- Dutch
- Frisian
- Saterfrisian
- Afrikaans
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- 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
- Coordination and Ellipsis
- Nouns and noun phrases (JANUARI 2025)
- 15 Characterization and classification
- 16 Projection of noun phrases I: Complementation
- 16.0. Introduction
- 16.1. General observations
- 16.2. Prepositional and nominal complements
- 16.3. Clausal complements
- 16.4. Bibliographical notes
- 17 Projection of noun phrases II: Modification
- 17.0. Introduction
- 17.1. Restrictive and non-restrictive modifiers
- 17.2. Premodification
- 17.3. Postmodification
- 17.3.1. Adpositional phrases
- 17.3.2. Relative clauses
- 17.3.3. Infinitival clauses
- 17.3.4. A special case: clauses referring to a proposition
- 17.3.5. Adjectival phrases
- 17.3.6. Adverbial postmodification
- 17.4. Bibliographical notes
- 18 Projection of noun phrases III: Binominal constructions
- 18.0. Introduction
- 18.1. Binominal constructions without a preposition
- 18.2. Binominal constructions with a preposition
- 18.3. Bibliographical notes
- 19 Determiners: Articles and pronouns
- 19.0. Introduction
- 19.1. Articles
- 19.2. Pronouns
- 19.3. Bibliographical notes
- 20 Numerals and quantifiers
- 20.0. Introduction
- 20.1. Numerals
- 20.2. Quantifiers
- 20.2.1. Introduction
- 20.2.2. Universal quantifiers: ieder/elk ‘every’ and alle ‘all’
- 20.2.3. Existential quantifiers: sommige ‘some’ and enkele ‘some’
- 20.2.4. Degree quantifiers: veel ‘many/much’ and weinig ‘few/little’
- 20.2.5. Modification of quantifiers
- 20.2.6. A note on the adverbial use of degree quantifiers
- 20.3. Quantitative er constructions
- 20.4. Partitive and pseudo-partitive constructions
- 20.5. Bibliographical notes
- 21 Predeterminers
- 21.0. Introduction
- 21.1. The universal quantifier al ‘all’ and its alternants
- 21.2. The predeterminer heel ‘all/whole’
- 21.3. A note on focus particles
- 21.4. Bibliographical notes
- 22 Syntactic uses of noun phrases
- 23 Referential dependencies (binding)
- Syntax
-
- General
Before we can proceed to discuss the various forms of modification within the DP, we need to pay some attention to the notion of apposition. So far we have distinguished two types of constructions, besides the nominal head, that can form part of a noun phrase: complements and modifiers. The representation we have used to reflect the relations between these various components is given in (24a-c). If we were to include appositions in this representation, this would mean adding an extra shell, possibly external to DP. This would lead to the representation in (24d).
a. | Complementation: [DP D ... [NP .. [N compl] ...] ...] |
b. | Restrictive modification: [DP D ... [NP modrestr. [N compl] modrestr.] ...] |
c. | Non-restrictive modification: [DP D ... modnon-restr. [NP ... N ...] modnon-restr..] |
d. | Apposition [[DP D ... [NP ... N ...] ...] app] |
Since in many cases appositions can easily be confused with (non-restrictive) modifiers, we will give a description of their form, function and position.
Appositions can appear in a variety of forms: as shown in example (25), they can take the form of an AP, a PP, a relative clause or a noun phrase; cf. Quirk et al. (1985) and Heringa (2012). Appositions resemble non-restrictive modifiers in that they usually follow the noun phrase they modify. In speaking, they can be easily recognized by a very distinct intonation break (a pause and usually a falling intonation much more pronounced than in the case of non-restrictive modifiers), separating them quite clearly from both preceding and following material, and emphasizing their parenthetical nature. In written language, they are separated off from the noun phrase by means of a comma or they are surrounded by dashes or parentheses. To avoid confusion with non-restrictive modifiers, we will use dashes in the following discussion.
a. | De bruid – | uitgeput aan het eind van een lange dag – | staat | links op de foto. | |
the bride | exhausted at the end of a long day | stands | left on the photo | ||
'The bride – exhausted at the end of a long day – is in the left of the picture.' |
b. | De bruid – | helemaal in het wit – | staat links op de foto. | |
the bride | entirely in the white | stands left on the photo | ||
'The bride – entirely in white – is in the left of the picture.' |
c. | De bruid – | die links op de foto te zien is – | is gekleed | in een bijzondere creatie. | |
the bride | who left on the photo to see is | is dressed | in a special creation | ||
'The bride – who can be seen left in the picture – is dressed in a special creation.' |
d. | De bruid – | een jong, verlegen meisje – | staat links op de foto. | |
the bride | a young bashful girl | stands left on the photo | ||
'The bride – a young, bashful girl – is in the left of the picture.' |
In traditional grammar the term apposition is often restricted to noun phrases like een jong, verlegen meisje in (25d), which can never be interpreted as a restrictive or non-restrictive modifier. We do not see any principled reason, however, not to extend this term to cases like (25a-c).
