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3.3.2.4.2.Conjunctive coordination ( en'and')

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If two noun phrases coordinated by the conjunction en'and' are followed by a restrictive relative clause, the latter may be taken to modify either the second conjunct only or both conjuncts together. This ambiguity seems to apply regardless of the definiteness or the number (singular or plural) of the conjuncts, although there are constructions and contexts that exclude one of the readings, and in some cases there also seem to be variations in judgments among native speakers. Subsections I and II, start by discussing constructions involving a coordinated antecedent with conjuncts that match in number, that is, cases with, respectively, coordinated plural and coordinated singular elements. After that, we discuss a number of more special cases: Subsection III discusses coordinated structures with a single determiner, and Subsection IV relative constructions with mixed antecedents, that is, cases in which the two conjuncts differ in number, gender, etc. Subsection V provides a number of general conclusions.

I. Coordinated plurals with two determiners
- A. Restrictive relative clauses
- B. Non-restrictive relative clauses
II. Coordinated singulars with two determiners
- A. Restrictive relative clauses
- B. Non-restrictive relative clauses
III. Coordinated antecedents with a single article
- A. Restrictive relative clauses
- B. Non-restrictive relative clauses
IV. Mixed antecedents
V. Conclusion

[+] I. Coordinated plurals with two determiners

This subsection discusses cases in which the antecedent of the relative clause involves coordinated plural noun phrases. Restrictive and non-restrictive relative clauses will be discussed in separate subsections.

[+] A. Restrictive relative clauses

Noun phrases coordinated by the conjunction en'and' that are followed by a restrictive relative clause may be ambiguous between the coordinated and non-coordinated antecedent reading. This is illustrated in example (379) for constructions in which the conjuncts are indefinite plural noun phrases. The primeless examples, in which both conjuncts are included in the phrase surrounded by square brackets, represent the coordinated antecedent reading, in which the relative clause restricts the combined referent set of the two conjuncts; example (379b), for instance, expresses that a subset of boys and girls (viz. those that are late) will be punished. The primed examples, in which the first conjunct is placed outside the brackets, represent the non-coordinated antecedent reading, in which the first conjunct has non-restricted reference: example (379b') means that all boys will be punished, but girls only when they are late.

Example 379

a.	Jan	speelt	straks	[preludes en etudes	die hij onlangs gecomponeerd heeft].
	Jan	plays	later	preludes and etudes	which he recently composed has
	'Later Jan will be playing preludes and etudes which he has recently composed.'

a'.

Jan speelt vanavond preludes en [etudes die hij onlangs gecomponeerd heeft].

b.	[Jongens en meisjes	die te laat komen],	krijgen	straf.
	boys and girls who	too late come	get	punishment
	'Boys and girls who are late will be punished.'

b'.

Jongens en [meisjes die te laat komen], krijgen straf.

Note that true ambiguity only arises in written text, since, in speaking, intonation has a disambiguating function: the non-coordinated antecedent reading in (379b'), for example, requires an intonation break before the conjunction en'and' and extra emphasis on the second noun, meisjes.
Example (380) gives similar cases with definite plurals, both containing an article. Although examples such as (380) will normally receive a non-coordinated antecedent reading, the coordinated antecedent readings can be made available by using a specific intonation pattern (for instance, by extra emphasis on the information given in the relative clause).

Example 380

a.	?	Jan speelt	[de preludes en de etudes	die hij onlangs gecomponeerd heeft].
		Jan plays	the preludes and the etudes	which he recently composed has
		'Jan will play the preludes and etudes which he has recently composed.'

a'.

Jan speelt de preludes en [de etudes die hij onlangs gecomponeerd heeft].

b.	?	[De jongens en de meisjes	die te laat komen],	krijgen straf.
		the boys and the girls	who too late come	get punishment
		'The boys and the girls who are late will be punished.'

b'.

De jongens en [de meisjes die te laat komen], krijgen straf.

The difference between the coordinated and non-coordinated antecedent readings of the primeless and primed examples in (380) can be accounted for by assuming that the former involves backward conjunction reduction; the structure contains two relative clauses that are identical in form, and of which the first is left unexpressed. This is illustrated in (381a) for example (380a). The non-coordinated antecedent reading is fairly straightforward, as it involves a structure in which only the second conjunct is modified by a restrictive relative clause; the first conjunct simply has the structure of a non-modified DP. This is illustrated in (381b) for example (380a').

