- Dutch
- Frisian
- Saterfrisian
- Afrikaans
-
- Phonology
- Segment inventory
- Phonotactics
- Phonological processes
- Phonology-morphology interface
- Word stress
- Primary stress in simplex words
- Monomorphemic words
- Diachronic aspects
- Generalizations on stress placement
- Default penultimate stress
- Lexical stress
- The closed penult restriction
- Final closed syllables
- The diphthong restriction
- Superheavy syllables (SHS)
- The three-syllable window
- Segmental restrictions
- Phonetic correlates
- Stress shifts in loanwords
- Quantity-sensitivity
- Secondary stress
- Vowel reduction in unstressed syllables
- Stress in complex words
- Primary stress in simplex words
- Accent & intonation
- Clitics
- Spelling
- Morphology
- Word formation
- Compounding
- Nominal compounds
- Verbal compounds
- Adjectival compounds
- Affixoids
- Coordinative compounds
- Synthetic compounds
- Reduplicative compounds
- Phrase-based compounds
- Elative compounds
- Exocentric compounds
- Linking elements
- Separable complex verbs (SCVs)
- Gapping of complex words
- Particle verbs
- Copulative compounds
- Derivation
- Numerals
- Derivation: inputs and input restrictions
- The meaning of affixes
- Non-native morphology
- Cohering and non-cohering affixes
- Prefixation
- Suffixation
- Nominal suffixation: person nouns
- Conversion
- Pseudo-participles
- Bound forms
- Nouns
- Nominal prefixes
- Nominal suffixes
- -aal and -eel
- -aar
- -aard
- -aat
- -air
- -aris
- -ast
- Diminutives
- -dom
- -een
- -ees
- -el (nominal)
- -elaar
- -enis
- -er (nominal)
- -erd
- -erik
- -es
- -eur
- -euse
- ge...te
- -heid
- -iaan, -aan
- -ief
- -iek
- -ier
- -ier (French)
- -ière
- -iet
- -igheid
- -ij and allomorphs
- -ijn
- -in
- -ing
- -isme
- -ist
- -iteit
- -ling
- -oir
- -oot
- -rice
- -schap
- -schap (de)
- -schap (het)
- -sel
- -st
- -ster
- -t
- -tal
- -te
- -voud
- Verbs
- Adjectives
- Adverbs
- Univerbation
- Neo-classical word formation
- Construction-dependent morphology
- Morphological productivity
- Compounding
- Inflection
- Inflection and derivation
- Allomorphy
- The interface between phonology and morphology
- Word formation
- 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
- Phonology
-
- General
- Phonology
- Segment inventory
- Phonotactics
- Phonological Processes
- Assimilation
- Vowel nasalization
- Syllabic sonorants
- Final devoicing
- Fake geminates
- Vowel hiatus resolution
- Vowel reduction introduction
- Schwa deletion
- Schwa insertion
- /r/-deletion
- d-insertion
- {s/z}-insertion
- t-deletion
- Intrusive stop formation
- Breaking
- Vowel shortening
- h-deletion
- Replacement of the glide w
- Word stress
- Clitics
- Allomorphy
- Orthography of Frisian
- Morphology
- Inflection
- Word formation
- Derivation
- Prefixation
- Infixation
- Suffixation
- Nominal suffixes
- Verbal suffixes
- Adjectival suffixes
- Adverbial suffixes
- Numeral suffixes
- Interjectional suffixes
- Onomastic suffixes
- Conversion
- Compositions
- Derivation
- Syntax
- Verbs and Verb Phrases
- Characteristics and classification
- Unergative and unaccusative subjects
- Evidentiality
- To-infinitival clauses
- Predication and noun incorporation
- Ellipsis
- Imperativus-pro-Infinitivo
- Expression of irrealis
- Embedded Verb Second
- Agreement
- Negation
- Nouns & Noun Phrases
- Classification
- Complementation
- Modification
- Partitive noun constructions
- Referential partitive constructions
- Partitive measure nouns
- Numeral partitive constructions
- Partitive question constructions
- Nominalised quantifiers
- Kind partitives
- Partitive predication with prepositions
- Bare nominal attributions
- Articles and names
- Pronouns
- Quantifiers and (pre)determiners
- Interrogative pronouns
- R-pronouns
- Syntactic uses
- Adjective Phrases
- Characteristics and classification
- Complementation
