Container partitive nouns refer to objects which integrate other objects (referred to by the content noun), into a large whole by means of material containment. They can do so syntactically in various ways, as shown below:

The first example above involves bare juxtaposition, the second example joins the two nouns by means of the adjective ful ‘full’, and the third makes use of the adposition mäd ‘with’. It is also possible to combine the adjective and the preposition, as follows:

The content noun is usually a bare noun, though it can be premodified by APs and also by measure nouns. The combination ful ‘full’ + noun can also be used in a predicative construction, as in the following examples:

The question arises why the adposition fon ‘of’ is used in the second example, but not in the first. It could be that the first example involves material containment, whereas the second example ful ‘full’ rather means ‘obsessed with, focused on’. The following example involves material containment and it does not feature a preposition:

Two peculiar examples are the following.

The first example features a preposition, whereas the second example does not. It is hard to explain in detail why a preposition is or is not used, though it is clear that the first example involves a noun used as a container noun, whereas the second example does not. It could just be a matter of idiomatic fixation. The data, however, are similar to what we find in Frisian and Dutch, whereas the English partitive construction is different.

Part nouns divide substances, referred to by the content noun, into smaller wholes. Some examples of partitive constructions with part nouns are given below:

The last example makes it clear that the part noun can be premodified by APs. The content noun can also be premodified by AP, as below:

Thus both NPs of the partitive noun construction can be premodified. There can be no functional element joining the part noun and the substance noun.

Collective nouns like container nouns organise individual elements in a larger whole. Collective nouns, unlike container nouns, do not require an object or container for integration into a larger whole. This integration in a larger whole is the result of a natural process. Some examples are given below:

The partitive noun may form an idiomatic combination with the content noun. In case the partitive noun allows of a broad range of variation in the content noun, it is more likely that an adposition will be used to join the partitive noun and the content words. This also holds true in case the content noun is expanded with modifiers.

The concrete partitive noun has the following possibilities for modification: it may be modified by adjectives, it may be modified by a quantifier or it may be modified by a demonstrative. The partitive noun usually determines agreement on the verb, not the content noun (not illustrated), but see below. If the content phrase in the construction is a bare noun, it cannot be modified by quantifiers. If it is preceded by an adposition, then it can (not illustrated).

The partitive noun may receive an abstract interpretation through abstract or metaphorical language use. A case in point is the noun Bierig ‘mountain’. It is hardly used in any literal sense in the following example:

Thus a lot can be said about a seemingly small and transparent syntactic construction like the partitive construction.