- Dutch
- Frisian
- Saterfrisian
- Afrikaans
-
- Phonology
- Segment inventory
- Phonotactics
- Phonological processes
- Phonology-morphology interface
- Word stress
- Primary stress in simplex words
- Monomorphemic words
- Diachronic aspects
- Generalizations on stress placement
- Default penultimate stress
- Lexical stress
- The closed penult restriction
- Final closed syllables
- The diphthong restriction
- Superheavy syllables (SHS)
- The three-syllable window
- Segmental restrictions
- Phonetic correlates
- Stress shifts in loanwords
- Quantity-sensitivity
- Secondary stress
- Vowel reduction in unstressed syllables
- Stress in complex words
- Primary stress in simplex words
- Accent & intonation
- Clitics
- Spelling
- Morphology
- Word formation
- Compounding
- Nominal compounds
- Verbal compounds
- Adjectival compounds
- Affixoids
- Coordinative compounds
- Synthetic compounds
- Reduplicative compounds
- Phrase-based compounds
- Elative compounds
- Exocentric compounds
- Linking elements
- Separable complex verbs (SCVs)
- Gapping of complex words
- Particle verbs
- Copulative compounds
- Derivation
- Numerals
- Derivation: inputs and input restrictions
- The meaning of affixes
- Non-native morphology
- Cohering and non-cohering affixes
- Prefixation
- Suffixation
- Nominal suffixation: person nouns
- Conversion
- Pseudo-participles
- Bound forms
- Nouns
- Nominal prefixes
- Nominal suffixes
- -aal and -eel
- -aar
- -aard
- -aat
- -air
- -aris
- -ast
- Diminutives
- -dom
- -een
- -ees
- -el (nominal)
- -elaar
- -enis
- -er (nominal)
- -erd
- -erik
- -es
- -eur
- -euse
- ge...te
- -heid
- -iaan, -aan
- -ief
- -iek
- -ier
- -ier (French)
- -ière
- -iet
- -igheid
- -ij and allomorphs
- -ijn
- -in
- -ing
- -isme
- -ist
- -iteit
- -ling
- -oir
- -oot
- -rice
- -schap
- -schap (de)
- -schap (het)
- -sel
- -st
- -ster
- -t
- -tal
- -te
- -voud
- Verbs
- Adjectives
- Adverbs
- Univerbation
- Neo-classical word formation
- Construction-dependent morphology
- Morphological productivity
- Compounding
- Inflection
- Inflection and derivation
- Allomorphy
- The interface between phonology and morphology
- Word formation
- Syntax
- Preface and acknowledgements
- Verbs and Verb Phrases
- 1 Characterization and classification
- 2 Projection of verb phrases I:Argument structure
- 3 Projection of verb phrases II:Verb frame alternations
- Introduction
- 3.1. Main types
- 3.2. Alternations involving the external argument
- 3.3. Alternations of noun phrases and PPs
- 3.3.1. Dative/PP alternations (dative shift)
- 3.3.1.1. Dative alternation with aan-phrases (recipients)
- 3.3.1.2. Dative alternation with naar-phrases (goals)
- 3.3.1.3. Dative alternation with van-phrases (sources)
- 3.3.1.4. Dative alternation with bij-phrases (possessors)
- 3.3.1.5. Dative alternation with voor-phrases (benefactives)
- 3.3.1.6. Conclusion
- 3.3.1.7. Bibliographical notes
- 3.3.2. Accusative/PP alternations
- 3.3.3. Nominative/PP alternations
- 3.3.1. Dative/PP alternations (dative shift)
- 3.4. Some apparent cases of verb frame alternation
- 3.5. Bibliographical notes
- 4 Projection of verb phrases IIIa:Selection of clauses/verb phrases
- 5 Projection of verb phrases IIIb:Argument and complementive clauses
- Introduction
- 5.1. Finite argument clauses
- 5.2. Infinitival argument clauses
- 5.3. Complementive clauses
- 6 Projection of verb phrases IIIc:Complements of non-main verbs
- 7 Projection of verb phrases IIId:Verb clusters
- 8 Projection of verb phrases IV: Adverbial modification
- 9 Word order in the clause I:General introduction
- 10 Word order in the clause II:Position of the finite verb (verb-first/second)
- 11 Word order in the clause III:Clause-initial position (wh-movement)
- Introduction
- 11.1. The formation of V1- and V2-clauses
- 11.2. Clause-initial position remains (phonetically) empty
- 11.3. Clause-initial position is filled
- 12 Word order in the clause IV:Postverbal field (extraposition)
- 13 Word order in the clause V: Middle field (scrambling)
- 14 Main-clause external elements
- Nouns and Noun Phrases
- 1 Characterization and classification
- 2 Projection of noun phrases I: complementation
- Introduction
- 2.1. General observations
- 2.2. Prepositional and nominal complements
- 2.3. Clausal complements
- 2.4. Bibliographical notes
- 3 Projection of noun phrases II: modification
- Introduction
- 3.1. Restrictive and non-restrictive modifiers
- 3.2. Premodification
- 3.3. Postmodification
- 3.3.1. Adpositional phrases
- 3.3.2. Relative clauses
- 3.3.3. Infinitival clauses
- 3.3.4. A special case: clauses referring to a proposition
- 3.3.5. Adjectival phrases
- 3.3.6. Adverbial postmodification
- 3.4. Bibliographical notes
- 4 Projection of noun phrases III: binominal constructions
- Introduction
- 4.1. Binominal constructions without a preposition
- 4.2. Binominal constructions with a preposition
- 4.3. Bibliographical notes
- 5 Determiners: articles and pronouns
- Introduction
- 5.1. Articles
- 5.2. Pronouns
- 5.3. Bibliographical notes
- 6 Numerals and quantifiers
- 7 Pre-determiners