Example 381

a.		Coordinated antecedent reading:
		[DP de [NP preludesi [RCdiei hij onlangs gecomponeerd heeft ]]] en
		[DP de [NP etudesj [RC diej hij onlangs gecomponeerd heeft ]]]

b.		Non-coordinated antecedent reading:
		[DP de [NP preludes]] en
		[DP de [NP etudesi [RC diei hij onlangs gecomponeerd heeft ]]]

Assuming conjunction reduction is indispensable in order to account for the presence of the definite article in the second conjunct of (381a). Section 3.3.2.1 has argued that the article cannot be in the scope of a restrictive relative clause, which led to the conclusion that the relative clause is part of the NP-domain. With only a single relative clause present, however, the coordinated antecedent reading would imply that the antecedent would be at least the full string preludes en de etudes, so that the second definite article would fall in the scope of the relative clause. With the structure in (381a), on the other hand, the two articles can remain outside the scope of the relative clauses, as required.
The markedness of the primeless examples in (380) is possibly due to the fact that these examples compete with the examples in (382a&b), in which the two conjuncts share the same article. The latter examples may be preferred on the coordinated antecedent reading due to the fact that they can be analyzed without postulating any elided material; cf. the representations in (382a'&b'). The examples in (382a&b) may also be favored because, as we will see in Subsection III, they normally do not allow the non-coordinated antecedent readings in (382a''&b''), and are therefore not ambiguous.

Example 382

a.	Jan speelt	[de preludes en etudes	die hij onlangs gecomponeerd heeft].
	Jan plays	the preludes and etudes	which he recently composed has
	'Jan will play preludes and etudes which he has recently composed.'

a'.

de [[[NP preludes] en [NP etudes]]i die i hij onlangs gecomponeerd heeft]

a''.

de [[[NP preludes] en [NP etudes]i die i hij onlangs gecomponeerd heeft]]

b.	De jongens en meisjes	die te laat komen,	krijgen straf.
	the boys and girls	who too late come	get punishment
	'The boys and the girls who are late will be punished.'

b'.

de [[[NP jongens] en [NP meisjes]]i die i te laat komen]

b''.

de [[[NP jongens] en [NP meisjes]i die i te laat komen]]

Maintain for the moment that, despite their marked status, the primeless examples in (380) are indeed genuinely ambiguous between the coordinated and the non-coordinated antecedent reading. The analysis in (381), according to which the two readings differ in the number of relative clauses involved, can then be supported by the fact that the extraposed relative clause in (383a) is only compatible with the coordinated antecedent reading. The fact that the non-coordinated antecedent reading is excluded is in accordance with the so-called Coordinate Structure Constraint, according to which extraction cannot take place from a single conjunct of a coordinate structure: the representation in (383b') is therefore ungrammatical. That the coordinated antecedent reading is possible is due to the fact that the relative clause is associated with both conjuncts: this so-called across-the-board configuration is generally allowed. Observe that (383a) is again marked compared to the construction in which only a single article is present: Jan zal de preludes en etudes spelen die hij onlangs gecomponeerd heeft.

Example 383

a.	?	Jan zal	de preludes en de etudes spelen	die hij onlangs gecomponeerd heeft.
		Jan will	the preludes and the etudes play	which he recently composed has
		'Jan will play (the) preludes and etudes which he has recently composed.'

....[[DP de [NP preludes ti]] en [DP de etudes ti]] spelen [RC die ...] i

b'.

....[[DP de [NP preludes]] en [DP de etudes ti]] spelen [RC die ...] i

[+] B. Non-restrictive relative clauses

A non-restrictive relative clause following noun phrases coordinated by the conjunction en'and' may also be ambiguous between the coordinated and non-coordinated antecedent reading. This is true both for constructions such as (384), in which two indefinite plurals are coordinated, and for constructions such as (385), in which two definite plurals, both containing an article, are coordinated.

Example 384

a.	[Katten en honden,	die	hier	erg geliefd	zijn],	zijn	toegestaan.
	cats and dogs	which	here	very popular	are	are	prt.-allowed
	'Cats or dogs, which are very popular here, are allowed.'

a'.

Katten en [honden, die hier erg geliefd zijn], zijn toegestaan.

b.	[Hoeden en wandelstokken,	die	toen	in de mode	waren],	zie je niet meer.
	hats and canes	which	then	fashionable	were	see you not more
	'Hats and canes, which used to be fashionable then, are not seen anymore.'

b'.

