This subsection deals with the use of spatial circumpositions with aan as their second member. The examples in (277) show that the circumpositional phrase tegen de muur aan can indicate a (change of) location or a direction. Ignore the cases without aan; we will address them in a moment.

The circumpositional phrase achter de optocht aan in (278) behaves differently in that it can only be used to indicate a direction.

In the locational examples in (277a&a'), the element aan can be omitted without any significant change in meaning; the use of aan merely seems to emphasize that there is physical contact between the located object and the reference object. In the directional examples in (277b) and (278b), on the other hand, aan must be present; without it the construction is either degraded or acquires a locational meaning. This can be easily demonstrated for (278b) by considering its perfect-tense counterparts in (279): if the verb lopen takes the auxiliary zijn, it is a verb of traversing, which requires a directional complementive, and aan is obligatory; if the verb lopen takes the auxiliary hebben, it is an activity verb, which is compatible with a locational adverbial PP, and aan is preferably dropped.

The locational and directional examples in (277)/(278) also seem to differ in another respect. The examples in (280) show that the former differ from the latter in allowing the split pattern under a neutral (i.e. non-contrastive) intonation pattern; cf. also Section 32.2.5, sub IIIA1.

This suggests that achter ... aan had better not be considered a circumposition in the locational constructions. Such a distinction between the phrases in the directional and the locational constructions is also supported by the data in (281). In the (change of) locational constructions the element aan can occupy a position within the clause-final verb cluster, which is a typical property of particles, while this leads to a degraded result in the directional construction.

We leave it to future research to investigate in more detail whether the proposed analysis for the different syntactic behavior of tegen ... aan and achter ... aan is on the right track; cf. Section 32.2.5, sub IIIA1, for more relevant information.

There are two circumpositions with af as their second member: van ... af and op ... af. The examples in (282) seem to show that the circumpositional phrase van ... af can indicate a (change of) location, although (282a) does not sound entirely natural.

Similar constructions are not possible with op ... af. The examples in (283) show that the two circumpositional phrases can both be used directionally.

In the locational examples in (282), the element af can be omitted without a clear change in meaning; the presence of af merely seems to emphasize that the physical contact between the located object and the reference object has been broken. At first glance, it seems that af can also be dropped in the directional example in (283a), but this may be due to the fact that the preposition van can also be used as a directional preposition. It is therefore important to note that the absence or presence of af affects the meaning of the clause: if af is present, as in (284a), the implied path goes down along the surface of the mountain, as depicted in Figure 32A; if af is absent, as in (284b), the clause can also express that Jan is moving away from the mountain, as in Figure 32B.

This discussion supports the idea that, only if af is present, it is necessarily implied that the starting point of the implied path is situated on the mountain. Since the element af cannot be omitted in the case of (283b), it seems safe to conclude that it is indeed obligatory in the directional construction, and that the case without af involves the directional prepositional phrase van de berg.

The (a)-examples in (285) show that the circumposition tussen ... door cannot be used to indicate a (change of) location. The grammatical use of the circumpositional phrase in (285b) is directional. The same thing holds for onder ... door, which we will not illustrate here.

The number sign in (285b) is used to indicate that door must be present; without it, the directional meaning is lost. This can be easily illustrated by considering the perfect-tense constructions in (286): the verb rijden with the auxiliary zijn is a verb of traversing, which requires a directional complementive, and door is obligatory; the verb rijden with the auxiliary hebben is an activity verb, which is compatible with a locational adverbial PP, and door is preferably omitted.

The (a)-examples in (287) show that circumpositions with heen as their second member can indicate a (change of) location. The circumpositional phrase in (287b) is directional. In the (a)-examples, heen can be dropped without any clear effect on the meaning. This is also the case in (287b), which is not surprising because over can also be used as a directional preposition. The same thing is at least marginally true for langsalong and omaround.

It is not particularly clear what semantic effect dropping of heen has on example (287b). It has been suggested that heen indicates a movement away from the speaker (Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal; entry heenII) or some other anchoring point. However, this meaning certainly does not apply to the non-directional cases in (287) nor does it seem to provide a correct characterization for directional examples such as (288), where the distance between the reference object (here, the speaker) and the located object need not increase.

It should be noted, however, that heen can be used as a verbal particle and that in this case, it does have the implication of movement away from the speaker or some other anchoring point. However, these cases often have an archaic or idiomatic flavor. Some other more or less idiomatic examples are given in (289).

That (289a) is idiomatic is beyond doubt. As for (289b), in addition to its idiomatic meaning “youʼre kidding!”, the more literal meaning “go away!” is peculiar in that this combination usually occurs in the imperative mood: the indicative form Jan liep heenJan walked away is very formal and perhaps even archaic. That (289c) is idiomatic may be less obvious; it is supported by the fact that the locational pro-form erthere cannot be replaced by a full PP, as shown by the fact that examples such as (290) are completely ungrammatical with heen present (the same goes for iets er heen brengento bring something to NP).

More idiomatic expressions with heen are given in (291) .

The (a)-examples in (292) show that the circumpositional phrase tussen de meisjes in can indicate a (change of) location; however, this is not easily possible with tegen de stroom in. Both circumpositional phrases with in as their second member can be used directionally. This is illustrated in (292b) for tegen de stroom in: this example expresses that the speaker is traversing a path that goes in the opposite direction of the current.

The element in can be omitted in the non-directional (a)-examples without any notable difference in meaning; in seems to act as a mere emphasizer. In (292b), on the other hand, in must be present; without it, the directional meaning is lost.

Circumpositions with langs as their second member are used only as directional adpositions; the non-directional (a)-examples in (293) are unacceptable with the element langs present.

