• Dutch
  • Frisian
  • Saterfrisian
  • Afrikaans
Show all
2.2.3.2.Inf-nominalizations
quickinfo

This section discusses complementation of inf-nominalizations, which come in two types: bare-inf nominalizations like (226a), which are not preceded by a determiner, and det-inf nominalizations like (226b), which can be introduced by a variety of determiners. Section 1.3.1.2 has shown that there are only few restrictions on inf-nominalization; it is the most productive process of deriving nouns from verbs and accepts virtually any type of input verb.

226
a. Wandelen van zieken moet worden aangemoedigd.
  walk  of sick  must  be  encouraged
  'Walking of sick people must be encouraged.'
b. Het wandelen van zieken moet worden aangemoedigd.
  the walk  of sick  must  be  encouraged
  'The walking of sick people must be encouraged.'

This section is organized as follows. Subsection I starts by presenting some general principles regarding the complementation of inf-nouns. Subsection II will be concerned with complementation of the most common types of inf-nouns. The discussion will be concluded in Subsection III by applying the adjunct/complement tests from Section 2.2.1 to the inherited arguments of the verbs that are realized as PPs within the noun phrase in order to show that they indeed function as complements.

readmore
[+]  I.  General principles of inf-nominalization

This subsection discusses the characteristics of complementation shared by all types of inf-nouns in order to simplify the discussion of complementation which follows in Subsection II.

[+]  A.  Choice of determiner

The examples in (227) show that in det-inf nominalizations the determiner position can be filled by the definite article het, the demonstrative determiner dit'this' or dat'that', or a genitive noun phrase/possessive pronoun. Schoorlemmer (2001) distinguishes two types of inf-nominalization, the plain type in (227a&a') and the expressive type in (227b).

227
a. Het klagen over het weer is irritant.
  the  complain  about the weather  is annoying
  'The complaining about the weather is annoying.'
a'. ??Mijn vaders/?Zijn/(?)Dit klagen over het weer is irritant.
  my fatherʼs/his/this  complain  about the weather  is annoying
  'My fatherʼs/His complaining about the weather is annoying.'
b. Dat klagen over het weer is irritant.
  that  complain  about the weather  is annoying
  'That/this complaining about the weather is annoying.'

Expressive inf-nominalizations like (227b) often sound more natural than plain inf-nominalizations. They contain the (expressive) expressive demonstrative pronoun dat'that', and are characterized by the fact that they always convey a negative judgment, which is often reinforced by the use of an attributive adjective expressing frequency and/or value judgment. Some examples are given in (228).

228
a. Dat eeuwige/voortdurende hoesten van hem werkt me op de zenuwen.
  that  eternal/continuous  cough  of him  works  me on the nerves
  'That eternal/continuous coughing of his gets on my nerves.'
b. Dat afschuwelijke hoesten van hem werkt me op de zenuwen.
  that  terrible  cough  of him  works  me on the nerves
  'That terrible coughing of his gets on my nerves.'

Plain and expressive inf-nominalizations differ in that the latter refer to ongoing events, whereas the former may also refer to past, completed events. This is shown by the contrast given in (229a). Furthermore, the contrast in (229b) shows that certain combinations of prenominal theme-NP and attributive adjective are perfectly acceptable in the expressive type but less so in the plain type.

229
a. het/*dat nooit meer gebeld hebben van Tanja
  the/that  never again  called have  of Tanja
  'Tanjaʼs never having called us again'
b. dat/??het afschuwelijke overlast veroorzaken van jou
  that/the  terrible  trouble  cause  of you
  'that terrible causing of trouble by you'

Another important difference concerning complementation is that transitive expressive inf-nominalizations can be followed by two van-phrases expressing, respectively, the theme and the agent, whereas this is impossible with plain inf-nominalizations. Note that example (230b) is acceptable if the agent is expressed by means of an agentive door-phrase.

230
a. dat eeuwige treiteren van hondenTheme van jullieAgent
  that  eternal  pester  of dogs of  you
  'that eternal pestering of dogs by you'
b. het eeuwige treiteren van hondenTheme *van/door jullieAgent
  the  eternal  pester  of dogs    of/by  you

In other respects, the two subtypes behave very much as one group, especially in comparison with the category of bare-inf nominalizations. Since including the distinction between expressive and plain inf-nominalizations in our discussion of inf-nominalizations may cause unnecessary confusion, the subsequent treatment of det-inf nominalizations will be restricted to one (the most appropriate) form only.

[+]  B.  The genitive noun phrase/possessive pronoun

Example (227a'), repeated here in slightly different form as (231a), shows that the agent argument can be expressed by means of a genitive noun phrase or possessive pronoun. The examples in (231b&c) show that this is never possible with the theme argument. In this respect, inf-nominalizations differ from many other nominalizations where this is easily possible.

231
a. ??Mijn vaders/?ZijnAgent klagen over het weer is irritant.
  my fatherʼs/his  complain  about the weather  is annoying
  'My fatherʼs/His complaining about the weather is annoying.'
b. * Mijn vaders/ZijnTheme behandelen (door de arts) kost veel tijd.
  my fatherʼs/his  treat  by the doctor  takes  much time
  Intended reading: 'My fatherʼs treatment by the doctor takes much time.'
c. * Peters/ZijnTheme voorstellen aan SinterklaasRecipient
  Peterʼs/his  introduce  to Santa Claus
  Intended reading: 'the introduction of Peter to Santa Claus'
[+]  C.  Specificity of the postnominal van-PP and the prenominal NPTheme

The most natural use of bare-inf nominalizations seems to be a generic one, in the sense that they have a preference for determinerless (generic or nonspecific) arguments. This is especially the case if the postnominal van-PP corresponds to the subject of the corresponding verbal construction, that is, if the input verb is intransitive like wandelen'to walk' in (232a) or unaccusative like opstijgen'to take off' in (232b).

232
a. Wandelen van (*de/*deze) ziekenAgent moet worden aangemoedigd.
  walk  of     the/these  sick  must  be  encouraged
  'Sick peopleʼs walking (in the park) ought to be encouraged.'
b. Opstijgen van (*de/*deze) vliegtuigenTheme maakt te veel lawaai.
  take.off  of     the/these  planes  makes  too much noise
  'Taking off of (the/these) planes makes too much noise.'

The results are better, although still marked, with the postnominal van-PP and the prenominal noun phrase in (233), which correspond to the theme argument/direct object of the corresponding verbal construction. Section 1.3.1.2, sub IID, has shown that realization of the theme as a prenominal noun phrase is always preferred with bare-inf nominalizations, but this is not indicated by the judgments given in (233), which only aim at expressing the effect of adding the relevant determiner. When not directly relevant for the discussion, the effect of the manner of realization of the theme argument in bare-inf nominalizations is also ignored in the examples given later in this subsection.

233
a. Opbergen van (?de/?die/?mijn) mappenTheme kost veel tijd.
  put.away  of     the/those/my  files  costs  much time
  'Putting away of (the/those/my) files took a lot of time.'
b. (?De/?Die/?Mijn) mappenTheme opbergen kost veel tijd.
  the/those/my  files  put.away  costs  much time
  'Putting away (the/those/my) files took a lot of time.'

The acceptability of sentences such as (233) varies with the degree of genericity. This is shown by the fact illustrated by the examples in (234) that the choice between past and present tense affects the acceptability of the examples, which is of course due to the fact that the present tense makes a generic reading more readily available.

234
a. Maken van deze somTheme *was/??is lastig.
  make  of this sum    was/is  difficult
b. Behandelen van JanTheme *kostte/??kost veel tijd.
  treat  of Jan    took/takes  much time

The use of a binominal construction involving a kind-noun like soort/type in the examples in (235) also improves the result due to the fact that these noun phrases, despite their definiteness, may trigger a generic reading.

235
a. ? Maken van dit soort sommenTheme is lastig.
  make  of this kind of sums  is difficult
  'Doing this kind of sums is difficult.'
b. ? Behandelen van dit type patiëntTheme kost veel tijd.
  treat  of this type of patient  takes  much time
  'Treating this patient takes a lot of time.'

      The examples in (236) show that det-inf nominalizations also seem to have a preference for nonspecific arguments that correspond to the subject of the corresponding verbal construction, although the effect is less strong than with bare-inf nominalizations.

236
a. Het wandelen van (?de/?deze) ziekenAgent moet worden aangemoedigd.
  the walk  of    the/these  sick  must  be  encouraged
  'The walking of the/these sick people ought to be encouraged.'
b. Het opstijgen van (??de/?deze) vliegtuigenTheme maakt te veel lawaai.
  the take.off  of      the/these  planes  makes  too much noise
  'The taking off of the/these planes makes too much noise.'

If the postverbal van-PP corresponds to the object of the corresponding verbal construction, this preference disappears: example (237a) shows that in this case specific and nonspecific arguments give rise to equally acceptable results. However, if the object of the corresponding verbal construction is expressed by means of a prenominal noun phrase, as in (237b), the preference for a nonspecific argument reappears. Section 1.3.1.2, sub IID, has shown that realization of the theme as a postnominal van-PP is always preferred with det-inf nominalizations, but this is not indicated by the judgments given in (237), which only aim to express the effect of adding the relevant determiner. When not directly relevant for the discussion, the effect of the manner of realization of the theme in det-inf nominalizations is also ignored in the examples given later in this subsection.

237
a. Het opbergen van (de/die/mijn) mappenTheme kost veel tijd.
  the put.away  of  the/those/my  files  costs  much time
  'This putting away of (the/those/my) files took a lot of time.'
b. Het (?de/?die/?mijn) mappenTheme opbergen kost veel tijd.
  the    the/those/my  files  put.away  costs  much time
  'Putting away (the/those/my) files took a lot of time.'

The examples in (238) show that the degraded status of (237b) is not due to the sequence of two determiners because it also arises with specific noun phrases that appear without a determiner, like proper nouns. This is illustrated in (238) by means of the proper noun Peter.

238
a. Het behandelen van patiënten/PeterTheme door de artsAgent kost veel tijd.
  the treat  of patients/Peter  by the doctor  takes  much time
  'The treating of patients/Peter by the doctor takes much time.'
b. Het patiënten/*PeterTheme behandelen door de artsAgent kost veel tijd.
  the  patients/Peter  treat  by the doctor  takes  much time
  'The treating of patients/Peter by the doctor takes much time.'

The specificity effect also arises with inf-nominalizations of ditransitive verbs: (239a&a') and (239b) show this for respectively the theme and the recipient argument of a bare-inf nominalization.

239
a. Winnaars (?de) prijzen uitreiken is een feestelijke gelegenheid.
  winners     the prizes  present  is a festive occasion
  'Presenting winners with prizes is a festive occasion.'
a'. (*?De) prijzen uitreiken aan de winnaars is een feestelijke gelegenheid.
  the prizes  present  to the winners  is a festive occasion
b. (??De) winnaars prijzen uitreiken is een feestelijke gelegenheid.
  the winners  prizes  present  is a festive occasion

Examples (240a&a') and (240b) present the corresponding det-inf nominalizations, and example (240c) shows that realizing the theme and recipient arguments as specific postnominal PPs gives rise to a fully acceptable result.