Hoeden en [wandelstokken, die ooit in de mode waren], zie je niet meer.

Example 385

a.	[De katten en de honden,	die veel overlast veroorzaakten],	werden verwijderd.
	the cats and the dogs	which much trouble caused	were removed
	'The cats and the dogs, which caused a lot of inconvenience, were removed.'

a'.

De katten en [de honden, die veel overlast veroorzaakten], werden verwijderd.

b.	[De hoeden en de jassen,	die oud en versleten waren],	werden	weggegooid.
	the hats and the coats	which old and worn were	were	thrown.away
	'The hats and the coats, which were old and worn-out, were thrown away.'

b'.

De hoeden en [de jassen, die oud en versleten waren], werden weggegooid.

As indicated by the bracketing, the non-restrictive relative clauses can either modify the union of the two sets denoted by the coordinated nouns, as in the primeless examples, or the set denoted by the noun in the second conjunct, in which case the first conjunct is not modified; in (384a'), for instance, dogs are said to be very popular, while no claim is made about cats. Unlike with restrictive relative clauses, intonation does not really have a disambiguating function. It depends on the context which reading is favored: out of the blue, many examples may favor the coordinated antecedent reading, but in examples such as (386) the non-coordinated antecedent reading is clearly favored for extra-linguistic reasons.

Example 386

a.	Mannen	en vrouwen,	die	vaak	worden	achtergesteld,	krijgen	hier	evenveel	kans.
	men	and women,	who	often	are	prt.-discriminated	get	here	equal	opportunity
	'Men and women, who are often discriminated against, get the same opportunities here.'

De mannen

de vrouwen,

die

minstens

zo geschikt

zijn

voor dit werk,

krijgen

hier

evenveel

kans.

the men

and

the women,

who

at.least

as suited

are

for this work

get

here

equal

opportunity

'The men and the women, who are at least as suitable for this work, get the same opportunities here.'

With non-restrictive clauses, there is no need to appeal to conjunction reduction in order to account for the coordinated antecedent readings: the antecedent consists of two coordinated phrases that are slightly smaller than a full DP. This is illustrated for example (385b) in (387a). In (387b), the relative clause has only the second conjunct in its scope, and we are dealing with coordination of an unmodified DP and a DP modified by a non-restrictive relative clause.

Example 387

Coordinated antecedent reading:

		[DP[[de hoeden]	en	[de jassen]]i, [RC	die i	oud	en	versleten	waren]]...
		the hats	and	the coats	which	old	and	worn.out	were

b.		Non-coordinated antecedent reading:
		[DP de hoeden] en [DP [de jassen]i, [RC die i oud en versleten waren]] ...

The structures in (387) correctly predict that extraposed non-restrictive relative clauses are compatible with the coordinated antecedent reading only. On the non-coordinated antecedent reading in (387b) the relative clause belongs to the second conjunct; extraposition therefore gives rise to the structure in (388b), which violates the Coordinate Structure Constraint. On the coordinated antecedent reading in (387a), however, the relative clause takes the full coordinated structure as its antecedent; extraposition consequently results in the structure in (388a), which is allowed by the Coordinate Structure Constraint.

Example 388

hebben [DP

[[de hoeden]

[de jassen]]itj]

weggegooid,

[RC

diei

oud

versleten

waren]j.

have

the hats

and

the coats

away-thrown

[RC

which

old

and

worn.out

were

We hebben [[DP de hoeden] en [DP [de jassen]itj]] weggegooid, [RC diei oud en versleten waren] j.

[+] II. Coordinated singulars with two determiners

There are two reasons why ambiguity is less likely to arise in the case of coordinated singulars than in the case of coordinated plurals. First, ambiguity will only be possible if the conjuncts have the same gender, given that differences in gender are reflected in the choice of the relative pronoun: whereas die is used for singular non-neuter (as well as plural) antecedents, dat is used for singular neuter antecedents; cf. Section 3.3.2.2, sub I. Second, potential ambiguity may be resolved by the number marking on the finite verb of the relative clause if the relative pronoun functions as a subject: the coordinated antecedent reading always triggers plural agreement on the verb. The discussion in this subsection will be confined to cases that potentially exhibit ambiguity, that is, to cases involving coordinated antecedents with conjuncts of the same gender; discussion of cases in which the conjuncts differ in gender is postponed to Subsection IV.