- Modification and degree quantification
- Comparison by degree
- Comparative
- Superlative
- Equative
- Attribution
- Agreement
- Attributive adjectives vs. prenominal elements
- Complex adjectives
- Noun ellipsis
- Co-occurring adjectives
- Predication
- Partitive adjective constructions
- Adverbial use
- Participles and infinitives
- Adposition Phrases
- Characteristics and classification
- Complementation
- Modification
- Intransitive adpositions
- Predication
- Preposition stranding
- Verbs and Verb Phrases
-
- General
- Morphology
- Morphology
- 1 Word formation
- 1.1 Compounding
- 1.1.1 Compounds and their heads
- 1.1.2 Special types of compounds
- 1.1.2.1 Affixoids
- 1.1.2.2 Coordinative compounds
- 1.1.2.3 Synthetic compounds and complex pseudo-participles
- 1.1.2.4 Reduplicative compounds
- 1.1.2.5 Phrase-based compounds
- 1.1.2.6 Elative compounds
- 1.1.2.7 Exocentric compounds
- 1.1.2.8 Linking elements
- 1.1.2.9 Separable Complex Verbs and Particle Verbs
- 1.1.2.10 Noun Incorporation Verbs
- 1.1.2.11 Gapping
- 1.2 Derivation
- 1.3 Minor patterns of word formation
- 1.1 Compounding
- 2 Inflection
- 1 Word formation
- Morphology
- Syntax
- Adjectives and adjective phrases (APs)
- 0 Introduction to the AP
- 1 Characteristics and classification of APs
- 2 Complementation of APs
- 3 Modification and degree quantification of APs
- 4 Comparison by comparative, superlative and equative
- 5 Attribution of APs
- 6 Predication of APs
- 7 The partitive adjective construction
- 8 Adverbial use of APs
- 9 Participles and infinitives as APs
- Nouns and Noun Phrases (NPs)
- 0 Introduction to the NP
- 1 Characteristics and Classification of NPs
- 2 Complementation of NPs
- 3 Modification of NPs
- 3.1 Modification of NP by Determiners and APs
- 3.2 Modification of NP by PP
- 3.3 Modification of NP by adverbial clauses
- 3.4 Modification of NP by possessors
- 3.5 Modification of NP by relative clauses
- 3.6 Modification of NP in a cleft construction
- 3.7 Free relative clauses and selected interrogative clauses
- 4 Partitive noun constructions and constructions related to them
- 4.1 The referential partitive construction
- 4.2 The partitive construction of abstract quantity
- 4.3 The numerical partitive construction
- 4.4 The partitive interrogative construction
- 4.5 Adjectival, nominal and nominalised partitive quantifiers
- 4.6 Kind partitives
- 4.7 Partitive predication with a preposition
- 4.8 Bare nominal attribution
- 5 Articles and names
- 6 Pronouns
- 7 Quantifiers, determiners and predeterminers
- 8 Interrogative pronouns
- 9 R-pronouns and the indefinite expletive
- 10 Syntactic functions of Noun Phrases
- Adpositions and Adpositional Phrases (PPs)
- 0 Introduction to the PP
- 1 Characteristics and classification of PPs
- 2 Complementation of PPs
- 3 Modification of PPs
- 4 Bare (intransitive) adpositions
- 5 Predication of PPs
- 6 Form and distribution of adpositions with respect to staticity and construction type
- 7 Adpositional complements and adverbials
- Verbs and Verb Phrases (VPs)
- 0 Introduction to the VP in Saterland Frisian
- 1 Characteristics and classification of verbs
- 2 Unergative and unaccusative subjects and the auxiliary of the perfect
- 3 Evidentiality in relation to perception and epistemicity
- 4 Types of to-infinitival constituents
- 5 Predication
- 5.1 The auxiliary of being and its selection restrictions
- 5.2 The auxiliary of going and its selection restrictions
- 5.3 The auxiliary of continuation and its selection restrictions
- 5.4 The auxiliary of coming and its selection restrictions
- 5.5 Modal auxiliaries and their selection restrictions
- 5.6 Auxiliaries of body posture and aspect and their selection restrictions
- 5.7 Transitive verbs of predication
- 5.8 The auxiliary of doing used as a semantically empty finite auxiliary
