- Dutch
- Frisian
- Saterfrisian
- Afrikaans
-
- Phonology
- Segment inventory
- Phonotactics
- Phonological processes
- Phonology-morphology interface
- Word stress
- Primary stress in simplex words
- Monomorphemic words
- Diachronic aspects
- Generalizations on stress placement
- Default penultimate stress
- Lexical stress
- The closed penult restriction
- Final closed syllables
- The diphthong restriction
- Superheavy syllables (SHS)
- The three-syllable window
- Segmental restrictions
- Phonetic correlates
- Stress shifts in loanwords
- Quantity-sensitivity
- Secondary stress
- Vowel reduction in unstressed syllables
- Stress in complex words
- Primary stress in simplex words
- Accent & intonation
- Clitics
- Spelling
- Morphology
- Word formation
- Compounding
- Nominal compounds
- Verbal compounds
- Adjectival compounds
- Affixoids
- Coordinative compounds
- Synthetic compounds
- Reduplicative compounds
- Phrase-based compounds
- Elative compounds
- Exocentric compounds
- Linking elements
- Separable complex verbs (SCVs)
- Gapping of complex words
- Particle verbs
- Copulative compounds
- Derivation
- Numerals
- Derivation: inputs and input restrictions
- The meaning of affixes
- Non-native morphology
- Cohering and non-cohering affixes
- Prefixation
- Suffixation
- Nominal suffixation: person nouns
- Conversion
- Pseudo-participles
- Bound forms
- Nouns
- Nominal prefixes
- Nominal suffixes
- -aal and -eel
- -aar
- -aard
- -aat
- -air
- -aris
- -ast
- Diminutives
- -dom
- -een
- -ees
- -el (nominal)
- -elaar
- -enis
- -er (nominal)
- -erd
- -erik
- -es
- -eur
- -euse
- ge...te
- -heid
- -iaan, -aan
- -ief
- -iek
- -ier
- -ier (French)
- -ière
- -iet
- -igheid
- -ij and allomorphs
- -ijn
- -in
- -ing
- -isme
- -ist
- -iteit
- -ling
- -oir
- -oot
- -rice
- -schap
- -schap (de)
- -schap (het)
- -sel
- -st
- -ster
- -t
- -tal
- -te
- -voud
- Verbs
- Adjectives
- Adverbs
- Univerbation
- Neo-classical word formation
- Construction-dependent morphology
- Morphological productivity
- Compounding
- Inflection
- Inflection and derivation
- Allomorphy
- The interface between phonology and morphology
- Word formation
- Syntax
- Preface and acknowledgements
- Verbs and Verb Phrases
- 1 Characterization and classification
- 2 Projection of verb phrases I:Argument structure
- 3 Projection of verb phrases II:Verb frame alternations
- Introduction
- 3.1. Main types
- 3.2. Alternations involving the external argument
- 3.3. Alternations of noun phrases and PPs
- 3.3.1. Dative/PP alternations (dative shift)
- 3.3.1.1. Dative alternation with aan-phrases (recipients)
- 3.3.1.2. Dative alternation with naar-phrases (goals)
- 3.3.1.3. Dative alternation with van-phrases (sources)
- 3.3.1.4. Dative alternation with bij-phrases (possessors)
- 3.3.1.5. Dative alternation with voor-phrases (benefactives)
- 3.3.1.6. Conclusion
- 3.3.1.7. Bibliographical notes
- 3.3.2. Accusative/PP alternations
- 3.3.3. Nominative/PP alternations
- 3.3.1. Dative/PP alternations (dative shift)
- 3.4. Some apparent cases of verb frame alternation
- 3.5. Bibliographical notes
- 4 Projection of verb phrases IIIa:Selection of clauses/verb phrases
- 5 Projection of verb phrases IIIb:Argument and complementive clauses
- Introduction
- 5.1. Finite argument clauses
- 5.2. Infinitival argument clauses
- 5.3. Complementive clauses
- 6 Projection of verb phrases IIIc:Complements of non-main verbs
- 7 Projection of verb phrases IIId:Verb clusters
- 8 Projection of verb phrases IV: Adverbial modification
- 9 Word order in the clause I:General introduction
- 10 Word order in the clause II:Position of the finite verb (verb-first/second)
- 11 Word order in the clause III:Clause-initial position (wh-movement)
- Introduction
- 11.1. The formation of V1- and V2-clauses
- 11.2. Clause-initial position remains (phonetically) empty
- 11.3. Clause-initial position is filled
- 12 Word order in the clause IV:Postverbal field (extraposition)
- 13 Word order in the clause V: Middle field (scrambling)
- 14 Main-clause external elements
- Nouns and Noun Phrases
- 1 Characterization and classification
- 2 Projection of noun phrases I: complementation
- Introduction
- 2.1. General observations
- 2.2. Prepositional and nominal complements
- 2.3. Clausal complements
- 2.4. Bibliographical notes
- 3 Projection of noun phrases II: modification
- Introduction
- 3.1. Restrictive and non-restrictive modifiers
- 3.2. Premodification
- 3.3. Postmodification
- 3.3.1. Adpositional phrases
- 3.3.2. Relative clauses
- 3.3.3. Infinitival clauses
- 3.3.4. A special case: clauses referring to a proposition
- 3.3.5. Adjectival phrases
- 3.3.6. Adverbial postmodification
- 3.4. Bibliographical notes
- 4 Projection of noun phrases III: binominal constructions
- Introduction
- 4.1. Binominal constructions without a preposition
- 4.2. Binominal constructions with a preposition
- 4.3. Bibliographical notes
- 5 Determiners: articles and pronouns
- Introduction
- 5.1. Articles
- 5.2. Pronouns
- 5.3. Bibliographical notes
- 6 Numerals and quantifiers
- 7 Pre-determiners
- Introduction
- 7.1. The universal quantifier al 'all' and its alternants
- 7.2. The pre-determiner heel 'all/whole'
- 7.3. A note on focus particles
- 7.4. Bibliographical notes
- 8 Syntactic uses of noun phrases
- Adjectives and Adjective Phrases
- 1 Characteristics and classification
- 2 Projection of adjective phrases I: Complementation
- 3 Projection of adjective phrases II: Modification
- 4 Projection of adjective phrases III: Comparison
- 5 Attributive use of the adjective phrase
- 6 Predicative use of the adjective phrase
- 7 The partitive genitive construction
- 8 Adverbial use of the adjective phrase
- 9 Participles and infinitives: their adjectival use
- 10 Special constructions
- Adpositions and adpositional phrases
- 1 Characteristics and classification
- Introduction
- 1.1. Characterization of the category adposition
- 1.2. A formal classification of adpositional phrases
- 1.3. A semantic classification of adpositional phrases
- 1.3.1. Spatial adpositions
- 1.3.2. Temporal adpositions
- 1.3.3. Non-spatial/temporal prepositions
- 1.4. Borderline cases
- 1.5. Bibliographical notes
- 2 Projection of adpositional phrases: Complementation
- 3 Projection of adpositional phrases: Modification
- 4 Syntactic uses of the adpositional phrase
- 5 R-pronominalization and R-words
- 1 Characteristics and classification