240
a. Het winnaars (??de) prijzen uitreiken is een feestelijke gelegenheid.
  winners     the prizes  present  is a festive occasion
  'Presenting winners with prizes is a festive occasion.'
a'. Het (*de) prijzen uitreiken aan de winnaars is een feestelijke gelegenheid.
  the     the prizes  present  to the winners  is a festive occasion
b. Het (*?de) winnaars prijzen uitreiken is een feestelijke gelegenheid.
  the     the winners  prizes  present  is a festive occasion
c. Het uitreiken van de prijzen aan de winnaars is een feestelijke gelegenheid.
  the  present  of the prizes  to the winners  is a festive occasion
[+]  D.  The agentive door-phrase

Another general principle of inf-nominalizations concerns the position of agentive door-phrases, which may appear in plain inf-nominalizations derived from transitive and ditransitive verbs that can be passivized. Note that Subsection II will show that inf-nominalizations derived from intransitive verbs prefer the realization of the agent as a van-PP, despite the fact that intransitive verbs can also be passivized in Dutch. This is illustrated in example (241).

241
a. Het lachen van/*?door Jan is gênant.
  that  laugh  of/by Jan  is embarrassing
  'That laughing of Jan is embarrassing.'
b. Het treiteren van kleuters door/*van Jan is onaanvaardbaar.
  that  bully  of toddlers  by/of Jan  is unacceptable
  'That bullying of toddlers by Jan is unacceptable.'
c. Het geven van cadeaus aan kinderen door/*van Sinterklaas is traditie.
  the  give  of presents  to children  by/of Santa Claus  is tradition
  'The giving of presents to children by Santa Claus is a tradition.'

The agentive door-phrase typically occurs postnominally, following all other arguments. However, placement in other positions, either postnominally or prenominally, is also possible. The placement possibilities of the door-phrase depend on the form of the inf-nominalization (bare-inf or det-inf) and the position of the theme (postnominal or prenominal). Separate subsections will therefore be devoted to (i) det-inf nominalizations with a postnominal theme, (ii) bare-inf nominalizations with a postnominal theme, and (iii) det-inf and bare-inf nominalizations with the theme in prenominal position. Finally, some attention will be paid to det-inf nominalizations of causative constructions, as these turn out to be much more tolerant with regard to the placement of the door-PP.

[+]  1.  det-inf with postnominal theme

Example (242a) provides the typical, unmarked order of constituentsin det-inf nominalizations derived from a transitive verb with a postnominal theme: the door-PP follows the nominalized head and the theme argument realized as a van-PP. Placing the door-PP in some other position within the noun phrase, as in (242b&c), yields a marked result.

242
a. Het behandelen van de patiëntenTheme door de artsAgent kost veel tijd.
  the  treat  of the patients  by the doctor  takes  much time
  'The treatment of the patients by the doctor takes a lot of time.'
b. *? Het behandelen door de artsAgent van de patiëntenTheme kost veel tijd.
c. ?? Het door de artsAgent behandelen van de patiëntenTheme kost veel tijd.

The examples in (243) show, however, that the marked orders may arise under certain conditions. First, (243a) illustrates that the agentive door-PP may precede the theme PP if the latter is sufficiently heavy. Second, (243b) shows that placement of the door-PP in prenominal position is somewhat better in generic contexts; in formal generic contexts, such as (243b'), it is even fully acceptable.

243
a. Het behandelen door de artsAgent van de patiënt van kamer 114Theme kost veel tijd.
  the  treat  by the doctor  of the patient from room 114  takes  much time
b. ? Het door artsenAgent behandelen van patiëntenTheme kost veel tijd.
  the  by doctors  treat  of patients  costs  much time
b'. Het door co-assistentenAgent behandelen van patiëntenTheme staat ter discussie.
  the  by interns  treat  of patients stands  at discussion
  'The treating of patients by interns is under discussion.'

      In the case of a ditransitive example such as (244), too, the door-PP typically follows the complements of the inf-nominalization, the alternative orders exhibiting a varying degree of unacceptability: the orders in (244a&b) both seem acceptable; the orders in (244c&d) are marginal at best, although they may become slightly more acceptable in generic contexts or in the case of heavy-PP shift.

244
a. Het uitreiken van de prijzenTh aan de winnaarsRec door de voorzitter duurde lang.
  the  present  of the prizes  to the winners  by the chairman  took  long
  'This presenting of the prizes to the winners by the chairman took a long time.'
b. ? Het uitreiken van de prijzenTh door de voorzitterAg aan de winnaarsRec duurde lang.
c. *? Het uitreiken door de voorzitterAg van de prijzenTh aan de winnaarsRec duurde lang.
d. ?? Het door de voorzitterAg uitreiken van de prijzenTh aan de winnaarsRec duurde lang.

The fact that the door-phrase seems to prefer a peripheral position in the inf-nominalization may reflect the fact that agents of nominalized constructions are less closely associated with the head than themes or recipients.

[+]  2.  Bare-inf with postnominal theme

As was noted in Subsection C above, bare-inf nominalizations with the theme argument in postnominal position are only acceptable on a generic reading. Even so, word order variation is restricted: only the order in (245a), in which the door-phrase follows both the head and the theme argument, is fully acceptable; placing the door-phrase between the noun and the theme, as in (245b), yields a bad result even with a heavy theme; placing the door-phrase in front of the noun, as in (245c), is entirely impossible.

245
a. Behandelen van patiënten (met hardnekkige kwalen)Th door artsenAg kost veel tijd.
  treat  of patients   with persistent ailments  by doctors takes  much time
  'The treating of patients by inexperienced doctor takes a lot of time.'
b. *? Behandelen door artsenAg van patiënten (met hardnekkige kwalen)Th kost veel tijd.
c. * Door artsenAg behandelen van patiënten (met hardnekkige kwalen)Th kost veel tijd.

A similar pattern emerges with bare-inf nominalizations derived from ditransitive verbs. In (246) we give examples with a normal theme and recipient: (246b&c) show that placing the door-phrase in front of the recipient or the theme gives rise to a marginal result, and (246d) shows that placing the door-phrase in front of the noun is impossible.

246
a. Uitreiken van prijzenTh aan winnaarsRec door voorzittersAg duurt altijd lang.
  present  of prizes  to winners  by chairmen  takes always long
  'Presenting prizes to winners by chairmen always takes a long time.'
b. ? Uitreiken van prijzenTh door voorzittersAg aan winnaarsRec duurt altijd lang.
c. *? Uitreiken door voorzittersAg van prijzenTh aan winnaarsRec duurt altijd lang.
d. * Door voorzittersAg uitreiken van prijzenTh aan winnaarsRec duurt altijd lang.

The examples in (247) show that cases with a heavy theme or a heavy recipient argument do not give rise to better results.

247
a. * Uitreiken aan winnaarsRec door voorzittersAg van prijzen voor de leukste bijdrageTh duurt altijd lang.
  present  to winners  by chairmen  of prizes  for the funniest  contribution  takes  always  long
b. ? Uitreiken van prijzenTh door voorzittersAg aan winnaars van internationale wedstrijdenRec duurt altijd lang.
  present of prizes  by chairmen  to winners  of international  competitions  takes  always  long
[+]  3.  Det-inf and bare-inf with prenominal theme

If the theme appears prenominally as a noun phrase, as in the transitive constructions in (248) and (249), the distribution of the door-phrase is severely restricted. It can only occur postnominally, and even this leads to a marked result: the (a)-examples are certainly more marked than the corresponding examples in which the theme is expressed by a postnominal van-PP.

248
a. ? Het patiëntenTh behandelen door artsenAg kost veel tijd.
  the  patients  treat  by doctors  takes  much time
  'The treating of patients by doctors takes a lot of time.'
b. * Het door artsenAg patiëntenTh behandelen kost veel tijd.
c. * Het patiëntenTh door artsenAg behandelen kost veel tijd.
249
a. ?? PatiëntenTh behandelen door artsenAg kost altijd veel tijd.
  patients  treat  by doctors  takes  always  much time
  'Treating of patients by doctors takes a lot of time.'
b. * Door artsenAg patiëntenTh behandelen kost altijd veel tijd.
c. * PatiëntenTh door artsenAg behandelen kost altijd veel tijd.

more or less the same pattern can be observed in the ditransitive constructions in (250) and (251): the (a)-examples show that expressing the door-phrase with a prenominal theme is somewhat marked compared to constructions in which the theme is expressed by a postnominal van-PP; the (b)-examples show that constructions with both the theme and the door-PP in prenominal position are unacceptable; the (c)-examples, finally, show that constructions with all three arguments in prenominal position are degraded, although they are perhaps marginally possible with det-infs if the indirect object takes the form of an aan-PP.

250
a. (?) Het prijzenTh uitreiken aan winnaarsRec door voorzittersAg duurt altijd lang.
  the  prizes  present  to winners  by the chairman  takes always long
  'The presenting of prizes to winners by the chairman always takes a long time.'
b. *? Het door voorzittersAg prijzenTh uitreiken aan winnaarsRec duurt altijd lang.
b'. * Het prijzenTh door voorzittersAg uitreiken aan winnaarsRec duurt altijd lang.
c. ?? Het door voorzittersAg prijzenTh aan winnaarsRec uitreiken duurt altijd lang.
c'. * Het door voorzittersAg winnaarsRec prijzenTh uitreiken duurt altijd lang.
251
a. (?) PrijzenTh uitreiken aan winnaarsRec door voorzittersAg duurt altijd lang.
  prizes  present  to the winners  by the chairman  takes always  long
  'Presenting prizes to winners by chairmen always takes a long time.'
b. * Door voorzittersAg prijzenTh uitreiken aan winnaarsRec duurt altijd lang.
b'. * PrijzenTh door voorzittersAg uitreiken aan winnaarsRec duurt altijd lang.
c. * Door voorzittersAg prijzenTh aan winnaarsRec uitreiken duurt altijd lang.
c'. * Door voorzittersAg winnaarsRec prijzenTh uitreiken duurt altijd lang.
[+]  4.  Det-inf nominalizations of causative constructions

Placement of the door-PP in prenominal position is much easier in det-inf nominalizations derived from a causative verb like laten than in the other inf-nominalizations. This is true regardless of the position of the other arguments (prenominal or postnominal). Examples are given in (252).

252
a. Het door artsen laten behandelen van patiënten is erg verstandig.
  the  by doctors  let  treat  of patients  is very wise
  'Having doctors treat patients is very wise.'
b. Het door artsen patiënten laten behandelen is erg verstandig.
  the  by doctors  patients  let  treat  is very wise

If the verb embedded under the causative verb is ditransitive, essentially the same pattern arises as in the case of the transitive verbs in (252). Example (253a) gives an example in which the theme is realized as a postnominal van-PP, and (253b&b') exemplify cases with a prenominal theme.

253
a. Het door de voorzitter laten uitreiken van de prijzen aan de winnaars bleek geen goed idee.
  the  by the chairman  let  present  of the prizes  to the winners  proved  no good idea
  'Having the chairman present the prizes to the winners wasnʼt a good idea.'
b. Het door de voorzitter prijzen laten uitreiken aan de winnaars ...
  the  by the chairman  prizes  let  present  to the winners
b'. Het door de voorzitter prijzen aan de winnaars laten uitreiken ...
  the  by the chairman  prizes  to the winners  let  present

The crucial difference with the other cases is that the door-phrase in these examples does not correspond to an argument of the nominalized causative verb laten, but to the subject of the verbs behandelen'to treat' and uitreiken'present' embedded under the causative verb. Note that the subject of the embedded verb can also be realized in the verbal causative construction, as is shown by (254b): the phrases between angle brackets indicate the alternative realizations of the agent argument of the infinitival clause.