In speech, appositions are typically used as corrections or clarifications; they are added as an “afterthought”, and provide additional information that the speaker realizes – a little late – that the addressee might need. Since true corrections and clarifications only occur in spontaneous speech, in other types of text, appositions are used to characterize certain information as backgrounded but at the same time important enough to be mentioned. The additional information provided by the apposition can relate in several ways to the information of the modified noun phrase.
Appositions can serve either a non-restrictive or a restrictive function. The former is clearly the case in the examples in (25), in which the appositive provides additional information about the referent of the modified noun phrase. The restrictive use is illustrated by the sentences in example (26): in (26a) we are dealing with an appositional PP, in (26b) with an appositional relative clause, and in (26c&d) with noun phrases; we have not been able to construct restrictive examples with appositionally used adjectives.
a. | Moderne horloges – | uit Zwitserland | althans – | lopen | altijd | gelijk. | |
modern watches | from Switzerland | at.least | run | always | on.time | ||
'Modern watches – from Switzerland at least – always keep good time.' |
b. | Moderne horloges – | die | uit Zwitserland komen | althans – | lopen | altijd | gelijk. | |
modern watches | which | from Switzerland come | at.least | run | always | on.time | ||
'Modern watches – those that come from Switzerland at least – always keep good time.' |
c. | De boeken – | die [N e ] op tafel | tenminste – | zijn | van mij. | |
the books | those on the.table | anyway | are | of me | ||
'The books – those on the table anyway – are mine.' |
d. | De hele familie – | zijn vader, moeder en zusters | in ieder geval – | was trots. | |
the whole family | his father mother and sisters | at least | was proud |
As can be seen from the examples in (26), appositions may include adverbial material like althans/tenminste/in ieder geval'at least', which are used to explicitly mark the restrictive function of the apposition. Example (27) shows that these markers cannot form part of a restrictive modifier, so we may take the presence of such markers as an extra indication that we are dealing with an apposition.
a. | * | Moderne horloges | uit Zwitserland | althans | lopen | altijd | gelijk. |
modern watches | from Switzerland | at.least | run | always | on.time |
b. | * | Moderne horloges | die uit Zwitserland komen althans | lopen | altijd | gelijk. |
modern watches | which from Switzerland come at.least | run | always | on.time |
The terms identification, attribution and inclusion are only relevant when the apposition is a noun phrase, and are related to the referential/denotational properties of the two noun phrases (Quirk et al. 1985; Heringa & De Vries 2008; Heringa 2012). We are dealing with identification if the referents/denotations of the two noun phrases are identical. The examples in (28) show that the identification relation between the modified noun phrase and the apposition can be made explicit by means of explicit markers like weet je wel'you know', oftewel'that is' and ik bedoel'I mean'.
a. | Marie – | mijn oudste zuster | (weet je wel) – | komt | morgen | langs. | |
Marie | my eldest sister | you know | comes | tomorrow | by |
b. | De homo sapiens sapiens – | (oftewel) | de moderne mens – ... | |
the homo sapiens sapiens | that is | the modern humans |
c. | Walvissen en dolfijnen – | (ik bedoel) | zoogdieren die altijd in het water leven – ... | |
whales and dolphins | I mean | mammals that always in the water live |
We are dealing with attribution if the referent set/denotation of the modified noun phrase is included in the referent set/denotation of the apposition. The examples in (29) show that the attribution relation can be made explicit by means of explicit markers like zoals algemeen bekend'as is commonly known', overigens'as a matter of fact', and in feite'in fact'.