- Phonology
-
- General
- Phonology
- Segment inventory
- Phonotactics
- Phonological Processes
- Assimilation
- Vowel nasalization
- Syllabic sonorants
- Final devoicing
- Fake geminates
- Vowel hiatus resolution
- Vowel reduction introduction
- Schwa deletion
- Schwa insertion
- /r/-deletion
- d-insertion
- {s/z}-insertion
- t-deletion
- Intrusive stop formation
- Breaking
- Vowel shortening
- h-deletion
- Replacement of the glide w
- Word stress
- Clitics
- Allomorphy
- Orthography of Frisian
- Morphology
- Inflection
- Word formation
- Derivation
- Prefixation
- Infixation
- Suffixation
- Nominal suffixes
- Verbal suffixes
- Adjectival suffixes
- Adverbial suffixes
- Numeral suffixes
- Interjectional suffixes
- Onomastic suffixes
- Conversion
- Compositions
- Derivation
- Syntax
- Verbs and Verb Phrases
- Characteristics and classification
- Unergative and unaccusative subjects
- Evidentiality
- To-infinitival clauses
- Predication and noun incorporation
- Ellipsis
- Imperativus-pro-Infinitivo
- Expression of irrealis
- Embedded Verb Second
- Agreement
- Negation
- Nouns & Noun Phrases
- Classification
- Complementation
- Modification
- Partitive noun constructions
- Referential partitive constructions
- Partitive measure nouns
- Numeral partitive constructions
- Partitive question constructions
- Nominalised quantifiers
- Kind partitives
- Partitive predication with prepositions
- Bare nominal attributions
- Articles and names
- Pronouns
- Quantifiers and (pre)determiners
- Interrogative pronouns
- R-pronouns
- Syntactic uses
- Adjective Phrases
- Characteristics and classification
- Complementation
- Modification and degree quantification
- Comparison by degree
- Comparative
- Superlative
- Equative
- Attribution
- Agreement
- Attributive adjectives vs. prenominal elements
- Complex adjectives
- Noun ellipsis
- Co-occurring adjectives
- Predication
- Partitive adjective constructions
- Adverbial use
- Participles and infinitives
- Adposition Phrases
- Characteristics and classification
- Complementation
- Modification
- Intransitive adpositions
- Predication
- Preposition stranding
- Verbs and Verb Phrases
-
- General
- Morphology
- Morphology
- 1 Word formation
- 1.1 Compounding
- 1.1.1 Compounds and their heads
- 1.1.2 Special types of compounds
- 1.1.2.1 Affixoids
- 1.1.2.2 Coordinative compounds
- 1.1.2.3 Synthetic compounds and complex pseudo-participles
- 1.1.2.4 Reduplicative compounds
- 1.1.2.5 Phrase-based compounds
- 1.1.2.6 Elative compounds
- 1.1.2.7 Exocentric compounds
- 1.1.2.8 Linking elements
- 1.1.2.9 Separable Complex Verbs and Particle Verbs
- 1.1.2.10 Noun Incorporation Verbs
- 1.1.2.11 Gapping
- 1.2 Derivation
- 1.3 Minor patterns of word formation
- 1.1 Compounding
- 2 Inflection
- 1 Word formation
- Morphology
- Syntax
- Adjectives and adjective phrases (APs)
- 0 Introduction to the AP
- 1 Characteristics and classification of APs
- 2 Complementation of APs
- 3 Modification and degree quantification of APs
- 4 Comparison by comparative, superlative and equative
- 5 Attribution of APs
- 6 Predication of APs
- 7 The partitive adjective construction
- 8 Adverbial use of APs
- 9 Participles and infinitives as APs
- Nouns and Noun Phrases (NPs)
- 0 Introduction to the NP
- 1 Characteristics and Classification of NPs
- 2 Complementation of NPs
- 3 Modification of NPs
- 3.1 Modification of NP by Determiners and APs
- 3.2 Modification of NP by PP
- 3.3 Modification of NP by adverbial clauses
- 3.4 Modification of NP by possessors
- 3.5 Modification of NP by relative clauses
- 3.6 Modification of NP in a cleft construction
- 3.7 Free relative clauses and selected interrogative clauses
- 4 Partitive noun constructions and constructions related to them
- 4.1 The referential partitive construction
- 4.2 The partitive construction of abstract quantity
- 4.3 The numerical partitive construction
- 4.4 The partitive interrogative construction
- 4.5 Adjectival, nominal and nominalised partitive quantifiers
- 4.6 Kind partitives
- 4.7 Partitive predication with a preposition
- 4.8 Bare nominal attribution
- 5 Articles and names
- 6 Pronouns
- 7 Quantifiers, determiners and predeterminers
- 8 Interrogative pronouns
- 9 R-pronouns and the indefinite expletive
- 10 Syntactic functions of Noun Phrases
- Adpositions and Adpositional Phrases (PPs)
- 0 Introduction to the PP
- 1 Characteristics and classification of PPs
- 2 Complementation of PPs
- 3 Modification of PPs
- 4 Bare (intransitive) adpositions
- 5 Predication of PPs
- 6 Form and distribution of adpositions with respect to staticity and construction type
- 7 Adpositional complements and adverbials
- Verbs and Verb Phrases (VPs)
- 0 Introduction to the VP in Saterland Frisian
- 1 Characteristics and classification of verbs
- 2 Unergative and unaccusative subjects and the auxiliary of the perfect
- 3 Evidentiality in relation to perception and epistemicity
- 4 Types of to-infinitival constituents
- 5 Predication
- 5.1 The auxiliary of being and its selection restrictions
- 5.2 The auxiliary of going and its selection restrictions
- 5.3 The auxiliary of continuation and its selection restrictions
- 5.4 The auxiliary of coming and its selection restrictions
- 5.5 Modal auxiliaries and their selection restrictions
- 5.6 Auxiliaries of body posture and aspect and their selection restrictions
- 5.7 Transitive verbs of predication
- 5.8 The auxiliary of doing used as a semantically empty finite auxiliary
- 5.9 Supplementive predication
- 6 The verbal paradigm, irregularity and suppletion
- 7 Verb Second and the word order in main and embedded clauses
- 8 Various aspects of clause structure
- Adjectives and adjective phrases (APs)
-
- General
- Phonology
- Afrikaans phonology
- Segment inventory
- Overview of Afrikaans vowels
- The diphthongised long vowels /e/, /ø/ and /o/
- The unrounded mid-front vowel /ɛ/
- The unrounded low-central vowel /ɑ/
- The unrounded low-central vowel /a/
- The rounded mid-high back vowel /ɔ/
- The rounded high back vowel /u/
- The rounded and unrounded high front vowels /i/ and /y/
- The unrounded and rounded central vowels /ə/ and /œ/
- The diphthongs /əi/, /œy/ and /œu/
- Overview of Afrikaans consonants
- The bilabial plosives /p/ and /b/
- The alveolar plosives /t/ and /d/
- The velar plosives /k/ and /g/
- The bilabial nasal /m/
- The alveolar nasal /n/
- The velar nasal /ŋ/
- The trill /r/
- The lateral liquid /l/