- 5.9 Supplementive predication
- 6 The verbal paradigm, irregularity and suppletion
- 7 Verb Second and the word order in main and embedded clauses
- 8 Various aspects of clause structure
- Adjectives and adjective phrases (APs)
-
- General
- Phonology
- Afrikaans phonology
- Segment inventory
- Overview of Afrikaans vowels
- The diphthongised long vowels /e/, /ø/ and /o/
- The unrounded mid-front vowel /ɛ/
- The unrounded low-central vowel /ɑ/
- The unrounded low-central vowel /a/
- The rounded mid-high back vowel /ɔ/
- The rounded high back vowel /u/
- The rounded and unrounded high front vowels /i/ and /y/
- The unrounded and rounded central vowels /ə/ and /œ/
- The diphthongs /əi/, /œy/ and /œu/
- Overview of Afrikaans consonants
- The bilabial plosives /p/ and /b/
- The alveolar plosives /t/ and /d/
- The velar plosives /k/ and /g/
- The bilabial nasal /m/
- The alveolar nasal /n/
- The velar nasal /ŋ/
- The trill /r/
- The lateral liquid /l/
- The alveolar fricative /s/
- The velar fricative /x/
- The labiodental fricatives /f/ and /v/
- The approximants /ɦ/, /j/ and /ʋ/
- Overview of Afrikaans vowels
- Word stress
- The phonetic properties of stress
- Primary stress on monomorphemic words in Afrikaans
- Background to primary stress in monomorphemes in Afrikaans
- Overview of the Main Stress Rule of Afrikaans
- The short vowels of Afrikaans
- Long vowels in monomorphemes
- Primary stress on diphthongs in monomorphemes
- Exceptions
- Stress shifts in place names
- Stress shift towards word-final position
- Stress pattern of reduplications
- Phonological processes
- Vowel related processes
- Consonant related processes
- Homorganic glide insertion
- Phonology-morphology interface
- Phonotactics
- Morphology
- Syntax
- Afrikaans syntax
- Nouns and noun phrases
- Characteristics of the NP
- Classification of nouns
- Complementation of NPs
- Modification of NPs
- Binominal and partitive constructions
- Referential partitive constructions
- Partitive measure nouns
- Numeral partitive constructions
- Partitive question constructions
- Partitive constructions with nominalised quantifiers
- Partitive predication with prepositions
- Binominal name constructions
- Binominal genitive constructions
- Bare nominal attribution
- Articles and names
- Pronouns
- Quantifiers, determiners and predeterminers
- Syntactic uses of the noun phrase
- Adjectives and adjective phrases
- Characteristics and classification of the AP
- Complementation of APs
- Modification and Degree Quantification of APs
- Comparison by comparative, superlative and equative degree
- Attribution of APs
- Predication of APs
- The partitive adjective construction
- Adverbial use of APs
- Participles and infinitives as adjectives
- Verbs and verb phrases
- Characterisation and classification
- Argument structure
- Verb frame alternations
- Complements of non-main verbs
- Verb clusters
- Complement clauses
- Adverbial modification
- Word order in the clause: Introduction
- Word order in the clause: position of the finite Verb
- Word order in the clause: Clause-initial position
- Word order in the clause: Extraposition and right-dislocation in the postverbal field
- Word order in the middle field
- Emphatic constructions
- Adpositions and adposition phrases
Section 3.1.3 has shown that complex intensifying phrases of adjectives can be modified themselves. This section shows that there are various similarities between the modification possibilities of some of these complex intensifying phrases and those of the comparative/superlative forms. These similarities provide additional evidence for the claim that modification and comparison must be treated on a par. Note that there are also modes of modification that are possible with comparatives and superlatives only, which will be discussed as well.