[+] A. Restrictive relative clauses

The examples in (389) show that restrictive relative clauses can restrict coordinated antecedents with multiple indefinite articles. If the relative pronoun functions as the subject of the relative clause, however, ambiguity does not arise: in the primeless examples the plural form of the finite verb of the relative clause ( kwamen'came' and kosten'cost') excludes a reading in which the relative clause would modify the second conjunct only. Similarly, the singular form of the finite verb in the primed examples ( kwam'came' and kost'costs') forces a reading in which it is only the second conjunct of the coordination that functions as the antecedent.

Example 389

a.	[Een man en een jongen	die	te laat	kwamen],	werden	niet	toegelaten.
	a man and a boy	who	too late	camepl.	were	not	prt.-admitted
	'A man and a boy who were late werenʼt admitted.'

a'.	Een man	en	[een jongen	die	te laat	kwam],	werden	niet	toegelaten.
	a man	and	a boy	who	too late	camesg.	were	not	prt.-admitted
	'A man and a boy who was late were no longer admitted.'

b.	Jan wil	[een boek en een CD	die	twintig euro	kosten].
	Jan wants	a book and a CD	which	twenty euros	cost
	'Jan wants a book and a CD which cost twenty euros.'

b'.	Jan wil	een boek	en	[een CD	die	twintig euro	kost].
	Jan wants	a book	and	a CD	which	twenty euros	costs
	'Jan wants a book, and a CD which costs twenty euros.'

In cases such as (390) with definite coordinated antecedents, many speakers prefer the non-coordinated antecedent reading; the coordinated antecedent reading is only fully acceptable in case of coordinated indefinite singulars. A possible account of this contrast between the primeless examples in (389) and (390) will be given later in this subsection. Recall that the primeless and primed examples differ not only in the number on the finite verb of the relative clause, but also in their intonation pattern; the primed examples are pronounced with an intonation break before the conjunction and accent on the noun of second conjunct.

Example 390

a.	%	[De man en de jongen	die	te laat	kwamen],	werden	niet	toegelaten.
		the man and the boy	who	too late	came	were	not	prt.-admitted
		'The man and the boy who were late were no longer admitted.'

a'.	De man	en	[de jongen	die	te laat	kwam],	werden	niet	toegelaten.
	the man	and	the boy	who	too late	came	were	not	prt.-admitted
	'The man and the boy who was late were no longer admitted.'

b.	%	Jan wil	[het boek en de CD	die	twintig euro	kosten].
		Jan wants	the book and the CD	which	twenty euros	cost
		'Jan wants the book and the CD which together/each cost twenty euros.'

b'.	Jan wil	het boek	en	[de CD	die twintig euro	kost].
	Jan wants	the book	and	the CD	which twenty euros	costs
	'Jan wants the book, and the CD which costs twenty euros.'

If the relative pronoun functions as a complement, the form of the finite verb of the relative clause does not help to disambiguate the examples, so that true ambiguity may arise in written language (but not in speech). This is illustrated for indefinite antecedents in the (a)-examples of (391) for direct object relative pronouns and in the (b)-examples for indirect and prepositional object relative pronouns.

Example 391

a.	[Een man en een jongen	die	we	niet	kenden],	werden	niet	toegelaten.
	a man and a boy	who	we	not	knew	were	not	prt.-admitted
	'A man and a boy who we didnʼt know werenʼt admitted.'

a'.

Een man en [een jongen die we niet kenden], werden niet toegelaten.

b.	[Een man en een jongen	die/aan wie	we	onze kaartjes	hadden	gegeven],	werden	niet	toegelaten.
	a man and a boy	who/to whom	we	our tickets	had	given	were	not	prt.-admitted
	'A man and a boy who/to whom weʼd given our tickets werenʼt admitted.'

b'.

Een man en [een jongen die/aan wie we onze kaartjes hadden gegeven], werden niet toegelaten.

The examples in (392) show the same thing for definite antecedents. The percentage signs in the primeless examples indicate again that many speakers prefer the non-coordinated reading in these cases; the coordinated antecedent reading is only fully acceptable in cases of coordinated indefinite singulars.

Example 392

a.	%	[De man en de jongen	die	we	niet kenden],	werden	niet	toegelaten.
		the man and the boy	who	we	not knew	were	not	prt.-admitted
		'The man and the boy who we didnʼt know werenʼt admitted.'

a'.