- The alveolar fricative /s/
- The velar fricative /x/
- The labiodental fricatives /f/ and /v/
- The approximants /ɦ/, /j/ and /ʋ/
- Overview of Afrikaans vowels
- Word stress
- The phonetic properties of stress
- Primary stress on monomorphemic words in Afrikaans
- Background to primary stress in monomorphemes in Afrikaans
- Overview of the Main Stress Rule of Afrikaans
- The short vowels of Afrikaans
- Long vowels in monomorphemes
- Primary stress on diphthongs in monomorphemes
- Exceptions
- Stress shifts in place names
- Stress shift towards word-final position
- Stress pattern of reduplications
- Phonological processes
- Vowel related processes
- Consonant related processes
- Homorganic glide insertion
- Phonology-morphology interface
- Phonotactics
- Morphology
- Syntax
- Afrikaans syntax
- Nouns and noun phrases
- Characteristics of the NP
- Classification of nouns
- Complementation of NPs
- Modification of NPs
- Binominal and partitive constructions
- Referential partitive constructions
- Partitive measure nouns
- Numeral partitive constructions
- Partitive question constructions
- Partitive constructions with nominalised quantifiers
- Partitive predication with prepositions
- Binominal name constructions
- Binominal genitive constructions
- Bare nominal attribution
- Articles and names
- Pronouns
- Quantifiers, determiners and predeterminers
- Syntactic uses of the noun phrase
- Adjectives and adjective phrases
- Characteristics and classification of the AP
- Complementation of APs
- Modification and Degree Quantification of APs
- Comparison by comparative, superlative and equative degree
- Attribution of APs
- Predication of APs
- The partitive adjective construction
- Adverbial use of APs
- Participles and infinitives as adjectives
- Verbs and verb phrases
- Characterisation and classification
- Argument structure
- Verb frame alternations
- Complements of non-main verbs
- Verb clusters
- Complement clauses
- Adverbial modification
- Word order in the clause: Introduction
- Word order in the clause: position of the finite Verb
- Word order in the clause: Clause-initial position
- Word order in the clause: Extraposition and right-dislocation in the postverbal field
- Word order in the middle field
- Emphatic constructions
- Adpositions and adposition phrases
Under certain circumstances, the head of a noun phrase need not be overtly expressed. This is possible if the remainder of the noun phrase consists of a definite or indefinite determiner combined with an attributive adjective or an ordinal numeral, as in (104).
a. | Jan kocht | een/de blauwe vaas | en | Peter een/de groene [e]. | |
Jan bought | a/the blue vase | and | Peter a/the green (one) |
b. | Jan kreeg | de eerste prijs. | De tweede [e] | ging | naar Peter. | |
Jan got | the first prize | the second | went | to Peter | ||
'Jan got the first prize. The second (prize) was given to Peter.' |
N-ellipsis of this sort does not occur with other modifiers of the noun. This is illustrated in (105) by means of a postnominal PP-modifier. Examples such as (105) become acceptable, of course, if an attributive adjective is added: een/de groene [e] met blauwe strepen.
* | Marie kocht | een/de jurk | met groene stippen | en | Els kocht | een/de [e] | met blauwe strepen. | |
Marie bought | a/the dress | with green spots | and | Els bought | a/the | with blue stripes |
Note that the term N-ellipsis is somewhat misleading given that the ellipsis may involve a larger projection of the noun. Two examples are given in (106): (106a) is interpreted in such a way that Peter has a blue American car and (106b) that Peter tells the long version of the story.
a. | Jan heeft | een | groene | Amerikaanse | wagen | en | Peter een blauwe [e]. | |
Jan has | a | green | American | car | and | Peter a blue (one) |
b. | Jan vertelde | de korte versie van het verhaal | en | Peter de lange [e]. | |
Jan told | the short version of the story | and | Peter the long (one) |
N-ellipsis is also possible without the presence of an attributive modifier provided that the remainder of the noun phrase is a cardinal number or a demonstrative pronoun, as in (107). In these examples, the empty noun is represented by [e].
a. | Jan kocht | vier vazen | en | Peter drie [e]. | |
Jan bought | four vases | and | Peter three |
b. | Jan kocht | deze vaas | en | Peter die [e]. | |
Jan bought | this vase | and | Peter that (one) |
Given the acceptability of the examples in (107) it does not come as a surprise that the primeless examples in (108) with postnominal PP-modifiers are possible as well. Interestingly, examples such as (108a) seem to require that the second adjunct is reduced. If the second conjunct is not reduced, the construction in (109) with so-called quantitative er seems much preferred.
a. | Jan kocht | vier vazen uit China | en | Peter drie [e] | uit Chili. | |
Jan bought | four vases from China | and | Peter three | from Chile |
b. | Jan kocht | deze vaas uit China | en | Peter die [e] | uit Chili. | |
Jan bought | this vase from China | and | Peter that (one) | from Chile |
a. | * | Jan kocht | vier vazen uit China | en | Peter kocht | drie [e] | uit Chili. |
Jan bought | four vases from China | and | Peter bought | three | from Chile |
b. | Jan kocht | vier vazen uit China | en | Peter kocht | er | drie [e] | uit Chili. | |
Jan bought | four vases from China | and | Peter bought | er | three | from Chile |
This section focuses on cases such as (104a), that is, on cases in which an attributive adjective is present. As is already indicated in the examples above, we will assume that the reduced noun phrase has the structure [NP een groene [e]], where [e] indicates an empty projection of the noun. The nominal projection [e] receives an interpretation, which may either be reconstructed from the (linguistic or non-linguistic) context or be established independently; the two cases will be discussed in, respectively, Subsection I and II. Before we do this, we want to point out that for some (but not all) speakers, N-ellipsis is only allowed if the adjective has the attributive -e ending. In other words, for these speakers N-ellipsis is excluded in singular indefinite noun phrases headed by a neuter noun. This gives rise to the contrast in (110), where the empty noun in (110a) is interpreted as the non-neuter noun fiets'bike', and in (110b) as the neuter noun boek'book'.