This subsection discusses modification of comparatives and the complex modifier phrases headed by te'too'. We will see in the first subsection below that the modification possibilities of the two are more or less identical, which provides evidence for the claim that, syntactically speaking, comparison is a special case of modification. Nevertheless, there are also differences between modification and comparison, which will be discussed in the second subsection.
Comparatives can be modified by elements that indicate the extent of the higher/lower degree. This subsection shows that the modification possibilities of majoratives are more or less identical to those of adjectives modified by the intensifying phrase te'too'. First, the examples in (148) show that modification by means of the amplifier erg and downtoner vrij is excluded, whereas the modifiers veel and enigszins can be freely added. The corresponding examples with te'too' can be found in (187) and (190a) of Section 3.1.3, sub II.
a. | *erg/vrij duidelijker | 'very/rather clearer' |
a'. | veel/enigszins duidelijker | 'much/somewhat clearer' |
b. | *erg/vrij mooier | 'very/rather more beautiful' |
b'. | veel/enigszins mooier | 'much/somewhat more beautiful' |
c. | *erg/vrij korter | 'very/rather shorter' |
c'. | veel/enigszins korter | 'much/somewhat shorter' |
Second, the examples in (149a&b) show that majoratives can be modified by noun phrases like een stuk'a lot' or een (klein) beetje'a (little) bit'. Third, when we are dealing with a measure adjective, nominal modifiers like twee meter'two meter' are possible, as is shown in (149c). Fourth, besides the noun phrase een ietsje'a bit', it is also possible to use the element iets'somewhat' to modify the comparative, as in (149d). Finally, modification by means of wat is possible, as shown in (149e). The corresponding examples with te'too' can be found in the examples (190b-f) of Section 3.1.3, sub II.
a. | een stuk/beetje duidelijker | 'a lot/bit clearer' |
b. | een stuk/beetje mooier | 'a lot/bit more beautiful' |
c. | twee meter korter | 'two meters shorter' |
d. | een ietsje/iets jonger | 'somewhat younger' |
e. | wat jonger | 'somewhat younger' |
The examples in (150) show that the modification possibilities of the minoratives are more or less similar to those of the majoratives, albeit that enigszins does not seem to yield a very felicitous result.
a. | * | erg/vrij | minder | duidelijk |
very/rather | less | clear |
a'. | veel/?enigszins | minder | duidelijk | |
much/somewhat | less | clear |
b. | een stuk/beetje | minder | duidelijk | |
a lot/bit | less | clear |
c. | een ietsje/iets | minder | duidelijk | |
somewhat | less | clear |
d. | Dit boek | is nog | minder | duidelijk. | |
this book | is even | less | clear |
The correspondence between the modification possibilities of adjectives modified by te'too' and comparative forms discussed in the previous subsection provides additional evidence for the claim that, syntactically speaking, comparison is a special case of modification. Nevertheless, there are also a number of differences between modification and comparison.
The (a)-examples in (151) show that majoratives differ from adjectives modified by te'too' in that the former can also be modified by modifiers that specify the distance on an implied scale between the compared entities: beduidend'significantly', opmerkelijk'remarkably', zichtbaar'visibly'. The modifiers in the (b)-examples, which seem comparable to those in the (a)-examples, are possible in both cases, but with different meaning contributions: in (151b) the modifiers specify the distance on the implied scale between the compared entities, whereas in (151b') they indicate the distance on the implied scale between an implicitly assumed norm and the actual size of Jan.