254
a. Zij laten <de dokter> de patiënten <door de dokter> behandelen.
  they  let    the doctor  the patients  treat
b. Zij laten <de voorzitter> de prijzen <door de voorzitter> aan de winnaars uitreiken.
  they  let      the chairman the prizes  to the winner present
  'They let the chairman present the prizes to the winners.'

      The door-PP in (252) and (253) must precede the other arguments in prenominal position, which, just like the door-PP, are not arguments of the causative verb, but of the verb embedded under it. This is illustrated in the (a)-examples of (255) and (256). In postnominal position the door-phrase must follow the theme and preferably precedes the recipient, just as in the verbal construction in (254b). This is illustrated in the (b)-examples of (255) and (256).

255
a. Het <door artsen> patiënten <??door artsen> laten behandelen is erg verstandig.
b. Het laten behandelen <??door artsen> van patiënten <door artsen> is erg verstandig.
256
a. Het door de voorzitter prijzen aan de winnaars laten uitreiken bleek ...
  the  by the chairman  prices  to the winners  let  present  proved
  'Having the prices being presented to the winners by the chairman was ...'
a'. * Het prijzen door de voorzitter aan de winnaars laten uitreiken bleek ...
a'. * Het prijzen aan de winnaars door de voorzitter laten uitreiken bleek ...
b. ?? Het laten uitreiken door de voorzitter van prijzen aan de winnaars bleek ...
b'. Het laten uitreiken van prijzen door de voorzitter aan de winnaars bleek ...
b''. ? Het laten uitreiken van prijzen aan de winnaars door de voorzitter bleek ...

      The examples in (257) show that the agent of the embedded verb can also be realized in the form of a noun phrase. This possibility is related to the fact that the agent can be assigned accusative case in the verbal causative construction: the agentive noun phrases de dokter or de voorzitter in (254) can only be replaced by the object pronoun hem'him'. In (257), the agent must precede the other arguments in prenominal position: placing the agent after the theme (or the recipient) will give rise to an unacceptable result.

257
a. Het artsen patiënten laten behandelen is erg verstandig.
  the  doctors  patients  let  treat  is very wise
  'Having doctors treat patients is very wise.'
b. Het de voorzitter de prijzen laten uitreiken aan de winnaars bleek ...
  the  the chairman  the prizes  let  present  to the winners  proved
  'Having the chairman present the prizes to the winners was ...'
b'. Het de voorzitter de prijzen aan de winnaars laten uitreiken bleek ...

      Example (258a) finally shows that door-PPs are excluded with det-inf nominalizations if the embedded verb is intransitive. This is clearly related to the fact that their subject cannot be realized as a door-phrase in the verbal construction either; see Section V5.2.3.4, sub V, for discussion.

258
a. * Het <door Peter> laten wachten <door Peter>.
  the    by Peter  let  wait
b. Jan laat (door) Peter wachten.
  Jan let  by  Peter wait
[+]  II.  Complementation

The previous subsection has discussed some general considerations concerning complementation of inf-nominalizations. This subsection continues by giving a more detailed discussion of complementation of the types of inf-nominalizations illustrated in (259). These examples involve bare-inf nouns; the corresponding examples with det-inf nouns will be given later in this subsection.

259
a. Wandelen van zieken moet worden aangemoedigd.
intransitive
  walk  of sick  must  be  encouraged
  'Walking of sick people must be encouraged.'
b. Vallen kan pijnlijk zijn.
unaccusative
  fall  can painful  be
  'Falling can be painful.'
c. Een goede baan vinden is moeilijk.
transitive
  a good job  find  is difficult
  'Finding a good job is difficult.'
d. Kinderen cadeaus geven is leuk.
ditransitive
  children  presents  give  is nice
  'Giving presents to children is nice.'
e. Jagen op groot wild roept veel protesten op.
PP-theme
  hunt  on big game  calls  many protests  up
  'Hunting big game evokes a lot of protest.'
f. De deur rood schilderen bleek niet zoʼn goed idee.
complementive
  the door  red  paint  proved  not  such a good idea
  'Painting the door red didnʼt really turn out to be a good idea.'
[+]  A.  Inf-nominalization of intransitive verbs

The agent argument of inf-nominalizations derived from intransitive verbs is normally only optionally expressed. If it is expressed it can take the form of a postnominal van-PP, or, in the case of det-inf nominalizations, the form of a prenominal genitive noun phrase or possessive pronoun.

260
bare-inf: agentive postnominal van-PP
a. Wandelen (van zieken) moet worden aangemoedigd.
  walk   of sickpl  must  be  encouraged
  'Walking of sick people ought to be encouraged.'
b. Onrustig slapen (van patiënten) is de oorzaak van het probleem.
  unquiet sleep   of patients  is the cause of the problem
  'Unquiet sleeping (of patients) is the cause of the problem.'
261
det-inf: agentive postnominal van-PP or genitive NP/possessive pronoun
a. Het wandelen (van zieken) moet worden aangemoedigd.
  the  walk   of sickpl  must  be  encouraged
  'The walking (of sick people) ought to be encouraged.'
a'. (Jans/Zijn) wandelen in het park moet worden aangemoedigd.
  Janʼs/His  walk in the park  must  be  encouraged
b. Het onrustige slapen (van patiënten) is de oorzaak van het probleem.
  the  unquiet sleep   of patients  is the cause of the problem
  'The restless sleeping (of patients) is the cause of the problem.'
b'. (Peters/Zijn) onrustige slapen is de oorzaak van het probleem.
  Peterʼs/his  unquiet sleep  is the cause of the problem

That both the postnominal van-PP and the genitive noun phrase/possessive pronoun indeed express the agent argument of the inf-nouns is shown by the fact illustrated by (262) that they cannot co-occur; like their intransitive verbal base, inf-nouns can assign each semantic function only once.

262
a. * Jans wandelen van de zieken
  Janʼs  walk  of the sick
b. * hun onrustige slapen van de patiënten
  their  unquiet  sleep  of the patients

The agents of the inf-nominalization in the primed examples of (263) cannot appear in the form of a door-PP, unlike the agents in the corresponding (impersonal) passive constructions in the primeless examples.

263
a. Er wordt door de zieken veel in het park gewandeld.
  there  is  by the sick  much  in the park walked
  'There is much walking by sick people in the park.'
a'. * het wandelen door de zieken in het park
  the  walk  by the sick people  in the park
b. Er werd door de studenten om het grapje gelachen.
  there  was  by the students  about the joke  laughed
  'The students laughed about the joke.'
b'. * het lachen door de studenten om het grapje
  the laugh  by the students  about the joke
[+]  B.  Inf-nominalization of unaccusative verbs

The subject of an unaccusative verb is a theme, which can be expressed by means of a postnominal van-PPin the corresponding bare-inf nominalizations. The result is, however, always marked.

264
bare-inf: postnominal van-PPTheme
a. ?? Vallen van bladeren maakt me neerslachtig.
  fall  of leaves  makes  me depressed
  'The falling of leaves depresses me.'
b. ?? (Plotseling) verschijnen van gasten schikt me niet.
  sudden  appear  guests  suits  me not
  'The sudden appearing of guests doesnʼt suit me.'

Det-inf nominalizations based on unaccusative verbs can readily be expressed by means of a postnominal van-PP. However, it is not possible to realize them prenominally as a genitive noun phrase or possessive pronoun. The unacceptability of (265a') is not really surprising, since possessive pronouns normally do not refer to inanimate entities. The construction is, however, also marginal if the pronoun refers to a human entity; the marginality of (266b) clearly illustrates this restriction.

265
det-inf: postnominal -animatevan-PPTheme
a. Het vallen van de bladeren maakt me neerslachtig.
  the  fall  of the leaves  makes  me depressed
  'The falling of the leaves depresses me.'
b. * Hun vallen maakt me neerslachtig.
  their  falling  makes  me depressed
266
det-inf: postnominal +animatevan-PPTheme
a. Het (plotselinge) verschijnen van die gasten schikte me niet.
  the   sudden  appear of those guests  suited  me not
  'The sudden appearing of those guests didnʼt suit me.'
b. ?? Zijn/Jans (plotselinge) verschijnen schikte me niet.
  his/Jans   sudden  appear suited  me not

Since the input unaccusative verb cannot be passivized, it is not surprising that the preposition van can never be replaced by the preposition door. This is illustrated for the (a)-examples above in (267).

267
a. * Het vallen door de bladeren maakt mij neerslachtig.
a'. * Vallen door de bladeren maakt mij neerslachtig.
b. * Het (plotselinge) verschijnen door die gasten schikte mij niet.
b'. * (Plotseling) verschijnen door die gasten schikte mij niet.
[+]  C.  Inf-nominalization of transitive verbs

With inf-nominalizations based on transitive verbs, the picture becomes somewhat more complicated. Since cases in which none of the arguments are expressed are only possible under special circumstances, which will be discussed in Subsection III, we will focus here on the three remaining possibilities: cases in which only the theme is realized, cases in which both the agent and the theme are expressed, and cases in which only the agent is expressed. We will discuss them in the given order.

[+]  1.  Inf-nominalizations with only the theme argument expressed

If in a transitive inf-nominalization only one argument is expressed, this argument must be the theme. In bare-inf nominalizations the theme argument is normally realized as a prenominal noun phrase. Alternatively, it can surface postnominally as a van-PP, although this leads to a somewhat marked result (just as in the case of bare-inf nominalizations derived from unaccusative verbs).

268
bare-inf: prenominal NPTheme; postnominal van-PPTheme
a. SommenTheme maken is saai.
  sums  make  is boring
a'. ? Maken van sommenTheme is saai.
  make  of sums  is boring
b'. PatiëntenTheme behandelen kost veel tijd.
  patients  treat  takes  much time
b'. ? Behandelen van patiëntenTheme kost veel tijd.
  treat  of patients  takes  much time

The theme argument of a bare-inf nominalization is preferably nonspecific; using a specific argument in (268) will normally degrade the results; cf. Subsection IC. Note, however, that this is not a restriction on complementation as such, but rather due to the semantics of the complete construction. This can be illustrated by the fact that the bare-inf nominalizations in the primeless examples in (269) are only marked compared to those in (268a&b). Furthermore, they are best in the present tense, which may be due to the fact that this favors a generic interpretation of these sentences. The primed examples in (269), finally, show that a contrastive reading may render such generic sentences even fully acceptable.

269
a. Deze sommenTheme maken ?is/??was lastig.
  these sums  make   is/was  difficult
a'. Deze sommen maken is lastiger dan de afwas doen.
  these sums  make  is more difficult  than  the dishes  do
  'Making these sums is more difficult than doing the dishes.'
b. De koninginTheme behandelen ?kost/??kostte veel tijd.
  the queen  treat    takes/took  much time
b'. De koninginTheme behandelen kost meer tijd dan een normale patiënt behandelen.
  the queen  treat  takes  much time  than a regular patient  treat
  'Treating the queen takes more time than treating a regular patient.'

      In det-inf nominalizations the preferred pattern is just the opposite of that in bare-inf nominalizations: expressing the theme by means of a prenominal noun phrase is possible, but using a postnominal van-PP is the preferred way of expressing the theme.

270
det-inf: postnominal van-PPTheme; prenominal NPTheme
a. Het altijd maar sommenTheme maken is saai.
  the  always  prt  sums  make  is boring
  'The always making of sums is boring.'
a'. Het maken van die sommenTheme is saai.
  the  make  of those sums  is boring
  'The making of these sums is boring.'
b. ? Het patiëntenTheme behandelen kost veel tijd.
  the  those patients  treat  takes  much time
  'The treating of (these) patients takes a lot of time.'
b'. Het behandelen van die patiëntenTheme kost veel tijd.
  the  treat  of those patients  takes  much time
  'The treating of these patients takes a lot of time.'