a. | Mijn fiets | is gestolen | en | ik | heb | daarom | een nieuwe [e] | gekocht. | |
my bike | is stolen | and | I | have | therefore | a new (one) | bought | ||
'My bike has been stolen, and therefore Iʼve bought a new one.' |
b. | % | Mijn boek | is gestolen | en | ik | heb | daarom | een nieuw [e] | gekocht. |
my book | is stolen | and | I | have | therefore | a new (one) | bought | ||
'My book has been stolen, and therefore Iʼve bought a new one.' |
Further, even those speakers who do accept (110b) occasionally reject cases in which the attributive -e is absent. This is especially the case with adjectives that cannot take the attributive -e ending; cf. Section 5.1.2. The judgments in (111) are of an idiosyncratic nature and may vary from speaker to speaker.
a. | Jan heeft | zijn zilveren ring | verkocht | en | een gouden [e] | gekocht. | |
Jan has | his silver ring | sold | and | a golden | bought | ||
'Jan has sold his silver ring and has bought a golden one.' |
b. | *? | Ik | heb | hem | de geprinte brief | gegeven | en | zelf | de handgeschreven [e] | gehouden. |
I | have | him | the printed letter | given | and | myself | the hand.written | kept | ||
'I gave him the printed letter and have kept the hand-written one myself.' |
c. | * | Hij | heeft | een luxe huis | en | ik | een | van alle franje | ontdaan [e]. |
he | has | a luxurious home | and | I | an | of all luxury | deposed | ||
'He has a luxurious home and I have [a house] that is deprived of all luxury.' |
Given these problems with uninflected attributive adjectives, which deserve more attention in the future, the following subsections will only provide examples in which the adjective is inflected.
This subsection discusses N-ellipsis that is sensitive to the context, which may be of a non-linguistic or a linguistic nature. These two contexts are discussed in, respectively, Subsections A and B. Since N-ellipsis can be confused with backward conjunction reduction, the differences between the two constructions will be discussed in Subsection C.
N-ellipsis triggered by the non-linguistic context is quite a common phenomenon. When two persons are in the zoo watching the penguins being fed, one could easily say something like (112a). Similarly, while looking at some dolls on display in a shop window, one can say something like (112b-c). Observe that N-ellipsis can apply to several types of arguments: in (112a), we are dealing with a subject, in (112b) with an object, and in (112c) with a prepositional complement.
a. | De kleine [e] | heeft | nog | geen vis | gekregen. | |
the small | has | yet | no fish | received | ||
'The small one didnʼt get any fish yet.' |
b. | Ik | ga | de grote [e] | met de blauwe jurk | kopen. | |
I | go | the big | with the blue dress | buy | ||
'Iʼll buy that big one with the blue dress.' |
c. | Kijk | eens | naar | de grote [e] | met de blauwe jurk! | |
look | prt | at | the big | with the blue dress |
The examples in (113) show that N-ellipsis triggered by the non-linguistic context is marked if the adjective is preceded by the definite neuter determiner het. For example, when we are looking at a number of CDs, it would be perfectly acceptable to use (113a) with the definite determiner de, but it would be awkward to use (113b) when we are looking at number of books.
a. | Ik | heb | net | de nieuwe [e] | van Lou Reed | gekocht. | de CD | |
I | have | just | the new | by Lou reed | bought | |||
'I just bought the new one.' |
b. | % | Ik | heb | net | het nieuwe [e] | van Jeroen Brouwers | gekocht. | het boek |
I | have | just | the new | by Jeroen Brouwers | bought | |||
'I just bought the new one.' |
The context from which the content of the empty noun can be recovered can also be provided by the linguistic environment. The following subsections discuss some restrictions on the antecedent of the elided nominal projection.
The primeless examples in (114) show that N-ellipsis can be licensed by some syntactically realized noun in a preceding sentence, whereas the primed examples show that N-ellipsis is excluded if [e]precedes the overtly realized noun. The unacceptability of the singly-primed examples is not due to the empty element but to the overtly realized one, which will be clear from the fact that applying N-ellipsis to the latter, as in the doubly-primed examples, will give rise to a fully acceptable result if the discourse provides a suitable antecedent for both empty nouns.
a. | Ik | heb | een nieuwe stoel | gekocht. | Jij | mag | de oude [e] | meenemen. | |
I | have | a new chair | bought | you | may | the old | away.take | ||
'I bought a new chair. You may take the old one.' |
a'. | *? | Ik heb een nieuwe [e] gekocht. Jij mag de oude stoel meenemen. |
a''. | Ik heb een nieuwe [e] gekocht. Jij mag de oude [e] meenemen. |
b. | Ik heb de nieuwe postzegels | gezien. | De mooiste [e] | komt | uit Finland. | |
I have the new stamps | seen | the most.beautiful | comes | from Finland | ||
'Iʼve seen the new stamps. The most beautiful one comes from Finland.' |
b'. | *? | Ik heb de nieuwe [e] gezien. De mooiste postzegel komt uit Finland. |
b''. | Ik heb de nieuwe [e] gezien. De mooiste [e] komt uit Finland. |
The conditions on the interpretation of [e]resemble those on the interpretation of referential personal pronouns. This will become clear when we compare the examples in (114) with those in (115), in which coreference is indicated by italics. Just like [e]in the primeless examples in (114), the pronoun hij in (115a) is dependent for its interpretation on the direct object in the preceding sentence, and like the empty noun in the primed examples of (114), the pronoun in (115b) cannot precede its antecedent. This becomes possible, however, if the antecedent itself is an empty noun or a pronoun, as in the doubly-primed examples in (114) and example (115c).
a. | Ik | belde | Peter | gisteren. | Hij | is | ontslagen. | |
I | called | Peter | yesterday | he | has.been | dismissed |
b. | *? | Ik | belde | hem | gisteren. | Peter | is | ontslagen. |
I | called | him | yesterday | Peter | has.been | dismissed |
c. | Ik | belde | hem | gisteren. | Hij | is | ontslagen. | |
I | called | him | yesterday | he | has.been | dismissed |
Note that N-ellipsis discourse is also possible if the syntactically realized antecedent is neuter, in contrast to what is the case if the antecedent is determined by the non-linguistic context. This will become clear by comparing the examples in (116) with the one in (113b).
a. | Ik | heb | een nieuw woordenboek | gekocht. | Jij | mag | het oude [e] | hebben. | |
I | have | a new dictionary | bought | you | may | the old | have | ||
'I bought a new dictionary. You may take the old one.' |
b. | Ik | heb | de nieuwe boeken | gezien. | Het gele [e] | komt | uit Finland. | |
I | have | the new books | seen | the yellow | comes | from Finland | ||
'Iʼve seen the new books. The yellow one comes from Finland.' |
If the sentences in (114) are coordinated by means of the conjunction en'and', the judgments remain the same. More cases of N-ellipsis in coordinated clauses are given in (117) to (119). These examples show that N-ellipsis may apply both in full and in reduced clauses; in (118) the subject of the second conjunct is not expressed, and in (119) the verb of the second conjunct is absent as the result of gapping.