a. | Noam Chomsky – | (zoals algemeen bekend) | een belangrijk taalkundige – ... | |
Noam Chomsky | as is commonly known | an important linguist |
b. | De homo sapiens – | (overigens) | een van de jongste diersoorten – ... | |
the homo sapiens | as a matter of fact | one of the most.recent animal.species |
c. | Walvissen en dolfijnen – | (in feite) | alle zoogdieren die in het water leven – ... | |
whales and dolphins | in fact | all mammals that in the water live |
Inclusion, finally, can be seen as the inverse of attribution; in this case the referent set/denotation of the apposition is included in the referent set/denotation of the modified noun phrase. Two subcases can be distinguished: the apposition restricts the referent set/denotation of the modified noun phrase, or the apposition is non-restrictive but provides an example taken from the referent set of the modified noun phrase. Note that in all these cases an explicit marker of the inclusion relation is required.
a. | Verschillende taalkundigen – | *(vooral) generatieve – | hebben betoogd ... | |
several linguists | especially generative.ones | have argued |
b. | Primaten – | *(in het bijzonder) | de homo sapiens – | zijn ... | |
primates | particularly | the homo sapiens | are |
c. | Zoogdieren | die | in het water leven – | *(met name) | dolfijnen – | zijn ... | |
mammals | that | in the water live | notably | dolphins | are |
a. | Verschillende taalkundigen – | *(waaronder) | Chomsky – | hebben | betoogd ... | |
several linguists | among.which | Chomsky | have | argued |
b. | Primaten – | zoals de homo sapiens – | zijn ... | |
primates | like the homo sapiens | are |
c. | Zoogdieren | die | in het water | leven – | *(bijvoorbeeld) | walvissen – | zijn ... | |
mammals | that | in the water | live | for.example | whales | are |
The examples given earlier show that appositions usually follow the DP to which they are related. At first sight, adjectival and participial appositions occasionally seem to appear in prenominal position, as in the examples in (32). However, these constructions are largely confined to written language (or scripted speech). In spoken language, it is not easy to pronounce the examples with the given intonation contour: the intonation break preceding the noun is especially difficult to realize in a natural way. It may therefore be the case that we are simply dealing with non-restrictive prenominal modifiers that the writer has set within dashes or parenthesis in order to obtain a certain stylistic effect. Note that if we were dealing with appositions in these examples, we would have to drop our earlier assumption in (24) that appositions are not within DP; cf. the discussion of the position of non-restrictive modifiers below example (19) in Section 3.1.2, sub II.
a. | De – | aan het eind van de dag totaal uitgeputte – | bruid | staat links op de foto. | |
the | at the end of the day totally exhausted | bride | stands left on the photo | ||
'The – at the end of the day totally exhausted – bride is in the left of the picture.' |
b. | De – | in een heel bijzondere creatie geklede – | bruid | staat | links op de foto. | |
the | in a very special creation dressed | bride | stands | left on the photo |
Sometimes it is possible to extrapose the apposition. In that case, the information is very clearly added as an afterthought, either with the purpose of correcting or clarifying the information given within the related noun phrase, or with the purpose of giving extra information about the referent of this noun phrase.
a. | De bruid ziet u links op de foto – | uitgeput aan het eind van een lange dag. | |
the bride see you left on the photo | exhausted at the end of a long day | ||
'The bride is in the left of the picture; sheʼs exhausted at the end of a long day.' |
b. | Moderne horloges | lopen | altijd | gelijk – | die | uit Zwitserland | althans. | |
modern watches | run | always | on.time | those | from Switzerland | at.least | ||
'Modern watches always keep good time; those from Switzerland anyway.' |
c. | De boeken | zijn | van mij – | die | op tafel | tenminste. | |
the books | are | of me | those | on the.table | at.least |
d. | De hele familie | was trots – | zijn vader, moeder en zusters | in ieder geval. | |
the whole family | was proud | his father mother and sisters | at least |
The discussion of appositions in this section seems to justify the conclusion that, although they may bear a certain resemblance to modifiers, appositions should be considered as a separate category. In view of their parenthetical nature, as well as the syntactic behavior they display, it seems they have to be placed outside the DP. Although there is clearly a (referential or predicative) relation between the apposition and the DP, the exact nature of this relation remains unclear. It has been popular to analyze appositions as reduced relative clauses: this might be supported by the fact that some of the cases above involve adverbial markers and can indeed be paraphrased by means of non-reduced relative clauses. It must also be noted, however, that example (29c), which involves an attribution relation, and the examples in (30) and (31), which involve an inclusion relation, cannot be paraphrased in this way; see also McCawley (1998: ch.13) for discussion.
- 2012Appositional constructionsGroningenUniversity of GroningenThesis
- 2012Appositional constructionsGroningenUniversity of GroningenThesis
- 2008Een semantische classificatie van appositiesNederlandse Taalkunde1360-87
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