Furthermore, example (271) shows that the prenominal theme only allows a generic interpretation; cf. Subsection IC. The judgments on these examples contrast sharply with those on the det-inf constructions with a postnominal theme in (270a'&b').

271
a. * Het deze sommenTheme maken was lastig.
  the  these sums  make  was difficult
b. * Het de koninginTheme behandelen maakte hem beroemd.
  the  the queen  treat  made  him  famous

In generic contexts the result of using a prenominal theme gives rise to a less degraded result, but still the use of a postnominal van-PP is much preferred.

272
a. Het eten van een appeltje in de pauze is een goede gewoonte.
  the  eat  of an appledim  in the break  is a good habit
  'The eating of an apple during the break is a good habit.'
a'. ?Het een appeltje eten in de pauze is een goede gewoonte.
b. Het opeten van je appeltje in de pauze is een goede gewoonte.
  the  eat.up  of your appledim  in the break  is a good habit
  'The eating of your apple during the break is a good habit.'
b'. ? Het je appeltje opeten in de pauze is een goede gewoonte.

When not directly relevant, the effect of the manner of realization of the theme in inf-nominalizations will be ignored in the examples discussed later in this section; we will simply concentrate on the effect of adding more arguments to the construction.

[+]  2.  Inf-nominalizations with both the agent and the theme argument expressed

Example (273) shows that the agent argument of bare-inf nouns can be added in the form of a door-PP, which must follow the nominalized head and the theme argument realized as a van-PP; cf. Subsection ID.

273
bare-inf: postnominal van-PPTheme and door-PPAgent
a. Treiteren van peutersTheme door grote jongensAgent is onaanvaardbaar.
  bully  of toddlers  by big boys  is unacceptable
  'Bullying of toddlers by big boys is unacceptable.'
a'. * Treiteren door grote jongensAgent van peutersTheme is onaanvaardbaar.
b. Behandelen van dit soort patiëntenTheme door onervaren artsenAgent kan lang duren.
  treat  of this sort of patients  by inexperienced doctors  can long take
  'Treatment of such patients by inexperienced doctors can take a long time.'
b'. *? Behandelen door onervaren artsenAgent van dit soort patiëntenTheme kan ...

However, if the theme argument is realized as a prenominal noun phrase, the addition of a door-PP gives rise to a degraded result, regardless of the position of the door-phrase; the examples in (274) only illustrate the case in which the door-phrase appears postnominally.

274
bare-inf: prenominal NPTheme and door-PPAgent
a. ?? PeutersTheme treiteren door grote jongensAgent is onaanvaardbaar.
  toddlers  bully  by big boys  is unacceptable
b. ?? PatiëntenTheme behandelen door onervaren artsenAgent kan lang duren.
  patients  treat  by inexperienced doctors  can long take

      Adding the agent argument in the form of a door-PP is also possible with det-inf nominalizations. Example (275a) shows that this door-PP must also follow the nominalized head and the theme argument realized as a van-PP; cf. Subsection ID.

275
det-inf: postnominal van-PPTheme and door-PPAgent
a. Het treiteren van peutersTheme door grote jongensAgent is onaanvaardbaar.
  the bully  of toddlers  by big boys  is unacceptable
  'The bullying of toddlers by big boys is unacceptable.'
a'. *? Het treiteren door grote jongensAgent van peutersTheme is onaanvaardbaar.
b. Het behandelen van patiëntenTheme door de artsAgent kost veel tijd.
  the treat  of patients  by the doctor  takes  much time
  'The treating of patients by the doctor takes a lot of time.'
b'. *? Het behandelen door de artsAgent van patiëntenTheme kost veel tijd.

As in the case of bare-inf nominalizations, the addition of a door-PP gives rise to a degraded result in cases such as (276), in which the theme argument is realized as a prenominal noun phrase. Placing the door-phrase in prenominal position seems to deteriorate the examples even further.

276
det-inf: prenominal NPTheme and door-PPAgent
a. ?? Het peutersTheme treiteren door grote jongensAgent is onaanvaardbaar.
  that  toddlers  bully  by big boys  is unacceptable
b. *? Het patiëntenTheme behandelen door de artsAgent kost veel tijd.
  that patients  treat  by the doctor  takes  much time

The agent of det-inf nominalizations can also take the form of a genitive noun phrase or a possessive pronoun provided that the theme appears as a van-PP, as in the primeless examples in (277); if the theme is realized as a prenominal noun phrase, as in the primeless examples, the result is seriously degraded.

277
bare-inf: agentive genitive NP/possessive pronoun
a. Jans/ZijnAgent treiteren van peutersTheme is onaanvaardbaar.
  Janʼs/his  bully  of toddlers  is unacceptable
  'Janʼs bullying of toddlers is unacceptable.'
a'. *? Jans/ZijnAgent peutersTheme treiteren is onaanvaardbaar.
  Janʼs/his  toddlers  bully  is unacceptable
b. Peters/??ZijnAgent behandelen van de patiëntTheme kost veel tijd.
  Peterʼs/their  treat  of the patient  takes  much time
  'Peterʼs/Their treatment of the patient takes a lot of time.'
b'. *? Peters/HunAgent patiëntenTheme behandelen kost veel tijd.
  Peterʼs/their  patient  treat  takes  much time
[+]  3.  Inf-nominalizations with only the agent argument expressed

The examples in (278) show that det-inf nominalizations with transitive base verbs require the presence of a theme argument, regardless of whether an agent argument is present.

278
a. * Het treiteren (door die grote jongensAgent) is onaanvaardbaar.
  the bully   by big boys  is unacceptable
b. * Het behandelen (door de artsAgent) kost veel tijd.
  the  treat   by the doctor  takes  much time

For some speakers, however, example (278a) improves if the agent is expressed by means of a van-PP, as in (279a'). This may be due to the fact that in such cases the verb is derived from the pseudo-intransitive (generic) verb in (279a). If the verb does not readily allow such a generic reading, as is the case with behandelen'to treat' in (279b), the corresponding inf-nominalization is also unacceptable if the theme is not expressed. In what follows we will, for the sake of simplicity, ignore the pseudo-intransitive use of nominalizations.

279
a. Die jongens treiteren graag.
  those boys  bully  gladly
  'Those boys like bullying.'
a'. *? Dat treiteren van die jongensAg is onaanvaardbaar.
  this  bullying  of those boys  is unacceptable
b. ?? Die arts behandelt vakkundiger dan de meesten.
  that doctor  treats  more.competently  than  the most
b'. * Het behandelen van die artsAg is vakkundiger dan dat van de meesten.
  the  treating of that doctor  is more.competent  than  that of the most

Unlike with det-inf nominalizations, in bare-inf nominalizations the theme argument can often be left unexpressed in the presence of an agentive door-phrase. The examples in (280) show that this is even possible in the presence of a specific agent argument, although similar constructions with a nonspecific agent are noticeably better. Note that in these sentences the implied theme argument is either generic or contextually determined. With regard to sentence (280b), it also needs to be mentioned that the implied theme argument is not so much the patient, but rather the ailment treated.

280
a. Treiteren door (??die) grote jongensAgent is onaanvaardbaar.
  bully  by those big boys  is unacceptable
  'Bullying by (those) big boys is unacceptable.'
b. Behandelen door een/??de artsAgent kost veel tijd.
  treat  by a/the doctor  takes  much time
  'Treatment by a/the doctor takes a lot of time.'
[+]  D.  Inf-nominalization of ditransitive verbs

This subsection considers inf-nominalizations derived from ditransitive verbs like geven'to give', schenken'to donate', overdragen'to hand over', verschaffen'to provide', uitreiken'to present' (verbs of transfer) and meedelen'to announce', zeggen'to say', beloven'to promise', leren'to teach' (verbs of communication). As in the verbal domain, it is possible with inf-nominalizations to express all three arguments. In actual practice, however, such occurrences are very rare. More often one (typically the agent) or two (the agent and the recipient) of the arguments are left unexpressed. We will start by discussing those cases in which only the theme is expressed. This is followed by a discussion of those cases in which either the agent or the recipient is expressed. We conclude by giving some examples in which all arguments are realized.

[+]  1.  Ditransitive inf-nominalizations with the theme argument expressed

The (a)-examples in (281) show that, as in the case of bare-inf nominalizations derived from transitive verbs, bare-inf nominalizations derived from ditransitive verbs prefer the theme to be realized as a prenominal noun phrase; realizing the theme as a postnominal van-PP is possible but marked. And, again, bare-inf nominalizations are not acceptable with specific themes. This is shown by the (b)-examples in (281).

281
bare-inf: prenominal NPTheme; postnominal van-PPTheme
a. ?? Geven van cadeaus op 5 december is een oude traditie.
  give  of presents  on 5 December  is an old tradition
a'. Cadeaus geven op 5 december is een oude traditie.
  presents  give  on 5 December  is an old tradition
  'Giving presents on 5 December is an old tradition.'
b. * Uitreiken van de prijzen duurde lang.
  present  of the prizes  took  long
b'. * De prijzen uitreiken duurde lang.
  the prizes  present  took  long

The examples in (282) show that the theme argument of det-inf nominalizations preferably takes the form of a van-PP following the head; realizing the theme in the form of a noun phrase preceding the head is also acceptable, provided that we are dealing with a generic context; prenominal definite themes give rise to a severely degraded result.

282
det-inf: postnominal van-PPTheme; prenominal NPTheme
a. Dat geven van cadeaus op 5 december is een oude traditie.
  that  give  of presents  on 5 December  is an old tradition
  'That giving of presents on 5 December is an old tradition.'
a'. ? Dat cadeaus geven op 5 december is een oude traditie.
  that  presents  give  on 5 December  is an old tradition
  'That giving of presents on 5 December is an old tradition.'
b. Dat uitreiken van de prijzen duurde lang.
  that  present  of the prizes  took  long
  'That presenting of the prizes took a long time.'
b'. Dat ?(*de) prijzen uitreiken duurde lang.
  that      the prizes  present  took  long
  'That presenting of the prizes took a long time.'
[+]  2.  Inf-nominalizations with the agent and the theme argument expressed

In det-inf nominalizations, the agent can be expressed as a second argument in the form of a door-PP. Example (283a) shows that the agentive door-PP follows both the head noun and the postverbal theme argument. If the theme argument takes the form of a prenominal noun phrase, as in (283b), the agentive door-PP may occur in postnominal position.

283
det-inf: NPTheme/van-PPTheme + postnominal door-PPAgent
a. Dat geven van (de) cadeausTheme door SinterklaasAgent is een oude traditie.
  that give  of the presents  by Santa Claus  is an old tradition
  'That giving of the presents by Santa Claus is an old tradition.'
b. ? Dat cadeausTheme geven door SinterklaasAgent is een oude traditie.
  that   presents  give  by Santa Claus  is an old tradition

The examples in (284) show, however, that bare-infnominalizations cannot realize the agent, no matter the form of the theme or the word order.

