It is common for verb-frame alternations to affect the external argument of the verb. The three main classes are given in (1); they will be briefly introduced in the following subsections and discussed in detail in Section 3.2.

Another major class of verb-frame alternation involves the alternation between a noun phrase and a (locational) PP. The examples in (8) illustrate a well-known example of this, often referred to as dative shift, because the noun phrase alternating with the PP is a dative (indirect) object. Although it is not usually noticed, it seems that the so-called periphrastic indirect object is spatial in nature: example (8a) contains a change-of-location verb, and the aan-PP refers to the new location of the referent of the direct object; example (8b) contains the motion verb sturento send, and the naar-PP refers to the endpoint of the path covered by the referent of the direct object; example (8c) again involves a path, but the van-PP refers to the source of the path covered by the referent of the direct object. For a detailed discussion of the distinction between the terms change of location and path we refer the reader to Section P32.3.1.1.

Example (9) shows that it is also possible for an accusative noun phrase to alternate with a PP. There are several types of such accusative/PP alternations, corresponding to systematic differences in meaning: for instance, in examples such as (9a) the theme of the transitive verb is affected by the activity denoted by the verb (i.e. the hare is hit), whereas the theme of the PO-verb in examples such as (9b) is not necessarily affected by the activity denoted by the verb.

A more complex DP-PP alternation is illustrated in example (10), in which the locational PP op de muuron the wall in (10a) alternates with the accusative noun phrase de muurthe wall in (10b). This alternation, known as the locative alternation, goes hand in hand with a number of other changes: in (10b) the verb hangen is prefixed with be- and the direct object de posters is realized as the nominal part of a met-PP.

Finally, DP-PP alternations can also affect the subject (nominative argument) of the clause. Example (11) illustrates this with a second type of locative alternation. This construction resembles the adjunct middle mentioned in Subsection I, but differs crucially from it in that the subject in (11a) is not a referential noun phrase but the non-referential pronoun hetit.

These different forms of DP-PP alternation are discussed in Section 3.3.

Before we begin our discussion of the verb-frame alternations introduced above, it is important to note that a number of other verb-frame alternations are not discussed in this chapter, but elsewhere. The first type includes cases like (12a-c), in which a so-called cognate object is added to an otherwise intransitive clause, or in which an internal argument of an otherwise (di)transitive verb is left implicit; these instances are discussed in Section 2.1. Cases in which a verb takes an optional PP-complement, like wachten in (12d), are discussed in Section 2.3.

Obviously, we will not discuss optional adverbial phrases either. This means that we will not discuss the Dutch counterpart of e.g. Levin’s (1993:34) understood body-part alternation, since in Dutch the body part is usually expressed by an adverbial PP, and not by an object (as in English).

The second type of alternation that will not be discussed in this chapter are alternations triggered by the addition of complementives (including verbal particles). The (a) and (b)-examples in (14) show that this can lead to transitivization (i.e. the addition of a nominal argument) or to an intransitive-unaccusative alternation. Such alternations are discussed in Section 2.2.

The third type of alternation we will not discuss is illustrated by the examples in (15); these show that the introduction of a simplex reflexive leads to suppression of the external argument of the transitive verb as well as promotion of the object to subject. Cases of this type are discussed in Section 2.5.2 and N22.4.2, sub I.