De man en [de jongen die we niet kenden], werden niet toegelaten.

b.	%	[De man en de jongen	aan wie	we	onze kaartjes	hadden	gegeven],	werden	niet	toegelaten.
		the man and the boy	to whom	we	our tickets	had	given	were	not	prt.-admitted

b'.

De man en [de jongen aan wie we onze kaartjes hadden gegeven], werden niet toegelaten.

The non-coordinated antecedent reading of the primed examples above are all unproblematic and may be assumed to involve the structure given in (393b), with the relative clause restricting the second conjunct only. The coordinated antecedent reading of the primeless examples in (391) and (392) can in principle be accounted for by assuming structure (393a), which involves backward conjunction reduction.

Example 393

a.		Coordinated antecedent reading:
		[DP D [NP [... N ...]i [RCRELi ...]]] and [DP D [NP [... N ...]j [RC RELj ...]]]

b.		Non-coordinated antecedent reading:
		[DP D [NP [... N ...]]] and [DP D [NP [... N ...]j [RC RELj ...]]]

Assuming structure (393a) to account for the coordinated antecedent reading of the primeless examples in (389) and (390) is, however, problematic. First observe that the conjunction-reduction analysis in (393a) is excluded for the primeless examples in (389) and (390); the presence of the plural finite verb in the relative clause requires a plural antecedent, so that the relative clause cannot be interpreted as restricting the coordinated singular conjuncts separately. The representations in (394) must therefore be dismissed as ungrammatical due to the number mismatch between the relative subject pronoun and the finite verb of the relative clause.

Example 394

[Een/de man

[RCdie te laat kwamen]] en

[een/de jongen

[RC die te laat kwamen]], werden niet meer toegelaten.

Jan wil

[het boek [RCdie twintig euro kosten]] en

[de CD

[RC die twintig euro kosten]].

The agreement facts thus show that the relative pronoun die is plural in the primeless examples in (389) and (390). This is furthermore supported by the fact illustrated in (395) that we can add elements like allebei'both', samen'together' or elk'each' to the relative clauses, which all require the presence of a plural subject.

Example 395

a.	[Een man en een jongen	die beiden	te laat	kwamen],	werden niet toegelaten.
	a man and a boy	who both	too late	came	were not prt.-admitted
	'A man and a boy who were both late werenʼt admitted.'

b.	Jan wil	[een boek en een CD	die	samen/elk	twintig euro kosten].
	Jan wants	a book and a CD	which	together/each	twenty euros cost
	'Jan wants a book and a CD which cost twenty euros together/each.'

In short, the facts in (394) and (395) constitute a serious problem for the proposal that multiple determiners can only occur in restrictive relative constructions derived by means of backward conjunction reduction. This casts considerable doubt on the feasibility of the analysis in (393a), and one might want to completely reject this analysis by pointing out that it is in fact not available, given that the sentences with definite antecedents are consistently considered degraded (or at least marked) by many speakers. Rejecting the analysis in (393a) would still leave us with the fact that the sentences with indefinite antecedents are impeccable, but this could be solved by appealing to a difference in status between the definite and indefinite determiners: it has often been assumed that indefinite articles are actually not determiners but belong to the class of numerals (note in this connection that the indefinite examples in (389a&b) are also acceptable if the indefinite articles are replaced by the cardinal numeral één'one'). If so, one might try to develop an account according to which a restrictive relative clause may take a NumP, but not a DP, in its scope; cf. Section 1.1.2, sub IIA, example (6).
Leaving these issues to future research, we want to conclude this subsection by pointing out that, just like in the case of coordinated plurals, extraposition of the relative clause is possible on the coordinated antecedent reading only. Consider the examples in (396). The unacceptability of the non-coordinated antecedent reading in (396b) is due to the fact that the relative clause is part of the second conjunct so that extraposition would violate the Coordinate Structure Constraint. The acceptability of the coordinated antecedent reading in (396a) follows both under a conjunction-reduction analysis and under the alternative analysis suggested above that the relative clause takes some higher projection in the noun phrase (NumP) as its antecedent: in the former case we would be dealing with licit across-the-board movement, and in the latter case extraposition could proceed without violating the Coordinate Structure Constraint.