a. | Jan is beduidend/opmerkelijk/zichtbaar | groter | dan Peter. | |
Jan is significantly/remarkably/visibly | bigger | than Peter |
a'. | Jan is ?beduidend/*opmerkelijk/?zichtbaar | te groot. | |
Jan is significantly/remarkably/visibly | too big |
b. | Jan is flink/fors/duidelijk | groter dan Peter. | |
Jan is considerably/substantially/clearly | bigger than Peter |
b'. | Jan is flink/fors/duidelijk | te groot. | |
Jan is considerably/substantially/clearly | too big |
Majoratives differ from adjectives modified by te'too' in that the former can be modified by the accented element nog'even'; cf. Section 4.1.1. This is illustrated in (152). Note in passing that the primed examples are acceptable if nog is interpreted as an adverb of time, that is, as English still. Under this interpretation, which does not concern us here, nog need not be accented.
a. | Dit boek | is nóg | duidelijker. | |
this book | is even | clearer |
a'. | # | Dit boek is nog te duidelijk. |
b. | Dit boek | is nóg | mooier. | |
this book | is even | more beautiful |
b'. | # | Dit boek is nog te mooi. |
c. | Deze jurk | is nóg | korter. | |
this dress | is even | shorter |
c'. | # | Deze jurk is nog te kort. |
A remarkable case of modification, which occurs with majoratives only, is given in (153) and (154). The string hoe langer hoe A-er forms a constituent, which is clear from the fact illustrated in the primeless (b)-examples that it can be placed in clause-initial position as a whole; cf. the constituency test. This is also suggested by the fact illustrated in the primed (b)-examples that the string cannot be split.
a. | Het boek wordt | hoe langer | hoe beter. | |
the book becomes | how longer | how better | ||
'The book is getting better all the time.' |
b. | Hoe langer hoe beter wordt het boek. |
b'. | * | Hoe langer wordt het boek hoe beter. |
b''. | * | Hoe beter wordt het boek hoe langer. |
a. | Peter wordt | hoe langer | hoe brutaler. | |
Peter becomes | how longer | how cheekier | ||
'Peter is getting cheekier all the time.' |
b. | Hoe langer hoe brutaler wordt Peter. |
b'. | * | Hoe langer wordt Peter hoe brutaler. |
b''. | * | Hoe brutaler wordt Peter hoe langer. |
The internal makeup of the string hoe langer hoe A-er is far from clear. Perhaps we should consider the string hoe langer hoe as a lexical unit with a more or less similar meaning as the adverbs steeds/alsmaar'continuously'; cf. the discussion of (17a). Although the second majorative (beter/brutaler) clearly is the head of the complex phrase, it does not seem to be the semantic target of the modification: instead, the construction expresses that the process of getting more A is ongoing, that is, we are dealing with a restriction on the aspectual nature of the event. This is also clear from the fact that the progressive copula worden'to be' cannot be replaced by the stative copula zijn'to have been'. In this respect, this construction again resembles adverbial phrases like steeds/alsmaar'continuously'
a. | * | Het boek is hoe langer hoe beter. |
b. | * | Peter is hoe langer hoe brutaler. |
The examples in (156) show that the string hoe langer hoe beter cannot be readily used in attributive position, which is supported by the fact that our Google search (3/12/2015) on the string [een hoe langer hoe beter(e)] resulted in no more than three relevant cases. The (a)-examples in (157) show that the same thing holds for the corresponding constructions with the adverb steeds'continuously'; the primed example is marked if the present participle of the copula worden'to become' is not expressed. That we may be dealing with a semantic restriction is strongly suggested by the fact that the same thing can be observed in the (b)-examples in (157), in which the phrase beteren beter'better and better' expresses a similar meaning as hoe langer hoe beter and steeds beter.
a. | ?? | een | hoe langer | hoe beter | boek |
a | how longer | how better | book |
b. | *? | een | hoe langer | hoe brutalere | jongen |
a | how longer | how cheekier | boy |
a. | Het boek | wordt | steeds | beter. | |
the book | becomes | continuously | better |
a'. | een | steeds | beter | ??(wordend) | boek. | |
a | continuously | better | becoming | book |
b. | Het boek | wordt | beter en beter. | |
the book | becomes | better and better |
b'. | een | beter en beter | ??(wordend) | boek. | |
a | better and better | becoming | book |
The examples in (158) show that the presence of the string hoe langer hoe blocks the addition of the comparative dan/als-phrase (cf. the discussion of (17a)), and that it is not compatible with other modifiers, like veel.