a. | dat | Jan [NP | de grote tent] | opzet | en | Piet [NP | de kleine [e]] | neerhaalt. | |
that | Jan | the big tent | puts.up | and | Piet | the small | pulls.down | ||
'that Jan is putting up the big tent and Piet is pulling down the small one.' |
b. | dat | Jan [NP | het sterke paard] | roskamt | en | Piet [NP | het zieke [e]] | knuffelt. | |
that | Jan | the strong horse | curries | and | Piet | the sick | cuddles | ||
'that Jan is currying the strong horse and Piet is cuddling the sick one.' |
a. | dat | Jan [NP | de grote tent] | opzet | en [NP | de kleine [e]] | neerhaalt. | |
that | Jan | the big tent | puts.up | and | the small | pulls.down | ||
'that Jan is putting up the big tent and pulling down the small one.' |
b. | dat | Jan [NP | het sterke paard] | roskamt | en [NP | het zieke [e]] | knuffelt. | |
that | Jan | the strong horse | curries | and | the sick | cuddles | ||
'that Jan is currying the strong horse and cuddling the sick one.' |
a. | dat | Jan [NP | de grote tent] | opzet | en | Piet [NP | de kleine [e]] | |
that | Jan | the big tent | puts.up | and | Piet | the small | ||
'that Jan is putting up the big tent and Piet (is putting up) the small one.' |
b. | dat | Jan [NP | het sterke paard] | roskamt | en | Piet [NP | het zieke [e]] | |
that | Jan | the strong horse | curries | and | Piet | the sick | ||
'that Jan is currying the strong horse and Piet (is currying) the sick one.' |
Although N-ellipsis leads to a fully acceptable result in coordinated sentences, this seems not to be the case in coordinated noun phrases. The examples in (120) and (121), which involve subjects and objects, respectively, are not acceptable for most speakers, and even for those speakers that accept these examples, the preferred option will still be backward conjunction reduction, which results in structures where the interpretative gap precedes the overtly realized noun; cf, subsection IC.
a. | % | dat [NP | [de grote tent] | en | [de lichte [e]]] | worden | gebruikt. |
that | the big tent | and | the light | are | used |
b. | % | dat [NP | [het sterke paard] | en | [het lieve [e]]] | worden | geroskamd. |
that | the strong horse | and | the kind | are | curried |
a. | % | dat Jan [NP | [de grote tent] | en | [de lichte [e]]] | gebruikt. |
that Jan | the big tent | and | the light | uses |
b. | % | dat Jan [NP | [het sterke paard] | en | [het lieve [e]]] | roskamt. |
that Jan | the strong horse | and | the kind | curries |
In addition to occurring in successive and coordinated sentences, N-ellipsis may also occur in the case of subordination. This is demonstrated in the primeless examples in (122). Although some speakers accept the primed examples under the intended interpretation, for most speakers the overt noun must precede the empty one.
a. | De domme student | dacht | dat | de slimme [e] | hem | wel | zou | helpen. | |
the silly student | thought | that | the smart | him | prt | would | help | ||
'The silly student thought that the smart one would help him.' |
a'. | % | De domme [e] dacht dat de slimme student hem wel zou helpen. |
b. | De rode druiven | waren | te zoet, | hoewel | de witte [e] | lekker | waren. | |
the red grapes | were | too sweet | although | the white | appetizing | were | ||
'The red grapes were too sweet, although the white ones were appetizing.' |
b'. | % | De rode [e]waren te zoet, hoewel de witte druiven lekker waren. |
c. | Ik | wil | eerst | de oude auto | kwijt | voordat | ik | een nieuwe [e] | koop. | |
I | want | first | the old car | get.rid.of | before | I | a new | buy | ||
'I want to get rid of my old car, before I buy a new one.' |
c'. | % | Ik wil eerst de oude [e] kwijt voordat ik een nieuwe auto koop. |
The interpretation of the empty noun again resembles the interpretation of a personal pronoun in this respect; cf. the discussion of (115). This is illustrated in (123), in which coreference is again indicated by italics.
a. | Jan denkt | dat | hij | wel | geholpen | zal | worden. | |
Jan thinks | that | he | prt | helped | will | be |
a'. | * | Hij denkt dat Jan wel geholpen zal worden. |
b. | Jan kwam | langs, | hoewel | hij | ziek | was. | |
Jan dropped | in | although | he | ill | was |
b'. | * | Hij kwam langs, hoewel Jan ziek was. |
c. | Jan | ontbijt | altijd, | voordat | hij | vertrekt. | |
Jan | has.breakfast | always | before | he | departs |
c. | * | Hij ontbijt altijd, voordat Jan vertrekt. |
The order restriction on the overt and the empty noun is not a surface phenomenon. For example, the primeless examples in (124) show that topicalization of the complement/adjunct clauses in (122) does not block N-ellipsis in the subordinate clause. However, topicalization of the subordinated clauses renders N-ellipsis in the main clause fully acceptable too; this is illustrated in the primed examples in (124), which should be compared with the primed examples in (122).
a. | Dat de slimme [e] | hem | wel | zal helpen, | denkt | alleen | de domme student. | |
that the smart | him | prt | would help | thinks | only | the silly student |
a'. | Dat de slimme student hem wel zal helpen, denkt alleen de domme [e]. |
b. | Hoewel | de witte [e] | lekker | waren, | waren | de rode druiven | te zoet. | |
although | the white | appetizing | were | were | the red grapes | too sweet |
b'. | Hoewel de witte druiven lekker waren, waren de rode [e] te zoet. |
c. | Voordat | ik | een nieuwe [e] | koop, | wil | ik | eerst | de oude auto | kwijt. | |
before | I | a new | buy | want | I | first | the old car | get.rid.of |
c'. | Voordat ik een nieuwe auto koop, wil ik eerst de oude [e] kwijt. |
The examples in (125) show that the interpretation of [e] again resembles the interpretation of the referential personal pronouns in this respect: we refer the reader to N5.2.1.5, sub III, for more discussion of the conditions on the interpretation of the personal pronouns.