284
bare-inf: NPTheme/van-PPTheme + postnominal door-PPAgent
a. * Geven van cadeausTheme door SinterklaasAgent is een oude traditie.
  give  of presents  by Santa Claus  is an old tradition
b. * CadeausTheme geven door SinterklaasAgent is een oude traditie.
  presents  give  by Santa Claus  is an old tradition

      Although this is less preferred, in det-inf nominalizations the agent can also be realized by means of a genitive phrase or a possessive pronoun if the theme is realized as a postnominal van-PP, as in (285a). This gives rise to a less felicitous result, however, if the theme is realized as a prenominal noun phrase, as in (285b), which may be due to the fact that the intended reading is blocked by the more prominent reading in which the possessive pronoun is construed as the possessor of theme cadeaus.

285
det-inf: Genitive NP/possessive pronounAgent + Theme
a. ? Zijn geven van (de) cadeausTheme is een oude traditie.
  his  give  of the presents  is an old tradition
  'His giving of the presents by Santa Claus is an old tradition.'
b. # Zijn cadeausTheme geven is een oude traditie.
  that  presents  give  is an old tradition
[+]  3.  Inf-nominalizations with the theme and the recipient argument expressed

Example (286) shows that in clauses with ditransitive verbs, the recipient either appears as an aan-PP following the theme or as a dative noun phrase preceding the theme, as in (286b). The word order is normally as indicated, although placement of the aan-PP in front of the theme is possible if the recipient is assigned contrastive accent.

286
a. dat Sinterklaas de cadeaus aan de kinderen heeft gegeven.
  that  Santa Claus  the presents  to the children  has  given
  'that Santa Claus has given the presents to the children.'
b. dat Sinterklaas de kinderen de cadeaus heeft gegeven.
  that  Santa Claus  the children  the presents  has given
  'that Santa Claus has given the children the presents.'

In inf-nominalizations the recipient can also be realized either as a noun phrase or an aan-PP: the former must precede the inf-noun, whereas the latter can either precede of follow it. First consider the case of bare-inf nominalizations. The primeless examples in (287) show that both the theme and the recipient can be realized as prenominal noun phrases, provided that they are both indefinite. Nevertheless, there seems to be some preference to realize the recipient as an aan-PP following the theme, as in the primed examples. Placing the aan-PP in front of the theme is possible, provided that it is given contrastive accent.

287
bare-inf: prenominal NPTheme + NPRec/aan-PPRec
a. ? KinderenRec cadeausTheme geven is een oude traditie.
  children  presents  give  is an old tradition
  'Giving presents to children is an old tradition.'
a'. CadeausTheme < aan kinderenRec> geven <aan kinderenRec> is traditie.
  presents     to children  give  is tradition
  'Giving presents to children is a tradition.'
b. ? WinnaarsRec prijzenTheme uitreiken duurt altijd lang.
  winners  prizes  present  takes  always  long
  'Presenting prizes to winners always takes a long time.'
b'. PrijzenTheme <aan winnaarsRec> uitreiken <aan winnaarsRec> duurt lang.
  prizes     to winners  present  takes  long
  'Presenting prizes to winners always takes a long time.'

If the theme argument is expressed as a postnominal van-PP, the recipient cannot be realized as a prenominal noun phrase; the primeless examples in (287) are ungrammatical. The primed examples show that expressing the recipient as an aan-PP is possible, provided that it follows the van-PP. As usual, examples such as (288b') are marked compared to examples such as (287b') with a prenominal theme.

288
bare-inf: postnominal van-PPTheme + aan-PPRec/NPRec
a. * KinderenRec geven van cadeausTheme is een oude traditie.
  children  give  of present  is an old tradition
a'. ? Geven van cadeausTheme aan kinderenRec is een oude traditie.
  give  of presents  to children  is an old tradition
  'Giving of presents to children is an old tradition.'
b. * WinnaarsRec uitreiken van de prijzenTheme duurde lang.
  winners  present  of the prizes  took  long
  'This presenting of the prizes to the winners took a long time.'
b'. Uitreiken van prijzenTheme aan de winnaarsRec duurt lang.
  present  of prizes  to the winners  takes  long
  'This presenting of the prizes to the winners takes a long time.'

      In det-inf nominalizations, the form of the recipient is related to the form of the theme in the same way as in bare-inf nominalizations. The examples in (289) show that the recipient must be realized as a postnominal aan-PP if the theme is a postnominal van-PP. The word order is rigid in this case: the aan-PP must follow both the noun and the postnominal van-PP.

289
det-inf: postnominal van-PPTheme + aan-PPRec/NPRec
a. * Dat kinderenRec geven van cadeausTheme is een oude traditie.
  that  children  give  of presents  is an old tradition
a'. Dat geven van cadeausTheme aan de kinderenRec is een oude traditie.
  that  give  of presents  to the children  is an old tradition
  'This giving of the presents to the children is an old tradition.'
b. * Dat winnaarsRec uitreiken van de prijzenTheme duurde lang.
  that  winners  present  of the prizes  took  long
b'. Dat uitreiken van de prijzenTheme aan de winnaarsRec duurde lang.
  that  present  of the prizes  to the winners  took  long
  'This presenting of the prizes to the winners took long.'

If the theme is realized as a prenominal noun phrase, the recipient can be expressed either by means of an aan-PP or a prenominal noun phrase. Again, there seems to be some preference for the former. Note that if the aan-PP occurs in prenominal position it is normally nonspecific, just like the prenominal theme; this restriction does not hold for the postnominal aan-PP. Thus, replacing the nonspecific recipient aan kinderen by the specific recipient aan de kinderen is easily possible in (290a''), but gives rise to a marked result in (290a'). Finally, note that placing the aan-PP in front of the prenominal theme is possible, provided that it is given contrastive accent.

290
det-inf: prenominal NPTheme + NPRec/aan-PPRec
a. ? Het kinderenRec cadeausTheme geven is een oude traditie.
  the  children  presents  give  is an old tradition
  'The giving of presents to children is an old tradition.'
a'. Het cadeausTheme aan (?de) kinderenRec geven is een oude traditie.
  the  presents  to the children  give  is an old tradition
a''. Het cadeausTheme geven aan (de) kinderenRec is een oude traditie.
  the  presents  give  to the children  is an old tradition
b. ? Dat winnaarsRec prijzenTheme uitreiken duurt altijd lang.
  that winners  prizes  present  takes  always  long
  'That presenting of prizes to winners always takes a long time.'
b'. Dat prijzenTheme aan (?de) winnaarsRec uitreiken duurt lang.
  that  prizes  to the winners  present  takes  long
b''. Dat prijzenTheme uitreiken aan (de) winnaarsRec duurt lang.
  that  prizes  present  to the winners  takes  long
[+]  4.  Ditransitiveinf-nominalizations with all three arguments expressed

If all three arguments are expressed, there are many conceivable combinations, but given the earlier discussion we expect only a few to be acceptable, and even these will rarely be encountered (except perhaps in written, formal language). This is especially true for bare-inf nominalizations: since we have seen in Subsection 2, that agentive door-PPs give rise to a severely degraded result in these constructions, we expect expression of all three arguments to be impossible. The examples in (291) show that this expectation is indeed borne out.

291
bare-inf: not possible to express all three arguments
a. * KinderenRec cadeausTheme geven door SinterklaasAgent is een oude traditie.
  children  presents  give  by Santa Claus  is an old tradition
  'The giving of presents to children by Santa Claus is an old tradition.'
b. * CadeausTheme geven aan kinderenRec door SinterklaasAgent is ...
  presents  give  to children  by Santa Claus  is ...
b'. * Geven van cadeausTheme aan kinderenRec door SinterklaasAgent is ...
  give  of presents  to children  by Santa Claus  is ...

      This leaves us with det-inf nominalizations. We have seen in Subsection 2 that the door-PP must follow the postnominal van-PP expressing the theme, and in Subsection 3 we have seen that the same thing holds for the aan-PP expressing the recipient. We therefore correctly predict that the same thing holds for cases in which all arguments are expressed. The examples in (292) show that the preferred order is indeed the one in which the recipient precedes the agent.

292
det-inf: postnominal van-PPTheme + aan-PPRec + door-PPAgent
a. Dat geven van cadeausTheme aan kinderenRec door SinterklaasAgent is ...
  that  give  of presents  to children  by Santa Claus  is ...
  'This giving of presents to children by Santa Claus is an old tradition.'
b. ?? Dat geven van cadeausTheme door SinterklaasAgent aan kinderenRec is ...
  that  give  of presents  by Santa Claus  to children  is ...

      We have also seen in Subsection 3 that if the theme is realized as a prenominal noun phrase, the recipient can be realized either as a (pre- or postnominal) aan-PP or as a prenominal noun phrase. Since the agentive door-PP must be postnominal, this correctly predicts the following orders to be possible. All examples are somewhat marked, just like the corresponding examples without the recipient given in Subsection C.

293
det-inf: prenominal NPTheme + NPRec/aan-PPRec + postnominal door-PPAgent
a. ? Dat kinderenRec cadeausTheme geven door SinterklaasAgent is ...
  that  children  presents  give  by Santa Claus  is ...
  'That giving of presents to children by Santa Claus is an old tradition.'
b. ? Dat cadeausTheme geven aan kinderenRec door SinterklaasAgent is ...
  that  presents  give  to children  by Santa Claus  is ...
  'That giving of presents to children by Santa Claus is an old tradition.'
b'. ? Dat cadeausTheme aan kinderenRec geven door SinterklaasAgent is ...
  that  presents  to children  give  by Santa Claus  is ...

The examples in (292) and (293) exhaust the options; all other orders lead to a severe decrease in acceptability. Realizing the agent as a genitive noun phrase or a possessive pronoun seems possible, although it does gives rise to a somewhat marked result. The intended reading of (294b&c) seems to be hampered by the more prominent reading in which the possessive pronoun is construed as the possessor of the presents/children.

294
det-inf: Genitive NP/possessive pronounAgent + Theme + Recipient
a. ? Zijn geven van cadeausTheme aan kinderenRec is een oude traditie.
  his  give  of presents  to children  is an old tradition
  'His giving of presents to children is an old tradition.'
b. # Zijn cadeausTheme <aan kinderenRec> geven <aan kinderenRec> is ...
  his  presents    to children  give  is ...
  'His giving presents to children is an old tradition.'
c. # Zijn kinderenRec cadeausTheme geven is een oude traditie.
  his  children  presents  give  is an old tradition
  'His giving presents to children is an old tradition.'
[+]  E.  Inf-nominalizations of verbs selecting a prepositional argument

This subsection discusses inf-nominalizations derived from verbs selecting a PP-complement. We start with those cases in which the argument of the PP has the role of theme. This is followed by some cases in which the argument has some other semantic role.

[+]  1.  inf-nominalizations with a theme PP

Inf-nominalizations also inherit PP-themes from their base verb. Examples are such verbs as zoeken naar'to search for' and jagen op'to hunt for', which select their own specific preposition. The inherited PP-themes seem to have the same distribution within the inf-nominalizations as their nominal counterparts. First and foremost, the PP-theme can occur in prenominal position. Second, if it is placed postnominally, it must precede the (optional) agentive door-phrase.

295
bare-inf: PPTheme + postnominal door-PPAgent
a. Op groot wildTheme jagen (door adellijke herenAgent) is verachtelijk.
  on big game  hunt  by noble gentlemen  is despicable
  'Hunting of big game by noble gentlemen is despicable.'
b. Jagen op groot wildTheme (door adellijke herenAgent) is verachtelijk.
  hunt  on big game   by noble gentlemen  is despicable
  'Hunting of big game by noble gentlemen is despicable.'
296
det-inf: PPTheme + postnominal door-PPAgent
a. Dat op groot wildTheme jagen (door adellijke herenAgent) is verachtelijk.
  that on big game  hunt   by noble gentlemen  is despicable
  'This hunting of big game is despicable.'
b. Dat jagen op groot wildTheme (door adellijke herenAgent) is verachtelijk.
  that  hunt  on big game   by noble gentlemen  is despicable
  'This hunting of big game by noble gentlemen is despicable.'