a. | Het boek wordt (*hoe langer hoe) beter dan/als ... |
b. | Het boek wordt (*hoe langer hoe) veel beter. |
Note, finally, that the construction in (153) and (154) should not be confused with the examples in (159), which may involve a (reduced) adjunct clause and which are special in that both clauses have the finite verb in clause-final position; see Section V10.3.1 for more discussion of this construction.
a. | Hoe langer | het boek | wordt, | hoe beter | [het is]. | |
how longer | the book | gets | how better | [it is] | ||
'The longer the book gets, the better itʼll be.' |
b. | Hoe langer | je | oefent, | hoe beter | het | zal | gaan. | |
how longer | you | practice | how better | it | will | go | ||
'The longer you practice, the better itʼll go.' |
This subsection discusses similarities and differences between modification of superlatives and modification of complex modifier phrases headed by zo.
Superlatives and adjectives modified by the degree element zo both allow the addition of the element mogelijk. For adjectives modified by zo, this has been discussed in Section 3.1.3, sub ID. For superlatives, we illustrate this in (160). Occasionally, the element mogelijk can be replaced by denkbaar'conceivable', as in (160c); this is never possible if we are dealing with adjectives modified by zo.
a. | de | kortst | mogelijke | weg | |
the | shortest | possible | road |
b. | de | best | mogelijke | oplossing | |
the | best | possible | solution |
c. | de | best | denkbare | oplossing | |
the | best | conceivable | solution |
The superlative differs from adjectives modified by zo in that it can also be modified by the discontinuous PP op XP na, in which XP can either be a numeral or a noun phrase, and verreweg'by far'.
The first construction involves a definite numeral (generally of a relatively low cardinality). In (161a), we give an example that involves a superlative used in complementive position. The (b)-examples in (161) show that the PP can occur either before or after the definite determiner if the superlative is used attributively.
a. | dat | Jan | op | één | na | het best | is. | |
that | Jan | op | one | na | the best | is | ||
'that Jan is second best.' |
b. | Jan is op | één | na | de beste student. | |
Jan is op | one | na | the best student | ||
'Jan is the second best student.' |
b'. | Jan is de op één na beste student. |
Besides (161a), constructions such as (162a), in which the superlative is preceded by de'the', are also possible. In these cases, de is the regular definite determiner, and we are dealing with noun phrases in which the head noun is deleted, which is indicated by [e]. This means that example (162a) is structurally parallel to (161b). Not surprisingly, the head noun in (161b') can also be left out, which leads to the construction in (162b).
a. | Jan is op | één na de beste [e]. |
b. | Jan is de op één na beste [e]. |
The PP op + numeral + na must be left-adjacent to the predicatively used superlative. First, the examples in (163a&a') show that it cannot be moved leftwards in isolation. Second, the (b)-examples in (163) show that topicalization of the adjective is possible only if the PP is pied-piped, which is a clear indication that the two make up a constituent. Finally, the (c)-examples in (163) show that the PP cannot occur to the immediate right of the adjective or be placed after the verbs in clause-final position. Note, however, that example (163c') improves considerably if the PP in extraposed position is preceded by an intonation break.
a. | ?? | Op één na is Jan het best. |
a'. | * | Jan is op één na waarschijnlijk het best. |
b. | Op één na het best is Jan. |
b'. | * | Het best is Jan op één na. |
c. | ?? | dat Jan het best op één na is. |
c'. | dat Jan het best is *( , ) op één na. |
For completeness’ sake, note that the discussion in Paardekooper (1986) seems to suggest that the order in (163c) is acceptable. Most of his examples involve APs that are not followed by a verb, however, so we may actually be dealing with the extraposition construction in (163c'), which he considers fully acceptable.