Example 396

a.		Ik heb [[een regisseur] en [een acteur]]i	gekend [RC	diei een Oscar hebben gekregen].
		I have a director and an actor	known	who an Oscar have won

b.	*	Ik heb [[een regisseur] en [een acteur]i]	gekend [RC	diei een Oscar heeft gekregen].
		I have a director and an actor	known	who an Oscar has won

The unacceptability of (397b) again follows from the Coordinate Structure Constraint: the relative clause is part of the second conjunct and therefore extraposition is blocked. Example (397a) poses the same problem as the primeless examples in (390) and (392), and for this reason we will not discuss this example any further.

Example 397

a.	%	Ik heb [[de regisseur en de acteur]]i	gezien [RC	diei een Oscar hebben gekregen].
		I have the director and the actor	seen	who an Oscar have won

b.	*	Ik heb [[de regisseur] en [de acteur]i]	gezien [RC	diei een Oscar heeft gekregen].
		I have the director and the actor	seen	who an Oscar has won

[+] B. Non-restrictive relative clauses

Using non-restrictive clauses to modify coordinated antecedents is fully acceptable. As in the case of restrictive relative clauses, ambiguity does not arise when the relative pronoun functions as the subject of the relative clause given that the number marking on the finite verb unambiguously shows which reading is intended: in the (a)-examples of (398) and (399) the plural form kwamen'came' excludes a reading in which the relative clause would modify the second conjunct only, and the singular form kwam'came' in the (b)-examples only allows a reading in which it is only the second conjunct that functions as the antecedent.

Example 398

a.	[Een man en een jongen,	die	te laat	kwamen],	werden	niet	toegelaten.
	a man and a boy	who	too late	came	were	not	prt.-admitted
	'A man and a boy, who were late, werenʼt admitted.'

b.	Een man	en	[een jongen,	die	te laat	kwam],	werden	niet	toegelaten.
	a man	and	a boy	who	too late	came	were	not	prt.-admitted
	'A man and a boy, who was late, werenʼt admitted.'

Example 399

a.	[De man en de jongen,	die	te laat	kwamen],	werden	niet	toegelaten.
	the man and the boy	who	too late	came	were	not	prt.-admitted
	'The man and the boy, who were late. werenʼt admitted.'

b.	De man	en	[de jongen,	die	te laat	kwam],	werden	niet	toegelaten.
	the man	and	the boy	who	too late	came	were	not	prt.-admitted
	'The man and the boy, who was late, werenʼt admitted.'

If the relative pronoun functions as the object of the relative clause, it does not affect the form of the finite verb, and true ambiguity may arise. This is illustrated for definite noun phrases: the (a)-examples in (400) involve direct object relative pronouns and the (b)-examples involve indirect object relative pronouns introduced by the preposition aan. The status of the examples does not change if we replace the indefinite articles by indefinite ones.

Example 400

a.	[De man en de jongen,	die	we	niet	kenden],	werden	niet	toegelaten.
	the man and the boy	who	we	not	knew	were	not	prt.-admitted
	'The man and the boy, who we didnʼt know, werenʼt admitted.'

a'.

De man en [de jongen, die we niet kenden], werden niet toegelaten.

b.	[De man en de jongen,	aan wie	we onze kaartjes	hadden	gegeven],	werden ...
	the man and the boy	to whom	we our tickets	had	given	were
	'The man and the boy, to whom weʼd given our tickets, werenʼt admitted.'

b'.

De man en [de jongen, aan wie we onze kaartjes hadden gegeven], werden ...

The coordinated antecedent reading can be represented with the relative clause modifying the full coordinated DP, while the non-coordinated antecedent reading can be represented with the relative clause modifying only the second DP. This is illustrated in (401) for the examples in (399); cf. the discussion of (387).

Example 401

a.		Coordinated antecedent reading:
		[DP [[de man] en [de jongen]]i, [RC die i te laat kwamen]] ...

b.		Non-coordinated antecedent reading:
		[DP de man] en [DP [de jongen]i, [RC diei te laat kwam]] ...

[+] III. Coordinated antecedents with a single article

This subsection discusses cases in which one article serves to modify the two conjuncts together. We will again discuss modification by restrictive and the non-restrictive relative clauses in separate subsections.

[+] A. Restrictive relative clauses

Restrictive relative clauses may also modify coordinated noun phrases that are construed with a single article. We have already seen that in a subset of these cases, the construction with a single article is preferred to corresponding constructions with two articles.

