	process noun
		the meeting	lasted	three hour

a'.		De vergadering	bestond	uit oudere heren.	“participant” noun
		the meeting	consisted	of elderly gentlemen

b.		Het bezoek	duurde	erg lang.	process noun
		the visit	lasted	very long

b'.		Het bezoek	bleef	erg lang.	“participant” noun
		the visitors	stayed	very long

c.		De huisvesting van asielzoekers	duurt	te lang.	process noun
		the housing of asylum seekers	takes	too long

c'.	We	waren	op zoek	naar geschikte huisvesting.	“means” noun
	we	were	looking	for suitable housing
	'We were looking for suitable accommodation.'

In other cases, the abstract noun in question does have an event and a result reading, but instead of the result being a concrete entity, its referent, too, is abstract. An example is given in (92): in (92a) the noun veroordeling is used to refer to the action of sentencing performed by the jury, whereas in (92b) it is used to refer to the punishment resulting from this action.

a.	De veroordeling van de beklaagde	door de jury	verliep	moeizaam.
	the sentencing of the accused	by the jury	went	difficult
	'The sentencing of the accused by the jury was problematic.'

b.	De verdachte	wachtte	een zware veroordeling.
	the accused	waited	a heavy sentence
	'The accused was in for a heavy sentence.'

Finally, example (93) shows that the abstract noun need not be a state-of-affairs noun. Instead the ambiguity here is between an abstract, speech act reading of the nouns vraag'question' and bevel'order' and a concrete reading. In these cases, the speech-act reading is clearly the prototypical one.

a.	Hij	had	de vraag/het bevel	niet	goed	begrepen.	abstract
	he	had	the question/the order	not	well	understood
	'He hadnʼt quite understood the question/order.'

b.		De vraag/het bevel	was moeilijk	te lezen.	concrete
		the question/the order	was difficult	to read

References:

Abney, Steven1987The English noun phrase in its sentential aspectCambridge,, MAMITThesis
Alexiadou, Artemis, Haegeman, Liliane & Stavrou, Melita2007Noun phrases in the generative perspectiveBerlin/New YorkMouton de Gruyter
Grimshaw, Jane1990Argument structureLI Monograph 18Cambridge, MAMIT Press
Haas, Wim de & Trommelen, Mieke1993Morfologisch handboek van het Nederlands. Een overzicht van de woordvormingSDU Uitgeverij

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About this article

Author(s): Hans Broekhuis, Evelien Keizer

Category: Dutch Syntax

Keywords: Abstract NounComplementizerEmotion NounNounProperty NounProposition NounR-pronominalizationResult NounSpeech-act NounState-of-affairs Noun

Version: 1.0, December 2015

Version history:

version	editor(s)	date	remarks
1.0	Hans Broekhuis, Evelien Keizer	December 2015

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