Example (164a) shows that the pre-determiner PP in (161b) cannot be topicalized in isolation, which suggests that the PP forms a constituent with the noun phrase; cf. de op één na beste student is Jan waarschijnlijk. That the PP and the noun phrase in (161b) form a constituent is less clear than in the case of the PP and the superlative in (161a), however, given that topicalization of the noun phrase also leads to a marked result, both with and without pied piping of the PP; cf. (164a'&a''). Further, it can be observed that placement of the PP to the right of the noun phrase is not possible, although the result improves slightly in the case of extraposition if the PP is preceded by an intonation break; the improvement is not as great as in the case of (163c'), however.
a. | * | Op één na is Jan de beste student. |
a'. | ?? | Op één na de beste student is Jan waarschijnlijk. |
a''. | * | De beste student is Jan waarschijnlijk op één na. |
b. | * | dat Jan de beste student op één na is. |
b'. | dat Jan de beste student is *(?? , ) op één na. |
The discontinuous PP op ... na may also contain a full noun phrase. This PP is used especially if the proposition expressed by the clause involves universal (∀x) or negative existential (¬∃x) quantification. The universal quantification can be implicit, as in example (165c) without allemaal'all'.
a. | Op Peter na | is iedereen/niemand | aanwezig. | |
op Peter na | is everyone/no one | present | ||
'Except for Peter, everyone/no one is present.' |
b. | Op gisteren | na | ben | ik | daar | altijd/nooit | geweest. | |
op yesterday | na | am | I | there | always/never | been | ||
'Except for yesterday Iʼve always/never been there.' |
c. | Die boeken | heb | ik | op | Nostromo na | (allemaal) | gelezen. | |
those books | have | I | op | Nostromo na | all | read | ||
'I read all those books, except for Nostromo.' |
Example (166) shows that the PP op NP na can also be used if a superlative is present, which is not really surprising given that the superlative also expresses universal quantification; cf. the semantic representation in (27b).
dat | Jan op | Peter | na | het best | is. | ||
that | Jan OP | Peter | NA | the best | is | ||
'that Jan is the best after Peter.' |
Although (166) at first sight strongly resembles the construction in (161a), we will argue below that the most likely analysis of these constructions is one in which this PP does not form a constituent with the adjective, in contrast to the PP op + numeral + na in (161). A first indication that the PPs in (161) and (166) are different is that the PP op NP na cannot be placed after the determiner in primeless examples such as (167). Note that we find the same facts in the primed examples, which support the analysis of examples of this sort in terms of N-ellipsis; see the discussion of (131) and (162).
a. | Jan is op | Peter | na | de beste student. | |
Jan is OP | Peter | NA | the best student | ||
'Jan is the best student after Peter.' |
a'. | Jan is op Peter na de beste [e]. |
b. | *? | Jan is de op Peter na beste student. |
b'. | * | Jan is de op Peter na beste [e]. |
A second indication that the two PPs are different is that the (a)-examples in (168) show that the PP in (166) can be moved leftwards stranding the AP. This suggests that the PP and the adjective do not form a constituent in this case, but that the PP acts as an independent adverbial modifier of the clause. This idea is supported by the fact that the topicalization construction in (168b) is marginal at best, although it should be observed that movement of the adjective in isolation, as in (168b'), seems to be awkward as well. Placement of the PP to the right of the adjective is not possible, although the example involving extraposition improves if the PP is preceded by an intonation break. The ungrammaticality of (168c) follows naturally from the claim that the PP is not part of the AP but an independent adverbial phrase, since the complementive adjective must be left-adjacent to the verb in clause-final position; cf. Section 6.2.2, sub I.
a. | Op Peter na is Jan het best. |
a'. | Jan is op Peter na waarschijnlijk het best. |
b. | ?? | Op Peter na het best is Jan. |
b'. | ?? | Het best is Jan op Peter na. |
c. | * | dat Jan het best op Peter na is. |
c'. | dat Jan het best is *( , ) op Peter na. |
The PP in (166) also differs from the PP in (161b). First, (169a) shows that topicalization of the PP op Peter na in isolation is fully acceptable. Pied piping of the PP under topicalization of the noun phrase, on the other hand, is entirely excluded. Topicalization of the noun phrase in isolation is acceptable, but only if the PP in clause-final position is preceded by an intonation break. As is shown in (169b), placement of the PP to the right of the noun phrase is impossible, but extraposition gives rise to a reasonably acceptable result.