[+] 1. Plural conjuncts

Examples (402a&a') show that if a coordinated noun phrase containing only one article is relativized, the coordinated antecedent reading is normally strongly preferred to the non-coordinated one. The non-coordinated antecedent reading is only possible (and then still somewhat marked) if the second conjunct is given a generic interpretation, as in (402b'), which requires that the second conjunct be given extra emphasis.

Example 402

a.	De [mannen en jongens	die	te laat	kwamen],	werden	niet	toegelaten.
	the men and boys	who	too late	came	were	not	prt.-admitted
	'The men and boys who were late werenʼt admitted.'

a'.

De mannen en [jongens die te laat kwamen], werden niet toegelaten.

b.	De [mannen en jongens	die	te laat	komen],	worden	niet	toegelaten.
	the men and boys	who	too late	come	are	not	prt.-admitted
	'The men and boys who are late wonʼt be admitted.'

b'.

De mannen en [jongens die te laat komen], worden niet toegelaten.

Note that the coordinated antecedent reading in the primeless examples can be derived without appealing to backward conjunction reduction given that the coordination does not take place at the level of the DP, but at some lower level in the NP-domain. This is illustrated for example (402a) in (403).

Example 403

		Coordinated antecedent reading with one article:
		[DP de [NP [mannen en jongens]i [RC diei te laat kwamen]]] ...

Where only the second conjunct is preceded by an article, as in (404), a coordinated antecedent reading is excluded: only the non-coordinated antecedent reading in (404b) is available, meaning that all men, and the boys who are late, will be denied admission.

Example 404

a.	*	[Mannen en de jongens	die	te laat	komen],	worden	niet	toegelaten.
		men and the boys	who	too late	come	are	not	prt.-admitted

Mannen en [de jongens die te laat komen], worden niet toegelaten.

Since the article is not overtly expressed in indefinite plurals, there is no point in trying to distinguish between a one- and a two-article reading. However, if numerals are used instead of the zero-article, the distinction does become relevant. The coordinated antecedent reading in (405a), according to which the noun phrase refers to a set of four persons, consisting of both men and boys, is clearly preferred to the non-coordinated antecedent reading, in (405b), according to which there is a set of four men and a non-qualified set of boys, which is restricted by the relative clause.

Example 405

a.	[Vier mannen en jongens	die	te laat	kwamen],	werden	niet	toegelaten.
	four men and boys	who	too late	came	were	not	prt.-admitted
	'Four men and boys who were late werenʼt admitted.'

Vier mannen en [jongens die te laat kwamen], werden niet toegelaten.

With example (406b) we aim at triggering a generic reading of the noun phrase jongens. The fact that this example is degraded is probably due to the fact that this is only possible if the first conjunct is also interpreted generically, which is blocked by the presence of the numeral vier'four'; if this numeral is dropped the example becomes fully acceptable with the intonation pattern that is typical for the non-coordinated antecedent reading. Note in passing that, in contrast to (405a), the non-generic example in (406a) seems to require a partitive reading, which may be due to the fact that the sentence has a future interpretation, so that at the moment of speech it is still unknown how many men and boys will actually be late.

Example 406

a.	[Vier mannen en jongens	die	te laat	komen],	worden	niet	toegelaten.
	four men and boys	who	too late	come	are	not	prt.-admitted
	'Four men and boys who are late wonʼt be admitted.'

Vier mannen en [jongens die te laat komen], worden niet toegelaten.

Like with the definite article, a coordinated antecedent reading is not possible if only the second conjunct is preceded by a numeral, as in (407); only the non-coordinated antecedent reading in (407b) is available, meaning that all man, and four boys who were late, were denied admission.

Example 407

a.	*	[Mannen en vier jongens	die	te laat	kwamen],	werden	niet	toegelaten.
		men and four boys	who	too late	came	were	not	prt.-admitted

Mannen en [vier jongens die te laat kwamen], werden niet toegelaten.

[+] 2. Singular conjuncts

Leaving out the second article gives rise to a degraded result both with indefinite and definite singular antecedents. This is not related to the presence of the relative clause, since we see the same thing in examples like *?Een/de man en jongen werden niet toegelaten and *?Jan las een boek en artikel. Insofar as the examples in (408) are acceptable, they seem to be interpreted with a coordinated antecedent reading: the non-coordinated antecedent reading is completely excluded. Observe that gender of the nouns does not play a role since the gender of the conjuncts is the same: non-neuter in (408a) and neuter in (408b). Nor is the syntactic function of the modified noun phrase relevant: it functions as a subject in (408a) and as an object in (408b). The reason for the degraded status of the primeless examples must therefore be that a single determiner cannot be used to modify two singular nouns.