In (293b), the element langs is obligatory; without it the directional meaning is lost. This can be easily illustrated by considering the perfect-tense constructions in (294): if the verb wandelen takes the auxiliary zijn, it is a verb of traversing, which requires a directional complementive and langs is obligatory; if it takes the auxiliary hebben, it is an activity verb, which is compatible with a locational adverbial PP and langs is preferably omitted.

The examples in (295) show that circumpositions with om as their second member are used only as directional adpositions; the non-directional (a)-examples are only acceptable without the element om. In example (295c) we are dealing with a metaphorical use of the circumpositional phrase buiten de administratie om.

In (295b&c), the element om is obligatory; without it, the directional meaning of (295b) is lost and (295c) becomes ungrammatical. The loss of the directional meaning of (295b) can again be illustrated by considering the perfect-tense constructions in (296): if the verb lopen takes the auxiliary zijn, it is a verb of traversing, which requires a directional complementive and makes om is obligatory; if it takes the auxiliary hebben, it is an activity verb, which is compatible with a locational adverbial PP while om is preferably dropped.

The examples in (297) show that the circumposition tegen ... op can only be used as a directional adposition; the non-directional (a)-examples are only acceptable without the element op. In example (297c), we are dealing with the idiomatic construction tegen de klippen op werken.

The element op is obligatory in the directional construction; without it the directional meaning of (297b) is lost and (297c) becomes ungrammatical. For people who accept (298b) without op, the verb is an activity verb and the PP functions as an adverbial phrase.

The examples in (299) show that the circumposition tot ... toe cannot easily be used to denote a (change of) location.

The examples seem to improve slightly when we add a van-PP, as in (300). However, it is doubtful whether the circumpositions in these cases refer to a (change of) location: the van-PP is directional (it indicates the starting point of the path), so we expect that the circumpositional phrase is also directional (it indicates the endpoint of the path). Therefore, the examples in (300) are directional, and have an extent reading comparable to Het pad loopt van hier tot aan de heg (toe)The path extends from here to the hedge.

As is shown in (301), the examples in (299) become fully grammatical when the noun phrase de heg is preceded by the element aan. It has been suggested that tot aan ... toe is also a circumposition, albeit of a slightly more complex kind. However, there are reasons to reject this suggestion and to assume that the preposition tot is capable of taking an adpositional complement (cf. Section 33.2.1, sub III); we may therefore be dealing with a case in which the circumposition tot ... toe takes a PP-complement (i.e. aan de heg).

We can probably conclude from this discussion that circumpositions with toe are only directional, as in (302). In these examples, toe seems to be optional, which is not surprising because the prepositions naarto and totuntil are both directional themselves; the meaning contribution of toe seems to be mainly a case of adding emphasis. Note that (302b) can also be made more complex by adding the element aan; we will return to such examples in Section 33.2.1, sub III.

It is not easy to determine whether circumpositions with uit as the second member can be used to refer to a (change of) location. A verb that seems to easily allow the location reading is stekento stick in (303), but it seems that the change-of-location reading is degraded, as is shown in (303b).

The change-of-location construction seems to be possible in (304b), but it is not clear whether we can infer anything from this, because uit can also be used as a verbal particle (cf. uitstekento stick out). This can be seen from the fact that the PP boven de menigte is optional. In fact, the same in fact holds for onder zijn papieren in (303a).

Similar examples can be found in (305) with the verb hangento hang: the locational reading in (305a) is perfectly acceptable, but the corresponding change-of-location construction in (305b) is highly marked.

Nevertheless, it seems that the change-of-location reading is possible with a verb like trekkento pull: the examples in (303b) and (305b) become perfectly acceptable with this verb, as shown in (306). Note that the sequence onder + NP cannot be omitted: this results either in unacceptability or in a change of meaning (cf. Marie trok haar rok uit means “Marie took off her skirt, i.e. undressed”).

The examples in (306) suggest that the unacceptability of (303b) and (305b) need not show that the change-of-location reading is impossible, since it may be due to some (poorly understood) constraint on the verb. However, whatever the conclusion about circumpositions with uit allowing a change-of-location reading, it is clear that they can be used to refer to directions. An example is given in (307).

Example (307) shows that the element uit is obligatory in the directional construction; if it is not present the directional meaning is lost. This can again be illustrated by considering the perfect-tense constructions in (308): if the verb lopen takes the auxiliary zijn, it is a verb of traversing, requiring a directional complementive, and uit is obligatory; if the verb takes the auxiliary hebben, it is an activity verb, which is compatible with a locational adverbial PP, and uit is preferably omitted.

The examples in (309) show that circumpositions with vandaan as their second member are only used as directional adpositions. The non-directional (a)-examples are only acceptable without the element vandaan.

The element vandaan is obligatorily present in the directional construction in (309b); without it, the directional meaning is lost. This is illustrated by the perfect-tense constructions in (310): if the verb fietsen takes the auxiliary zijn, it is a verb of traversing, requiring a directional complementive, and vandaan is obligatory; if the verb takes hebben, it is an activity verb, which is compatible with a locational adverbial PP, and vandaan must be dropped.

Circumpositional phrases with vandaan are regularly preceded by the preposition van; cf. (311a). However, this element is not part of the circumposition but a regular preposition, as will be clear from the fact that the circumpositional phrase can be replaced by the adpositional pro-form daarthere; cf. (311b). We return to this point in Section 33.2.1.

For completeness, note that the construction in (312) seems to be the antonym of the idiomatic construction Ik ga er heen in (289c), and is therefore in all likelihood also an idiomatic expression.