a. | Op Peter na is Jan de beste student. |
a'. | * | Op Peter na de beste student is Jan waarschijnlijk. |
a''. | De beste student is Jan waarschijnlijk ?( , ) op Peter na. |
b. | * | dat Jan de beste student op Peter na is. |
b'. | dat Jan de beste student is ?( , ) op Peter na. |
On the basis of these differences we can conclude that the PP op NUMERAL na modifies the superlative, forming a constituent with either the superlative or the noun phrase that includes the superlative, whereas the PP op NP na is not part of the AP, but acts as an adverbial modifier of (some other element in) the clause.
The superlative can also be preceded by verreweg'by far'. This modifier specifies the distance on the implied scale between the entities that are compared; cf. the cases of modification of the comparative in (151). Despite the fact that the constituency test in (170a') clearly indicates that the modifier and the superlative form a constituent, the modifier cannot be adjacent to the superlative in attributive position; it precedes the definite determiner. Still, the constituency test in (170b') shows that verreweg forms a constituent with the complete noun phrase.
a. | Jan is verreweg | het best | |
Jan is by far | the best |
a'. | <Verreweg> het best is Jan <*verreweg>. |
b. | Jan is <verreweg> | de <??verreweg> | beste | kandidaat. | |
Jan is by far | the | best | candidate |
b'. | <verreweg> de beste kandidaat is Jan <*verreweg> |
There are no other cases of modification of the superlative, which is probably due to the “absolute" nature of the superlative. It should be observed, however, that the superlative can be emphasized by morphological means, namely by affixing the superlative with the prefix aller-. It should be noted, however, that the form aller-A-st need not be interpreted as a superlative: it can also be used as a non-comparative adjective that does not denote the highest degree but a very high degree. This use of the form aller-A-st is occasionally called the elativus, but since this term is also used for locative case, we want to introduce the term pseudo-superlative. Some examples of this use are given in (171a&c).
a. | een | allerààrdigste | jongen | (*van de klas) | pseudo-superlative | |
a | very.nice | boy | of the group |
b. | de | àlleraardigste | jongen | (van de klas) | emphatic superlative | |
the | nicest | boy | of the group |
c. | Jan is allerààrdigst | (*van de klas). | pseudo-superlative | |
Jan is very.nice | of the group |
d. | Jan is het àlleraardigst | (van de klas). | emphatic superlative | |
Jan is the nicest | of the group |
The pseudo-superlatives differ in various respects from the emphatic superlatives in (171b&d). First, the attributively used pseudo-superlative in (171a) is preceded by the indefinite article een'a'; if the article is replaced by the definite article de'the', as in (171b), the adjective is interpreted as an emphatic superlative. Second, the predicatively used pseudo-superlative in (171c) is not preceded by the element het; if het is added, as in (171d), the adjective is necessarily interpreted as an emphatic superlative. Third, the pseudo- and emphatic superlative differ with respect to the placement of word accent; the pseudo-superlative has word accent on the adjective (allerààrdigst), whereas the emphatic superlative has word accent on the prefix (àlleraardigst). Finally, the emphatic superlative can be combined with a comparative van-phrase just like the regular superlative, whereas this is excluded in the case of the pseudo-superlative.
The superlative form best can also occur as a pseudo-superlative without the prefix aller-. Some examples are given in the primeless examples in (172); again the adjective does not express the highest degree but a very high degree of some property, which is partly contextually determined in this case. Observe that the pseudo-superlative best cannot be used as a complementive, unlike the true superlative het best, as shown by the primed and doubly-primed examples in (172). Finally, note that the pseudo-superlative best is often used in salutations of letters: beste Jan'dear Jan'.
a. | een | beste | kerel | |
a | very.nice | chap |
b. | een | beste | wijn | |
a | very.good | wine |
a'. | * | Peter is best. |