Example 408

a.	*?	[Een/De man en jongen	die	te laat	kwamen],	werden	niet	toegelaten.
		a/the man and boy	who	too late	came	were	not	prt.-admitted

a'.

Een/De man en [jongen die te laat kwam], werden niet toegelaten.

b.	*?	Jan las	[een/het boek en artikel	die	over taalkunde	gingen].
		Jan read	a/the book and article	which	about linguistic	went
		'Jan read a/the book and an/the article which were about linguistics.'

b'.

Jan las een/het boek en [artikel die over taalkunde gingen].

[+] 3. A special case: the singular reference reading

Now that we have considered the normal case where coordination results in a plural noun phrase, a special case must be discussed involving coordinated singular elements, in which the conjuncts need not refer to two different entities. In example (409a), for instance, the coordinated structure must be interpreted as referring to a single (nonspecific) person. With the second determiner present, as in example (409'), on the other hand, the only available interpretation is that in which only the second conjunct is modified by the relative clause.

Example 409

a.	[een manager en IT-deskundige	die bekend is met de laatste ontwikkelingen]
	a manager and IT-expert	who familiar is with the latest developments
	'[We want] a manager and IT-expert who is familiar with the latest developments.'

b.	een manager	en [een IT-deskundige	die bekend is met de laatste ontwikkelingen]
	a manager	and an IT-expert	who familiar is with the latest developments
	'[We want] a manager and an IT-expert who is familiar with the latest developments.'

Example (410) shows that the same contrast appears in the case of a coordinated antecedent with specific reference, although the singular reference reading in (410a) may be slightly marked. Example (411) shows that the singular reference reading is also less readily available with -human referents.

Example 410

a.	?	Ik	ken	[een regisseur en acteur	die	een Oscar	heeft	gekregen].
		I	know	a director and actor	who	an Oscar	has	won
		'I know a director and actor who has won an Oscar.'

b.	Ik	ken	een regisseur	en	[een acteur	die	een Oscar	heeft	gekregen].
	I	know	a director	and	an actor	who	an Oscar	has	won
	'I know a director and an actor who has won an Oscar.'

Example 411

a.	??	Ik	zoek	[een werkplaats en woning	die	groot genoeg	is].
		I	search	a workshop and apartment	which	big enough	is

b.	Ik	zoek	een werkplaats	en	[een woning	die	groot genoeg	is].
	I	search	a workshop	and	an apartment	which	big enough	is
	'Iʼm looking for a workshop and an apartment which is big enough.'

The examples in (412) show that the singular reference reading of coordinated antecedents is also available in the case of a definite determiner. Observe that in accordance with the fact that the coordinated antecedent has only one referent, the finite verb of the main clause in (412a) appears in the singular form moet'has to'. In (412b), where the subject consists of two separate DPs, the finite verb of the main clause appears in the plural form moeten'have to'. As usual, the (b)-example is ambiguous for some people between a coordinated and non-coordinated antecedent reading.

Example 412

a.	[De manager en IT-deskundige	die we zoeken],	moet	ervaring	hebben.
	the manager and IT-expert	who we search	must	experience	have
	'The manager and IT-expert we are looking for must be experienced.'

b.	De manager en de IT-deskundige die we zoeken,	moeten	ervaring hebben.
	the manager and the IT-expert who we search	must	experience have
	'The manager and the IT-expert we are looking for must be experienced.'

When the modified noun phrase functions as the object of the clause, we find the same contrast, although now the number marking on the verb does not help in distinguishing the two readings. The example in (413) is ambiguous between the singular reference reading, with the structure in (413a), and the non-coordinated antecedent reading, with the structure in (413b). Note that the coordinated antecedent reading is excluded by the fact that the relative pronoun triggers singular agreement on the finite verb of the relative clause.

Example 413

a.	Ik ken	[de regisseur en acteur	die	beroemd	is geworden	als Hamlet].
	I know	the director and actor	who	famous	is become	as Hamlet
	'I know the director and actor who has become famous as Hamlet.'