a. | Dat | hij | wel | geholpen | zal | worden, | denkt | alleen | Jan | zelf. | |
that | he | prt | helped | will | be | thinks | only | Jan | himself | ||
'Only Jan himself thinks that heʼll be helped.' |
a'. | Dat Jan wel geholpen zal worden, denkt alleen hij zelf. |
b. | Hoewel | hij | ziek | was, | kwam | Jan | langs. | |
although | he | ill | was | came | Jan | along | ||
'Although he was ill, Jan came along.' |
b'. | Hoewel Jan ziek was, kwam hij langs. |
c. | Voordat | hij | vertrekt, | ontbijt | Jan altijd. | |
before | he | leaves | has.breakfast | Jan always | ||
'Jan is always having breakfast, before he leaves.' |
c'. | Voordat Jan vertrekt, ontbijt hij altijd. |
N-ellipsis can also apply within simple clauses. This is illustrated in the primeless examples in (126), in which N-ellipsis on a direct/prepositional object is triggered by the subject. Unlike what is the case in the complex sentences in (122), it occasionally seems to be possible for the empty noun to precede the overtly realized one in simple clauses, as shown in the primed examples.
a. | Het oude paard | trapte | (naar) | het jonge [e]. | |
the old horse | kicked | towards | the young | ||
'The old horse kicked (in the direction of) the young one.' |
a'. | Het oude [e] trapte (naar) het jonge paard. |
b. | Het oude paard | staat | naast | het jonge [e]. | |
the old horse | stands | next.to | the young |
b'. | Het oude [e] staat naast het jonge paard. |
The cases of N-ellipsis in the primeless and primed examples of (126) seem to behave differently in various respects. For example, the primed examples require a special intonation contour; contrastive accent (indicated by small capitals) must be placed on the attributive adjectives. Another conspicuous difference is that the overt and empty noun need not have the same number in the primeless examples, whereas this seems to be required in the primed examples. This can easily be demonstrated in (127) by means of the neuter noun paard'horse', which takes the determiner het in the singular and the determiner de in the plural.
a. | Het oude paard | trapte | (naar) | de jonge [e]. | |
the old horse | kicked | towards | the young | ||
'The old horse kicked (in the direction of) the young ones.' |
a'. | ?? | Het oude [e] trapte (naar) de jonge paarden. |
b. | Het oude paard | staat | tussen | de jonge [e]. | |
the old horse | stands | between | the young (ones) |
b'. | ?? | Het oude [e] staat tussen de jonge paarden. |
Although the primed examples in (126) are fully acceptable, we have seen that N-ellipsis normally requires that the empty pronoun be preceded by the overtly realized one. There are, however, examples such as (128) that seem to violate this restriction on N-ellipsis. Such examples always involve coordination; example (128a) involves coordinated clauses, and (128b) involves coordinated noun phrases (as is evident from the plural agreement on the finite verb).
a. | [[Jan gebruikt | de grote —] | en | [Piet gebruikt | de kleine tent]]. | |
Jan uses | the big | and | Piet uses | the small tent |
b. | [[De | grote —] | en | [de kleine tent]] | staan in de gang. | |
the | big | and | the small tent | stand in the corridor |
These cases are, however, only apparent counter-examples as they are not cases of N-ellipsis but of backward conjunction reduction, which, as the name already indicates, occurs in coordinated structures only. backward conjunction reduction involves deletion of material at the immediate right edge of the first conjunct under phonological identity with material on the immediate right edge of the second conjunct. Schematically, this deletion operation can be represented as in (129).
[[X Z] conjunction [Y Z]] ⇒ |
[[X ∅] conjunction [Y Z]] |
In (129), X, Y and Z stand for random strings of words, with the only restriction that the final constituents of X and Y are accented (i.e., form a contrast with each other). A typical example is given in (130a), in which the deletion is represented by means of double strikethrough. Observe that the deleted string does not make up a constituent; it consists of the main verb gehad, the direct object een gesprek, the adverbial phrase met de directeur, and a subpart of the adverbial phrase of time voor de lunch; see also the impossibility of topicalization of this string in *De lunch een gesprek met de directeur gehad heeft Jan voor. In this example, the prepositions voor and na must receive accent. That the deleted string must be at the immediate right edge of the first conjunct is clear from the fact that the embedded counterpart of (130a) in (130b) is only acceptable if the finite verb heeft, which is overtly realized in (130a), is also omitted.
a. | [Jan | heeft | voorde lunch een gesprek met de directeur gehad] | en | [Piet heeft | na | de lunch | een gesprek | met de directeur | gehad]. | |
Jan | has | before | and | Piet has | after | the lunch | a talk | with the director | had |
b. | dat | [Jan voorde lunch een gesprek met de directeur gehad heeft] | en | [Piet na | de lunch | een gesprek | met de directeur | gehad | heeft]. | |
that | Jan before | and | Piet after | the lunch | a talk | with the director | had | has |
Given that we have established that the deleted string must be at the immediate right edge of the first conjunct, we are now able to test whether the examples in (128) involve N-ellipsis or backward conjunction reduction. Let us start with example (128a), which involves coordination of clauses; if this example involves N-ellipsis, we would expect that the noun could also be left out if the noun phrase is followed by other lexical material (cf. example (112b)), whereas we would expect this to be impossible if it involves backward conjunction reduction. The predictions can be tested by putting the example in the perfect tense, as a result of which the participle is placed in clause-final position, as in (131a). Since most speakers consider this sentence unacceptable, we may conclude that we are not dealing with N-ellipsis in (128a), but with backward conjunction reduction. This conclusion is supported by the fact that the sentence becomes fully acceptable if the participle in the first conjunct is deleted as well, as is shown in (131b).
a. | % | Jan heeft | de grote — | gebruikt | en | Piet heeft | de lichte tent | gebruikt. |
Jan has | the big | used | and | Piet has | the light tent | used |
b. | Jan heeft | de grote tent gebruikt | en | Piet heeft | de lichte tent | gebruikt. | |
Jan has | the big | and | Piet has | the light tent | used |
Something similar arises in the case of (128b), which involves coordination of noun phrases: as soon as something follows the interpretative gap in the first conjunct, the structure becomes unacceptable for most speakers. This is brought about in (132a) by adding a possessive van-PP. Example (132b) illustrates that N-ellipsis is not sensitive to the addition of a van-PP, which suggests that example (128b) is also a case of backward conjunction reduction.
a. | % | [[De grote — | van mij] | en | [de kleine tent van de kinderen]] | staan daar. |
the big | of me | and | the small tent of the children | stand there | ||
'The big tent of mine and the small tent of the childrenʼs are standing over there.' |
b. | dat | Jan [NP | de grote [N tent] | van mij] | opzet | en | Piet | [NP | de kleine [Ne] | van de kinderen] | neerhaalt. | |
that | Jan | the big tent | of me | puts.up | and | Piet | [NP | the small | of the children | down-pulls | ||
'that Jan is putting up the big tent of mine and Piet is pulling down the small one of the childrenʼs.' |
For completeness’ sake, note that, unlike N-ellipsis, backward conjunction reduction is not sensitive to the presence or absence of the adjectival -e ending. This is clear from the fact that, unlike (110b) and (111b), the examples in (133) are acceptable for all speakers of Dutch.