The main difference with inf-nominalizations derived from transitive verbs concerns the selection of the preposition: just like its base verb, the inf-nominalization jagen selects an op-PP and, consequently, the theme argument does not appear as a van-PP. Since the preposition op is selected by the noun, it must of course also be present if the PP is in prenominal position.
      In det-inf nominalizations the agent-PP can sometimes take the form of a van-PP, although the result may be considered slightly marked. The availability of this option may be due to the factthatthe theme-PP is not introduced by van in these constructions. Note that the construction in (297b), with the theme realized in postnominal position, is ambiguous: the van-PP can be interpreted either as an agentive complement of the head noun, or as a possessor of the noun phrase groot wild'big game'. For this reason, the preferred order may be the one given in (297c), where only the agentive reading is available.

297
det-inf: PPTheme + postnominal van-PPAgent
a. ? Het op groot wildTheme jagen (van adellijke herenAgent) is verachtelijk.
  the  on big game  hunt   by noble gentlemen  is despicable
  'The hunting of big game by noble gentlemen is despicable.'
b. ?? Het jagen op groot wildTheme (van adellijke herenAgent) is verachtelijk.
  the  hunt  on big game   of noble gentlemen  is despicable
c. ? Het jagen (van adellijke herenAgent) op groot wildTheme is verachtelijk.
  the hunt   of noble gentlemen  on big game  is despicable

The examples in (298) show that the option of expressing the agent by means of a van-PP is not available in bare-inf constructions. Given that postmodification by means of a van-PP is a property of nouns rather than verbs, this contrast might be due to the fact that bare-inf constructions are more nominal in character than det-inf constructions; cf. Table 17 in Section 1.3.1.6.

298
bare-inf: *PPTheme + postnominal van-PPAgent
a. * Op groot wildTheme jagen (van adellijke herenAgent) is verachtelijk.
  on big game  hunt   by noble gentlemen  is despicable
b. * Jagen op groot wildTheme (van adellijke herenAgent) is verachtelijk.
  hunt  on big game   of noble gentlemen  is despicable
c. * Jagen (van adellijke herenAgent) op groot wildTheme is verachtelijk.
  hunt   of noble gentlemen  on big game  is despicable
[+]  2.  inf-nominalizations with other complement PPs

      The verb aanbevelen'recommend' in (299) selects a voor-PP as its third argument. As with recipient third arguments realized as aan-PPs, inf-nominalizations select the same preposition as the input verb (in this case voor). Examples such as this differ from those with recipient arguments in that the PP-complement does not alternate with a noun phrase.

299
a. dat de commissie (de) bejaardenTh voor de baan heeft aanbevolen.
  that  the committee the senior citizens  for the job  has  recommended
  'that the committee has recommended (the) elderly people for the job.'
b. * dat de commissie de baan (de) bejaardenRec heeft aanbevolen.
  that  the committee  the job  the senior citizens  has  recommended
  'that the committee has recommended the job to (the) elderly people.'

Given that (299b) is unacceptable it does not come as a surprise that the inherited PP-complement must also be realized as a voor-PP in the corresponding bare-inf nominalization. Example (300a) shows that with a prenominal theme the voor-PP can be realized either before or after the inf-noun. If the theme is realized as a postnominal van-PP, the voor-PP must also be postnominal and be placed after the van-PP (unless it is assigned contrastive accent, in which case it can marginally be placed between the noun and the van-PP).

300
bare-inf: NP/PPTheme + PP-complement
a. BejaardenTheme <voor deze baan> aanbevelen <voor deze baan> is slim.
  senior citizens    for this job  recommend  is smart
  'Recommending elderly people for this job is smart.'
b. ? Aanbevelen van bejaardenTheme voor deze baan is slim.
  recommend  of senior citizens  for this job  is smart

In det-inf nominalizations we find more or less the same pattern, although in this case expression of the theme as a postnominal van-PP is preferred, as always.

301
det-inf: NP/PPTheme + PP-complement
a. Het aanbevelen van bejaardenTheme voor deze baan is slim.
  the  recommend  of senior citizens  for this job  is smart
  'The recommending of elderly people for this job is smart.'
b. ? Het bejaardenTheme <voor deze baan> aanbevelen <voor deze baan> is slim.
  the  senior citizens    for this job  recommend  is smart
  'The recommending of elderly people for this job is smart.'
[+]  F.  Inf-nominalizations taking a complementive

Inf-nominalizations are the only type of nominalization that readily accepts verbs selecting a complementive (predicative complement) as their input. Comparison between bare-inf and det-inf nominalizations reveals an interesting pattern: whereas det-inf nominalizations yield the best results if the logical subject of the complementive appears as a postnominal van-PP, bare-inf nominalizations require the subject to appear as a prenominal noun phrase. In addition, we will discuss an interesting difference between adjectival complementives and complementives introduced by the prepositions tot'to' and als'as'.

[+]  1.  inf-nominalizations taking an adjectival complementive

Example (302) shows that complementives must precede and be adjacent to the verbs in clause-final position.

302
a. Dat Jan Marie <onaardig> vindt <*onaardig> komt voort uit jaloezie.
  that  Jan  Marie    unkind  considers  comes  prt.  from jealousy
  'That Jan doesnʼt like Marie is the result of jealousy.'
b. Dat Jan de deuren <rood> schildert <*rood> verbaast ons zeer.
  that  Jan  the doors    red  paints  surprises  us  much
  'Weʼre surprised that Jan paints the doors red.'
c. Dat hij haar ideeën <leuk> vindt <*leuk> is opmerkelijk.
  that  he  her ideas    nice  considers  is remarkable
  'That he considers her ideas nice is remarkable.'

A similar fact can be found in bare-inf nominalizations: the primeless examples in (303) show that the complementive immediately precedes the derived noun. Furthermore, the subject of the predicate must be realized as a prenominal noun phrase; using a postnominal van-PP, as in the primed examples, leads to an unacceptable result (regardless of the actual placement of the complementive).

303
bare-inf: prenominal NP + prenominal complementive
a. Marie <onaardig> vinden <*onaardig> komt voort uit jaloezie.
  Marie    unkind  consider  comes  prt.  from jealousy
  'Considering Marie unkind is the result of jealousy.'
a'. * Onaardig vinden van Marie komt voort uit jaloezie.
b. Deuren <rood> schilderen <*rood> is een leuke bezigheid.
  doors    red  paint  is a nice pastime
  'Painting the doors red is a nice pastime.'
b'. * Rood schilderen van deuren is een leuke bezigheid.
c'. Haar ideeën <leuk> vinden <*leuk> is opmerkelijk.
  her ideas    nice  consider  is remarkable
c'. * Leuk vinden van haar ideeën is opmerkelijk.

Det-inf nominalizations also require the complementive to be in prenominal position, but differ from bare-inf nominalizations in that they prefer a postnominal van-PP; realizing the subject as a prenominal noun phrase is at least marginally possible but requires a generic context, as in (304b').

304
det-inf: prenominal complementive + postnominal van-PP
a. Het <onaardig> vinden van Marie komt voort uit jaloezie.
  the  unkind  consider  of Marie  comes  prt.  from jealousy
a'. *? Het Marie <onaardig> vinden komt voort uit jaloezie.
b. ? Het <rood> schilderen van deuren is een leuke bezigheid.
  the    red  paint  of doors  is a nice pastime
b'. Het deuren <rood> schilderen is een leuke bezigheid.
c. Het <leuk> vinden van haar ideeën is opmerkelijk.
  the    nice  consider  of her ideas  is remarkable
c'. *? Het haar ideeën <leuk> vinden is opmerkelijk.
[+]  2.  Inf-nominalizations taking complementives introduced by tot and als

Example (305) shows that complementives introduced by a preposition like tot or als differ from the complementives discussesed in the previous subsection in that they can be placed either before or after the deverbal head.

305
a. Dat zij Jan <tot voorzitter> benoemden <tot voorzitter> was verstandig.
  that  they  Jan    to chairman  elected  was wise
  'That they elected Jan chairman was wise.'
b. Dat hij zijn grootste vijand <als zijn vriend> beschouwt <als zijn vriend> is dwaas.
  that  he  his greatest enemy    as his friend  considers  is foolish
  'That he considers his greatest enemy as his friend is foolish.'

In inf-nominalizationswe seem to find the same possibilities: for many speakers the tot/als-phrase can occur either pre- or postnominally; for some speakers, however, placing the tot/als-phrase after the nominal infinitive leads to a somewhat degraded result. In (306), some examples are given of bare-inf nominalizations; as with the adjectival complementives, the subject must be realized as a prenominal noun phrase, regardless of the placement of the tot/als-phrase.

306
bare-inf: prenominal NP + tot/als-phrase
a. Jan <tot voorzitter> benoemen <%tot voorzitter> was een slimme zet.
  Jan    to chairman    appoint  was a smart move
  'Appointing Jan chairman was a smart move.'
a'. * <Tot voorzitter> benoemen van Jan <tot voorzitter> was een slimme zet.
b. Je grootste vijand <als je vriend> beschouwen <%als je vriend> is dwaas.
  your greatest enemy  as your friend  consider  is foolish
  'Considering your greatest enemy as your friend is foolish.'
b'. * <Als je vriend> beschouwen van je grootste vijand <als je vriend> is dwaas.

Example (307) provides the corresponding det-inf nominalizations, and shows that using a postnominal van-PP is preferred in non-generic contexts like (307a), whereas it is at least possible to use a prenominal noun phrase in generic contexts like (307b). Note that the postnominal tot/als-phrase cannot precede the van-PP: *het benoemen tot voorzitter van Jan; *het beschouwen als je vriend van je grootste vijand.

307
a. Het <tot voorzitter> benoemen van Jan <%tot voorzitter> was verstandig.
  the  to chairman  appoint  of Jan  was wise
  'Appointing Jan chairman was wise.'
a'. *? Het Jan <tot voorzitter> benoemen <tot voorzitter> was verstandig.
b. Het <als je vriend> beschouwen van je grootste vijand <%als je vriend> is dwaas.
  the    as your friend  consider  of your greatest enemy is foolish
  'Considering your worst enemy as your friend is foolish.'
b'. ? Het je grootste vijand <als je vriend> beschouwen <als je vriend> is dwaas.

To conclude, note that even those speakers that object to the postnominal placement of the tot/als-phrase in the examples above accept it in the case of a more complex tot/als-PP. In those cases, the postnominal position is perfectly acceptable, and perhaps even preferable.

308
a. (?) Jan tot voorzitter van de vereniging benoemen is verstandig.
  Jan  to chairman of the association  appoint  is wise
  'Appointing Jan chairman of the association is wise.'
a'. Jan benoemen tot voorzitter van de vereniging is verstandig.
b. (?) Het tot voorzitter van de vereniging benoemen van Jan is verstandig.
  the  to chairman of the association  appoint  of Jan  is wise
b'. Het benoemen van Jan tot voorzitter van de vereniging is verstandig.
[+]  G.  Conclusion

The previous subsections have shown that in both det-inf and bare-inf nominalizations the arguments of the input verb function are inherited by the derived nominal. It has further investigated how these arguments can be realized in the pertinent inf-nominalizations. Here we will summarize the main findings.