a. | Piet heeft | een nieuw huis gekocht | en | Marie heeft | een oud huis | gekocht. | |
Piet has | a new | and | Marie has | an old house | bought | ||
'Piet bought a new, and Marie bought an old house.' |
b. | Piet heeft | de handgeschreven versie meegenomen | en | Marie heeft | de geprinte | versie | meegenomen | ||
Piet has | the hand.written | and | Marie has | the printed | version | with-taken | |||
'Piet took the hand-written, and Marie took the printed version.' |
Subsection I has discussed context sensitive N-ellipsis, that is, cases in which the interpretation of the empty noun is determined by the non-linguistic context or an overtly realized noun phrase in preceding discourse. In some cases, however, adjectives without a noun can be used without the context providing any clues about the intended interpretation. The subcases in (134) can be distinguished.
a. | Het-group -count | |
i. abstract nouns: het leuke'the entertaining thing' | ||
ii.geographical names: het Griekse'the Greek thing' |
b. | De-group +count | |
i. +human nouns: de blinde/bejaarde'the blind/aged person' | ||
ii.biological terms: de lipbloemige/katachtige'the labiate/feline' |
The interpretation of the construction is mainly determined by the selected definite article: noun phrases with het refer to abstract, non-countable entities, whereas noun phrases with de refer to persons. This will become clear by means of the following minimal pairs.
a. | het vreemde | (van de zaak) | |
the strange | of the case | ||
'the strange thing (of the case)' |
a'. | de vreemde | |
the strange | ||
'the stranger' |
b. | het zieke | (van het geval) | |
the sick | of the case | ||
'the sick aspect (of the case)' |
b'. | de zieke | |
the ill | ||
'the sick person' |
The examples in (136) show that the two groups differ in that the het-group can normally be combined with the article het only, whereas the de-group can be freely combined with other determiners like indefinite articles, demonstratives, etc.
a. | * | een/dat | vreemde | van de zaak |
a/that | funny | of the case |
b. | een/die | vreemde | |
a/that | strange | ||
'a/that stranger' |
There are, however, some exceptions to the claim that non-human noun phrases of this type cannot occur with an indefinite article. Examples like (137a&b) are possible and are typically used to refer to jokes of a certain type. Some more or less idiomatic examples can be found in (137c&d).
a. | een leuke/goede | 'a funny/good joke' |
b. | een paar vieze | 'a couple of dirty jokes' |
c. | een gouwe ouwe | 'a golden oldie' |
d. | Jij | bent | me | een mooie/rare! | |
you | are | me | a beautiful/weird | ||
'Youʼre a funny sort, and no mistake!' |
The examples in (138) show that the constructions in (134) are subject to a phonological constraint: they do not occur with adjectives that end in the long vowels /a/ or /i/. Furthermore, the examples in (139) show that the constructions in (134) cannot be formed on the basis of simplex loan words either. The adjectives in (138) and (139) have in common that they do not get the attributive -e ending, but it is important to note the attributive form without schwa cannot perform the function of the adjectives in (134) either.
a. | * | een | prima(-e) |
a | fine (person) |
a'. | een | prima(*-e) | vent | |
a | fine | chap |
b. | * | het | sexy(-e) |
the | sexy (thing) |
b'. | het | sexy(*-e) | gebaartje | |
the | sexy | gesture |
a. | * | het/de | privé(-e) |
the | private (thing/person) |
a'. | de | privé(*-e) | les | |
the | private | lesson |
b. | * | het/de | gratis(-e) |
the | free thing/person |
b'. | de | gratis(*-e) | behandeling | |
the | free | treatment |
In this connection, it should be noted that the number of adjectives ending in /a/ and /i/ is quite limited. Moreover, according to the criteria in De Haas and Trommelen (1993), the cases given in (138) do not even belong to the Germanic part of the Dutch lexicon. So perhaps the examples in (138) are unacceptable for the same reason as those in (139); they are loan words. For completeness’ sake, observe that the adjective albino'albino', but not the adjective indigo'indigo', occurs as a noun: de albino; *de indigo.
This subsection discusses two popular analyses for the examples in (134); see Booij (2002:51-2) for a brief sketch of two alternative proposals. According to the first, traditional proposal, the formations are nominalizations and the -e ending is a nominalizing affix. According to the second proposal, we are dealing with N-ellipsis and the -e ending is therefore the attributive inflection.
Traditionally, the cases in (134) are considered as instances of nominalization. There are at least four facts supporting this position. First, the examples in (140) show that plural formation of the de-group is possible, which is typically a nominal and not an adjectival property. Note that this argument is mainly based on the orthographic convention, given that the plural -n is not pronounced in Standard Dutch, and that the het-group does not provide similar evidence, given that it consists of non-count noun phrases only.
a. | de blinde(n) | 'the blind one(s)' |
b. | de goede(n) | 'the good one(s)' |
c. | de lipbloemige(n) | 'the labiate(s)' |
d. | de katachtige(n) | 'the feline(s)' |
Second, the -e affix may also appear on adjectives that do not allow the attributive inflection. This holds for the adjectives in (141) that orthographically end in -en. This ending is normally pronounced as schwa but realized as [ən] in the primeless examples.
a. | het | besprokene | |
the | discussed (thing) |
a'. | het | besproken(*-e) | probleem | |
the | discussed | problem |
b. | de | besprokene | |
the | discussed (person) |
b'. | de | besproken(*-e) | persoon | |
the | discussed | person |
Observe that if the adjective orthographically ends in -e (schwa), the -e affix is absent; the /n/ in (142) is the plural ending, which should not be confused with the /n/ of besproken in the examples in (141).
a. | ? | De perfiden | onder ons | zullen zeggen dat ... |
the perfidious ones | among us | will say that ... |
b. | De malafiden | maken | het | onmogelijk | voor de bonafiden. | |
the malafide ones | make | it | impossible | for the bonafide ones |
Third, the examples in (143) seem to provide independent evidence for the fact that the -e ending can be used as a nominalizing affix. The alternative of treating it as attributive inflection runs afoul of the fact that possessive pronouns normally do not inflect. A nominalization approach would furthermore account for the fact that the resulting forms can be preceded by a determiner. Note in this connection that the form jullie cannot be nominalized, which may be related to the observation made in Subsection B that this prohibition also holds for adjectives ending in /i/.
singular | plural | ||
1st person | de/het mijne | de/het onze | |
2nd person | colloquial | de/het jouwe | *de/het jullie(-e) |
polite | de/het uwe | de/het uwe | |
3rd person | masculine | de/het zijne | ?de/het hunne |
feminine | de/het hare | ||
neuter | de/het zijne |
The examples in (143) are perhaps not entirely comparable to the cases of context insensitive N-ellipsis under discussion here, given that their interpretation is generally context-dependent; cf. (144a). This does not hold, however, for their plural counterparts in (144b), which are typically used to refer to a certain set of peoples.
a. | Jij | zingt | eerst | jouw lied. | Daarna | zing | ik | het mijne. | |
you | sing | first | your song | After | sing | I | the mine | ||
'You sing your song first, subsequently, Iʼll sing mine.' |
b. | Luther en | de zijnen | |
Luther and | the his | ||
'Luther and his followers' |
Finally, the examples in (145) pose a severe problem for the N-ellipsis analysis, as the postulated empty nominal element [e] cannot be replaced by a phonetically realized one. Since the nominalization approach does not postulate such an empty element, these facts indirectly support this approach.
a. | de | ouden | van dagen | |
the | old | of days | ||
'senior citizens' |
a'. | * | de | oude | mensen | van dagen |
the | old | people | of days |
b. | de | armen | van geest | |
the | poor | of spirit |
b'. | * | de | arme | mensen | van geest |
the | poor | people | of spirit |
c. | de | groten | van naam | |
the | great | of name |
c'. | * | de | grote | mensen | van naam |
the | great | people | of name |
The arguments given in the previous subsection provide important evidence in favor of a nominalization approach to the constructions in (134), but there are also arguments against such an approach, and in favor of assuming that these examples involve N-ellipsis, that is, that we are dealing with genuine adjectives in these cases.
The first argument concerns plural formation, and could be interpreted as a counterargument to the first argument in favor of nominalization. Although nouns that end in a schwa often can have either a plural -s or a plural -n morpheme, the first seems more common than the latter (which is not pronounced in Standard Dutch). The cases under discussion, however, resist a plural in -s categorically; cf. the primed and primeless examples in (146).
a. | de blinden/*blindes | |
'the blind ones' |
a'. | de types/?typen | |
'the type/the types' |
b. | de rijken/*rijkes | |
'the rich' |
b'. | de dames/*damen | |
'the lady/ladies' |
c. | de snellen/*snelles | |
'the quick ones' |
c'. | de piramides/?piramiden | |
'the pyramids' |
d. | de goeden/*goedes | |
'the good ones' |
d'. | de ruïnes/?ruïnen | |
'the ruins' |
This argument against nominalization is probably not very strong given that a noun like waarde'value' does not allow the plural s either: waarden versus *waardes. The same thing holds for a group of nouns ending in the phonetic sequence [idə] that do not allow the -s either: druïden'druids' vs. *druïdes. Consequently, it may be the case that, like these nouns, the affix -e simply has the idiosyncratic property of requiring the plural -n morpheme.
Another morphological distinction between the constructions in (134b) and simple nouns ending in schwa is that the first resist diminutive formation, whereas the latter generally allow it. For this, compare the primeless and primed examples in (147). This of course supports the N-ellipsis analysis.
a. | *het blindetje |
a'. | het typetje | 'the character' |
b. | *het rijketje |
b'. | het dametje | 'the little lady' |
c. | *het snelletje |
c'. | het piramidetje | 'the little lady' |
d. | *het goedetje |
d'. | het ruïnetje | 'the little ruin' |
In addition to these morphological arguments, there are also syntactic arguments that favor the N-ellipsis approach to the constructions in (134), and go against a nominalization approach. First, the (allegedly) nominalized adjectives in (148) can be modified by intensifiers like onweerstaanbaar (148a) and erg/zeer'very' (as is clear from the absence of the attributive –e inflection on these forms). Since modification of a noun by an intensifier is not possible (cf. *de erg/zeer kapitalist'lit: the very capitalist'), we conclude that we are dealing with adjectives in (148).
a. | het | onweerstaanbaar | leuke | (ervan) | |
the | irresistibly | funny | of it |
b. | de | erg/zeer | rijke | |
the | very | rich |
For completeness’ sake, note that modification by means of an attributively used adjective is also possible. This is of course expected under both approaches given that we may simply be dealing with stacked adjectives. Compare:
de | zielige | arme | (man) | ||
the | pitiful | poor | man |
The second syntactic argument involves the PP-complements of deverbal adjectives like afhankelijk'dependent'. Section 5.3, sub IB1, has shown that such complements must precede the adjective in attributive position: placement of the PP-complement between the adjective and the noun or after the noun is excluded. If we assume an N-ellipsis analysis, we can therefore immediately account for the fact that the PP van een uitkering must precede afhankelijken in (150b).
a. | de | van een beurs | afhankelijke | studenten | |
the | on a grant | dependent | students |
a'. | * | de afhankelijke <van een beurs> studenten <van een beurs> |
b. | de <van een beurs> afhankelijken <*van een beurs> |
As expected, if the adjective is associated with a phrase that can follow the noun, it can also follow the (allegedly) nominalized adjective. This is demonstrated in (151) with adjectives in their equative, comparative and superlative use, which can be combined with postnominal als-, dan- and van-phrases, respectively.
a. | een | even | goede | (leerling) | als Jan | |
an | as | good | student | as Jan |
b. | een | betere | (leerling) | dan Jan | |
a | better | student | than Jan |
c. | de | beste | (leerling) | van de klas | |
the | best | student | of the class |
More cases of a somewhat different nature are given in the primeless examples in (152), which should be compared with the primed examples.
a. | het | leuke | van de grap | |
the | funny | of the joke |
a'. | het | leuke | punt | van de grap | |
the | funny | point | of the joke |
b. | het | vreemde | van de zaak | |
the | strange | of the case |
b'. | het | vreemde | aspect | van de zaak | |
the | strange | aspect | of the case |
The facts in (148) to (152) follow immediately if we assume N-ellipsis, whereas it is not clear how they could be accounted for under the nominalization approach.
For completeness’ sake, note that it has been argued that examples such as (153a) disfavor the nominalization analysis: since the adjectival participle geplaatste is combined with an argument (a locational PP), it has been suggested that nominalization would have to take a phrase as its input in such cases, which is exceptional. However, since example (153b) shows that nomalizations like plaatsen clearly retain their selectional properties, it can be assumed that something similar holds for the nominalized participle in (153a).
a. | het | in de kast | geplaatste | |
the | in the cupboard | put | ||
'the thing(s) which has/have been put in the cupboard' |
b. | het boeken | in de kast | plaatsen | |
the books | in the cupboard | put | ||
'the placement of books into the cupboard' |
The discussion in the previous subsections has shown that it cannot be unequivocally determined at present whether the noun phrases in (134) involve nominalized adjectives or N-ellipsis. Both analyses find support in the known data, but both meet certain problems as well.
- 2002The morphology of DutchOxfordOxford University Press
- 1993Morfologisch handboek van het Nederlands. Een overzicht van de woordvormingSDU Uitgeverij