[+]  1.  Inf-nominalizations derived from intransitive verbs

The agent argument of intransitive verbs is optionally expressed in the form of a postnominal van-PP. Alternatively, the agent can be expressed by means of a genitive noun phrase or possessive pronoun. The most common patterns are therefore as given in (309).

309
Common patterns of inf-nominalizations derived from intransitive verbs
bare-inf N (+ van-PPAgent) wandelen (van zieken)
‘walking of sick people’
det-inf det + N (+ van-PPAgent) het wandelen (van de zieken)
‘the walking (of the sick)
(NPs/pronounAgent) + N (zijn/Jans) wandelen
Janʼs walking’

[+]  2.  Inf-nominalizations derived from monadic unaccusative verbs

In det-inf nominalizations, the theme argument of unaccusative verbs is optionally expressed in the form of a postnominal van-PP. This option is, however, not readily available in bare-inf nominalizations. Expressing the theme by means of a genitive noun phrase or possessive pronoun gives rise to a marginal result.

310
Common patterns of inf-nominalizations derived from unaccusative verbs
bare-inf N + van-PPTheme ??vallen van bladeren
‘falling of leaves’
det-inf det + N + van-PPTheme het vallen van de bladeren
‘the falling of the leaves’
NPs/pronounTheme + N ?hun vallen
‘their falling’

[+]  3.  Inf-nominalizations derived from monotransitive verbs

With inf-nominalizations derived from transitive verbs, the theme argument is obligatorily present (if it has specific reference). The theme may precede the derived noun, in which case it is assigned accusative case and appears in the form of a noun phrase, or it may follow the head, in which case it appears as a van-PP. The use of a prenominal noun phrase is the preferred option in bare-inf nominalizations, whereas the use of a postnominal van-PP is the preferred option in det-inf nominalizations. The theme argument of bare-inf nominalizations is normally nonspecific. This also holds for the prenominal noun phrase (but not the postnominal van-PP) in det-inf nominalizations. The theme argument cannot be expressed by means of a genitive noun phrase or a possessive pronoun.

311
Common patterns of inf-nominalizations derived from transitive verbs
bare-inf NPTheme + N patiënten behandelen
‘treating patients’
N + van-PPTheme ?behandelen van patiënten
‘treating of patients’
det-inf det + N + van-PPTheme het treiteren van de kleuters
‘the bullying of the toddlers’
det + NPTheme + N ?het kleuters treiteren
‘the bullying of toddlers’

[+]  4.  Inf-nominalizations derived from ditransitive verbs

With inf-nominalizations derived from ditransitive verbs, recipients can be optionally expressed either by means of a prenominal noun phrase or by a (pre- or postnominal) aan-PP: the former requires that the theme is also expressed by means of a prenominal noun phrase, whereas the latter can be used both with a prenominal NP-theme and with a postnominal van-PP. The prenominal NP-recipient must precede the NP-theme, whereas the aan-PP normally follows the theme (regardless of whether the theme is realized as a noun phrase or a van-PP). The arguments of bare-inf nominalizations are normally nonspecific. This also holds for the prenominal noun phrases (but not the postnominal PPs) in det-inf nominalizations.

312
Common patterns of inf-nominalizations derived from ditransitive verbs
bare-inf (NPRec +) NPTheme + N (kinderen) cadeaus geven
‘giving (children) presents’
NPTheme(+ aan-PPRec) + N cadeaus (aan kinderen) geven
‘giving presents (to children)
NPTheme + N (+ aan-PPRec) cadeaus geven (aan kinderen)
‘giving presents (to children)
N + van-PPTheme (+ aan-PPRec) ?geven van cadeaus (aan kinderen)
‘giving of the presents (to children)
det-inf det + N + van-PPTheme (+ aan-PPRec) het geven van de cadeaus (aan de kinderen)
‘the giving of the presents (to the children)
det (+ NPRec)+ NPTheme+ N ?het (kinderen) cadeaus geven
‘the giving of presents (to children)

[+]  5.  Inf-nominalizations derived from verbs selecting a PP-complement

Inf-nominalizations derived from verbs with a PP-argument take a PP with the same preposition. The PP may appear either pre- or postnominally, just like it can appear pre- or postverbally in the corresponding verbal constructions.

313
Common patterns of inf-nominalizations derived from verbs with PP-complement
bare-inf N + PPTheme jagen op herten
‘hunting deer’
PPTheme+ N op herten jagen
‘hunting deer’
det-inf det + N + PPTheme het jagen op herten
‘the hunting of deer’
det + PPTheme+ N het op herten jagen
‘the hunting of deer’

[+]  6.  Inf-nominalizations derived from verbs selecting a complementive

Inf-nominalizations derived from verbs involving a complementive reveal an interesting opposition between det-inf and bare-inf nominalizations: whereas det-inf nominalizations prefer the theme argument to appear postnominally in the form of a van-PP, bare-inf nominalizations require the theme argument to appear as a prenominal noun phrase. The complementive must appear prenominally. just as it must be preverbally in the corresponding verbal constructions.

314
Common patterns of inf-nominalizations derived from verbs with complementive
bare-inf NP + pred + N Marie aardig vinden
‘liking Marie’
det-inf det + pred + N + van-PP het aardig vinden van Marie
‘liking Marie’
det + NP+ pred + N ?het Marie aardig vinden
‘liking Marie’

[+]  7.  The distribution of agentive van- and door-phrases

The form of the agent argument depends on the adicity of the base verb. If the input verb is intransitive or unaccusative, the agent typically appears postnominally as a van-PP; see Subsection 1. In all other cases the agent typically appears as an optional door-phrase following all other arguments. Agentive door-phrasesonly occur in det-inf nominalizations: bare-inf nominalizations with an agentive door-phraseare always degraded. In det-inf nominalizations the agent may also be realized as a genitive noun phrase or possessive pronoun.

315
Common patterns of inf-nominalizations with an agentive door-phrase
bare-inf NP + N boeken lezen (*door Jan)
‘reading books’
det-inf det + N + van-PP (+ door-PP) het lezen van boeken door Jan
‘the reading of books by Jan’
det + N + van-PP + aan-PP (+ door-PP) het geven van boeken aan Marie door Jan
‘the presenting of books to Marie by Jan’

[+]  III.  Application of the complement/adjunct test

The preceding subsection has shown that inf-nominalizations typically combine with noun phrases or PPs that correspond to the arguments of the input verb. However, since in many cases complements and adjuncts are not formally distinguished within the noun phrase, it is conceivable that some of these PPs are adjuncts. This subsection will therefore apply the tests provided in Section 2.2.1 for distinguishing between PP-complement and PP-adjuncts to inf-nominalizations to determine the status (as complement or adjunct) of the PPs accompanying these nominalizations. Of course, the tests are not readily applicable to bare-inf nominalizations, given thatthis construction prefers realization of the theme as a prenominal noun phrase, which is clearly an argument of the derived noun. The discussion will therefore mainly focus on det-inf nominalizations. The results of these tests indicate that the PPs in question should be regarded as complements of the noun.

[+]  A.  Obligatoriness of PP

It is normally assumed that bare-inf and det-inf nominalizations both inherit the argument structure of the input verb: they resemble the corresponding verbal constructions with regard to the number of arguments and their thematic functions. Nevertheless, there is an important difference: whereas in the verbal constructions the subject is required, explicit mention of this same element is not required in the nominal constructions. Consequently, the inf-nominalizations in (316), which are derived from an unaccusative or an intransitive verb, do not require the presence of any PP, or may be modified by an adjunct only. Note that leaving out the argument is not semantically innocuous but results in a generic interpretation.

316
a. (Dat) vallen (met de fiets) kan erg pijnlijk zijn.
  the  fall  with the bike  can  very painful  be
  'Falling with your bike can be very painful.'
b. (Dat) slapen (in een waterbed) is niet gezond.
  that  sleep   in a waterbed  is not  healthy
  '(This) sleeping in a waterbed isnʼt healthy.'

      In inf-nominalizations derived from a transitive verb, the theme must normally be present; dropping the theme argument is only marginally possible if the sentences are given a generic interpretation.

317
a. Het verzamelen *?(van postzegels) kost hem veel geld.
  the  collect     of stamps  costs  him  much money
  'Collecting stamps is costing him a lot of money.'
b. *? (Postzegels) verzamelen kost veel geld.
  stamps  collect  costs  much money

Of course if the input verb can be used as a pseudo-intransitive verb like schrijven'to write' or drinken'to drink', the theme does not need to accompany the derived inf-noun. As with the pseudo-intransitive verb, the resulting interpretation of the examples in (318) is that of a habitual activity; cf. Section 2.2.3.1 (and see also Groefsema, 1995, for semantic and syntactic constraints on the use of implicit arguments). Note that using det-inf nominalizations with non-expressive determiners like het normally gives rise to an unacceptable result; the expressive demonstrative determiner dat can be used provided that the context permits a pejorative interpretation, as in (318b').

318
a. Schrijven is een leuk beroep.
  write  is a nice occupation
  'Writing is a nice occupation.'
a'. * Het schrijven is een leuk beroep.
  the write  is a nice occupation
b. Drinken is ongezond.
  drink  is unhealthy
  'Drinking is unhealthy.'
b'. Dat/*Het drinken is ongezond.
  that/the drink is unhealthy

      The theme is also normally present if the input verb is ditransitive. It can only be left out in obvious (and contrastive) generic statements, like the ones in (319). Again, such constructions are more common with bare-inf than with det-inf nominalizations, which is clear from the fact that (319a&b) will become unacceptable if we add the determiner het to the inf-nominalizations. Example (319a') shows, however, that det-inf nominalizations occasionally also allow the theme to be absent in generic contexts.

319
a. Geven is beter dan nemen.
  give  is better  than take
  'To give is better than to take.'
a'. Het gaat om het geven, niet om het krijgen.
  it  goes  about  the give  not  about  the get
  'Itʼs the giving that counts, not the getting.'
b. Bij hem is het alleen maar beloven, maar nooit eens doen.
  with him  is it  only  prt  promise  but  never  prt  do
  'He is always promising things, but never doing them.'

The (a)-examples in (320) show that, just like in the verbal construction, the recipient need not be expressed. If it is expressed, as in the (b)-examples, dropping the theme argument does not give rise to a generic reading but to an ungrammatical result.

320
a. Het geven *?(van cadeaus) is altijd leuk.
  the  give      of presents  is always  nice
a'. ?? (Cadeautjes) geven is altijd leuk.
  presents  give  is always  nice
b. Het geven *(van het cadeautje) aan mijn neefje is leuk.
  the give      of the present  to my nephewdim  is nice
b'. Mijn neefje *(cadeautjes) geven is leuk.
  my nephew     presents  give  is nice

Finally, (321) shows that, if the input verb selects a PP, this PP is also required by the derived inf-nominalization, unless the implied theme is recoverable from the linguistic or non-linguistic context.

321
(Het) zoeken *(naar een oplossing) bleef zonder resultaat.
  the  search     for a solution  remained  without result
[+]  B.  Occurrence of the PP in postcopular predicative position

Example (322) shows that the van-PP of det-inf nominalizations cannot occur in postcopular position. This is, of course, hardly surprising, because van-PPs in postcopular position are normally interpreted as possessive elements: states of affairs, the denotation of inf-nominalizations, cannot be possessed.

322
a. * Het maken is van sommen.
  the  make  is of sums
b. * Het behandelen is van de patiënten.
  the  treat  is of the patients
c. * Het geven is van de cadeaus (aan de kinderen).
  the  give  is of the presents  to the children
d. * Het uitreiken is van de prijzen (aan de winnaars).
  the  present  is of the prizes  to the winners

      Note that if the input verb takes a PP-complement, this PP-complement can sometimes occur in postcopular position (Barbiers 1995). Examples like these suggest the (possible) attainment of some future state, like father being present or there being a solution, which can be made explicit by adding the addition of the time adverb nu'now' or a particle like nog'still'.

323
a. Het wachten is nu op vader.
  the wait  is now  for father
  'We still have to wait for father.'
b. Het zoeken is nu nog naar een oplossing.
  the search  is now  still  for a solution
  'We still have to search for a solution.'

This is, however, not a general property of inf-nominalizations derived from such verbs. For example, verbs denoting a state and a momentary action or an activity give rise to a distinctly odd result, which may be due to the fact that these constructions cannot be used to express the attainment of some future state.

324
a. * Het geloven is nu nog in een vreedzame oplossing.
  the believing  is now  prt  in a peaceful solution
b. * Het waarschuwen is nu nog voor zware regenval.
  the warning  is now  prt  for heavy rain
c. * Het jagen is nu nog op reeën.
  the hunt  is now  prt  on deer

Furthermore, the construction is only possible with the determiner het; replacing het by some other determiner results in unacceptability. This suggests that the acceptable cases in (323a&b) are more or less idiomatic.

325
a. * Mijn/Dat wachten is nu op vader.
  my/that wait  is now  for father
b. * Mijn/Dat zoeken is nu nog naar een oplossing.
  my/that search  is now  still  for a solution
[+]  C.  R-pronominalization

Example (326) shows that det-inf nominalizations do allow R-pronominalization. The examples in (326a&b) show that the pronominalized van-PPs expressing the inherited theme must also follow the noun, as is of course expected given that such van-PPs can only occur postnominally. If the PP is inherited directly from the input verb, placement of the pronominal PP in prenominal position is acceptable, although placement of these PPs in postverbal position seems to be preferred (which is clear from the fact that this is by far the dominant order found on the internet). This is illustrated in (326c&d) by means of inf-nominalizations derived from, respectively, jagen (op)'hunt' and genieten (van)'enjoy'.

326
a. Het <*ervan> maken <ervan> is eenvoudig.
  the    there-of  make  is simple
  'Making it is simple.'
b. Het <*ervan> uitreiken <ervan> aan de winnaars duurde lang.
  the    there-of  present  to the winners  lasted  long
  'Presenting them to the winners took a long time.'
c. Het <?erop> jagen <erop> moest verboden worden.
  the  there-on  hunt  should  prohibited  be
  'Hunting of them should be prohibited.'
d. Het <?ervan> genieten <ervan> werd ons onmogelijk gemaakt.
  the   there-of  enjoy  was  us  impossible  made
  'Enjoying it was made impossible for us.'

The examples in (327a&b) show that R-pronominalization is impossible in bare-inf nominalizations with postnominal van-PPs expressing the inherited theme, which is of course related to the fact that these PPs are not much favored in this construction anyway. R-pronominalization of inherited PPs, however, is possible: the examples in (327c&d) differ from the ones in (326c&d) in that they seem to prefer placement of pronominalized PP in prenominal position.

327
a. * Maken <ervan> is eenvoudig.
b. * Uitreiken <ervan> aan de winnaars duurde lang.
c. <Erop> jagen <?erop> moest verboden worden.
d. <Ervan> genieten <?ervan> werd ons onmogelijk gemaakt.

For completeness’ sake, example (328) shows that R-pronominalization is impossible with agents and recipients.

328
a. het overhandigen van de petitie aan de regering/*eraan
  the hand.over  of the petition  to the government/there-to
b. het schenken van geld aan de kerk/*eraan
  the donate  of money  to the church/there-to
c. het opstellen van een programma door de partij/*erdoor
  the draft  of a program  by the party/there-by
[+]  D.  Extraction of PP

Topicalization of the postnominal van-PP yields results that are at best questionable, as shown by example (329a) for inf-nominalizations derived from transitive verbs. It seems, however, that the result improves if the extracted PP is heavy and a modal verb is used, as in (329b).

329
Test 4A: Topicalization
a. * Van fruit wordt het eten altijd gestimuleerd.
  of fruit  is  the eat  always  encouraged
b. ?? Van vers fruit zou het eten altijd gestimuleerd moeten worden.
  of fresh fruit  should  the eat  always  encouraged  must  be
  'The eating of fresh fruit should always be encouraged.'

As is shown in (330), inf-nominalizations derived from ditransitive verbs behave more or less on a par with those derived from transitive verbs in (329), the only difference being that the presence of the recipient blocks topicalization completely. The fact that example (330b) with a heavy van-PP in clause-initial position is fully ungrammatical if the recipient is present suggests that the preposed van-PP is actually not extracted from the noun phrase but generated as an independent restrictive adverbial phrase; if so, the ungrammaticality of (330b) with a recipient would follow from the fact established in Subsection A that overt realization of the recipient aan-PP requires that the theme argument also be overtly realized as a van-PP; see the discussion of example (320).

330
a. * Van cadeaus heb ik het geven (aan kinderen) altijd leuk gevonden.
  of presents  have  the give   to children  always  nice  consider
b. Van onveilige cadeaus moet het geven ??(*aan kinderen) verboden worden.
  of unsafe presents  should  the give        to children  prohibited be
  'The giving of unsafe presents (to children) must be prohibited.'

As is shown by (331a), a similar blocking effect can be evoked by the agentive door-PP. Further, it is interesting to note that the sentence in (331b), without the door-phrase, strongly favors a reading in which the van-PP is interpreted as the agent and the verb treiteren'to bully' is given a generic reading. Since non-realization of the theme normally has this effect, this might again indicate that the preposed van-PP is actually not extracted from the noun phrase but generated as an independent restrictive adverbial phrase.

331
a. * Van peuters heb ik het treiteren door grote jongens altijd veracht.
  of toddlers  have  the bully  by big boys  always  despised
  Intended reading: 'Iʼve always despised the bullying of toddlers by big boys.'
b. # Van peutersTheme heb ik het treiteren altijd veracht.
  of toddlers  have  the bully  always  despised

Relativization and questioning are possible under more or less the same conditions as topicalization, as will become clear by comparing the examples in (332) with those in (329). We will refrain from giving similar examples with ditransitive verbs since relativization and questioning always give an objectionable result, although we want to note that in this case, too, expression of a recipient aan-PP has a deteriorating effect.

332
Test 4B: Relativization and questioning
a. * het fruit waarvan het eten altijd gestimuleerd wordt
  the kind  where-of  the eat  always  encouraged  is
a'. ? het soort fruit waarvan het eten altijd gestimuleerd zou moeten worden
  the kind fruit  where-of  the eat  always  encouraged  should must be
b. *? Van welk fruit wordt het eten gestimuleerd?
  of which fruit  is  the eat  encouraged
b'. ? Van welk soort fruit zou het eten gestimuleerd moeten worden?
  of which kind fruit  should  the eat  encouraged  must  be

Inf-nominalizations do not readily accept PP-over-V and scrambling. It may perhaps occur in highly contrastive contexts, e.g., when contrastive accent is assigned to the modifier vers'fresh' in the examples in (333).

333
Test 4C&D: PP-over-V and Scrambling
a. Ik heb het eten aangeraden *van appels/?van vers fruit.
  have  the eat  recommended    of apples/of fresh fruit
b. Ik heb *van appels/??van vers fruit het eten aangeraden.
  have    of apples/of fresh fruit  the eat  recommended

      For completeness’ sake, it can be mentioned that topicalization, relativization and questioning of PPs introduced by prepositions other than van is sometimes marginally possible. Some examples are given in (334); examples (334a&c) are best if the PP is given contrastive tress; the fact that (334b) is more marked might be due to the fact that assigning contractive is not possible in this case. PP-over-V and scrambling of these PPs is impossible, which will go unillustrated here.

334
a. ?? Op groot wild zou het jagen verboden moeten worden.
  on big game  should  the hunt  prohibited  must  be
  'The hunting of big game should be prohibited.'
b. *? het soort wild waarop het jagen verboden zou moeten worden
  the kind [of] game  where-on  the hunt  prohibited  should  must  be
c. ?? Op welk soort wild zou het jagen verboden moeten worden?
  on what [of] kind game  should  the hunt  prohibited  must  be

Topicalization, relativization and questioning of a recipient aan-PP or an agentive door-PP, however, are impossible or at best highly questionable. This is shown in (335) and (336).

335
a. *? Aan zieke kinderen moet het geven van cadeaus gestimuleerd worden.
  to sick children  must  the give  of presents  encouraged  be
  'To sick children the giving of presents must be encouraged.'
b. * zieke kinderen aan wie het geven van cadeaus gestimuleerd moet worden
  the kind children  to whom  the give  of presents  encouraged must be
c. *? Aan wie moet het geven van cadeaus gestimuleerd worden?
  to whom  must  the give  of presents  encouraged  be
336
a. * Door grote jongens zou het treiteren van peuters niet mogen voorkomen.
  by big boys should  the bully  of toddlers  not  may  prt.-occur
b. * grote jongens door wie het treiteren van peuters niet zou mogen voorkomen
  big boys  by whom  the bully  of toddlers  not should may prt.-occur
c. * Door welke jongens zou het treiteren van peuters niet mogen voorkomen?
  by which boys  should  the bully  of toddlers  not may prt.-occur
[+]  E.  Conclusion

Table 7 summarizes the results of the four adjunct/complement tests for theme arguments of inf-nominalizations expressed by, respectively, a postnominal van-PP and a PP directly inherited from the verb. The third and fifth columns indicate whether the results provide evidence for or against the assumption that we are dealing with complements of the er-nominalization. The first three tests provide unequivocal evidence for complement status of both van-PPs and PPs headed by other prepositions. The results of the PP-extraction tests seem to go against this, but we have seen that these tests are problematic in various respects, and may not be suitable for establishing complement status anyway. We therefore conclude that these themes are arguments of the derived nouns.

Table 7: Theme complements of inf-nominalization: outcome of Tests 1-4
van-PPs other PPs
Test 1: PP obligatory + positive + positive
Test 2: Post-copular position positive n.a. n.a.
Test 3: R-pronominalization + positive + positive
Test 4A: Topicalization ? negative ? negative
Test 4B: Relativization/questioning ? ?
Test 4C: PP-over-V
Test 4D: Scrambling

For recipient aan-PPs and agentive door-PPs it is more difficult to establish whether they are arguments of the noun. Only the first test is relevant for them, and it seems that this test provides evidence against assuming argument status: recipients and agents normally need not be expressed. However, given that recipients and agentive door-phrases are normally also optional in the verbal constructions, this is not conclusive. We may therefore assume that they have a status similar to that of the theme, which clearly does behave as an argument.

References:
  • Barbiers, Sjef1995The syntax of interpretationThe Hague, Holland Academic GraphicsUniversity of Leiden/HILThesis
  • Groefsema, Marjolein1995Understood arguments: a semantic/pragmatic approachLingua96139-162
  • Schoorlemmer, Maaike2001Dutch nominalised infinitives as non-identical twinsUiL OTS Working PaperNovember 2001
report errorprintcite