- Introduction
- 7.1. The universal quantifier al 'all' and its alternants
- 7.2. The pre-determiner heel 'all/whole'
- 7.3. A note on focus particles
- 7.4. Bibliographical notes
- 8 Syntactic uses of noun phrases
- Adjectives and Adjective Phrases
- 1 Characteristics and classification
- 2 Projection of adjective phrases I: Complementation
- 3 Projection of adjective phrases II: Modification
- 4 Projection of adjective phrases III: Comparison
- 5 Attributive use of the adjective phrase
- 6 Predicative use of the adjective phrase
- 7 The partitive genitive construction
- 8 Adverbial use of the adjective phrase
- 9 Participles and infinitives: their adjectival use
- 10 Special constructions
- Adpositions and adpositional phrases
- 1 Characteristics and classification
- Introduction
- 1.1. Characterization of the category adposition
- 1.2. A formal classification of adpositional phrases
- 1.3. A semantic classification of adpositional phrases
- 1.3.1. Spatial adpositions
- 1.3.2. Temporal adpositions
- 1.3.3. Non-spatial/temporal prepositions
- 1.4. Borderline cases
- 1.5. Bibliographical notes
- 2 Projection of adpositional phrases: Complementation
- 3 Projection of adpositional phrases: Modification
- 4 Syntactic uses of the adpositional phrase
- 5 R-pronominalization and R-words
- 1 Characteristics and classification
- Phonology
-
- General
- Phonology
- Segment inventory
- Phonotactics
- Phonological Processes
- Assimilation
- Vowel nasalization
- Syllabic sonorants
- Final devoicing
- Fake geminates
- Vowel hiatus resolution
- Vowel reduction introduction
- Schwa deletion
- Schwa insertion
- /r/-deletion
- d-insertion
- {s/z}-insertion
- t-deletion
- Intrusive stop formation
- Breaking
- Vowel shortening
- h-deletion
- Replacement of the glide w
- Word stress
- Clitics
- Allomorphy
- Orthography of Frisian
- Morphology
- Inflection
- Word formation
- Derivation
- Prefixation
- Infixation
- Suffixation
- Nominal suffixes
- Verbal suffixes
- Adjectival suffixes
- Adverbial suffixes
- Numeral suffixes
- Interjectional suffixes
- Onomastic suffixes
- Conversion
- Compositions
- Derivation
- Syntax
- Verbs and Verb Phrases
- Characteristics and classification
- Unergative and unaccusative subjects
- Evidentiality
- To-infinitival clauses
- Predication and noun incorporation
- Ellipsis
- Imperativus-pro-Infinitivo
- Expression of irrealis
- Embedded Verb Second
- Agreement
- Negation
- Nouns & Noun Phrases
- Classification
- Complementation
- Modification
- Partitive noun constructions
- Referential partitive constructions
- Partitive measure nouns
- Numeral partitive constructions
- Partitive question constructions
- Nominalised quantifiers
- Kind partitives
- Partitive predication with prepositions
- Bare nominal attributions
- Articles and names
- Pronouns
- Quantifiers and (pre)determiners
- Interrogative pronouns
- R-pronouns
- Syntactic uses
- Adjective Phrases
- Characteristics and classification
- Complementation
- Modification and degree quantification
- Comparison by degree
- Comparative
- Superlative
- Equative
- Attribution
- Agreement
- Attributive adjectives vs. prenominal elements
- Complex adjectives
- Noun ellipsis
- Co-occurring adjectives
- Predication
- Partitive adjective constructions
- Adverbial use
- Participles and infinitives
- Adposition Phrases
- Characteristics and classification
- Complementation
- Modification
- Intransitive adpositions
- Predication
- Preposition stranding
- Verbs and Verb Phrases
-
- General
- Morphology
- Morphology
- 1 Word formation
- 1.1 Compounding
- 1.1.1 Compounds and their heads
- 1.1.2 Special types of compounds
- 1.1.2.1 Affixoids
- 1.1.2.2 Coordinative compounds
- 1.1.2.3 Synthetic compounds and complex pseudo-participles
- 1.1.2.4 Reduplicative compounds
- 1.1.2.5 Phrase-based compounds
- 1.1.2.6 Elative compounds
- 1.1.2.7 Exocentric compounds
- 1.1.2.8 Linking elements
- 1.1.2.9 Separable Complex Verbs and Particle Verbs
- 1.1.2.10 Noun Incorporation Verbs
- 1.1.2.11 Gapping
- 1.2 Derivation
- 1.3 Minor patterns of word formation
- 1.1 Compounding
- 2 Inflection
- 1 Word formation
- Morphology
- Syntax
- Adjectives and adjective phrases (APs)
- 0 Introduction to the AP
- 1 Characteristics and classification of APs
- 2 Complementation of APs
- 3 Modification and degree quantification of APs
- 4 Comparison by comparative, superlative and equative
- 5 Attribution of APs
- 6 Predication of APs
- 7 The partitive adjective construction
- 8 Adverbial use of APs
- 9 Participles and infinitives as APs
- Nouns and Noun Phrases (NPs)
- 0 Introduction to the NP
- 1 Characteristics and Classification of NPs
- 2 Complementation of NPs
- 3 Modification of NPs
- 3.1 Modification of NP by Determiners and APs
- 3.2 Modification of NP by PP
- 3.3 Modification of NP by adverbial clauses
- 3.4 Modification of NP by possessors
- 3.5 Modification of NP by relative clauses
- 3.6 Modification of NP in a cleft construction
- 3.7 Free relative clauses and selected interrogative clauses
- 4 Partitive noun constructions and constructions related to them
- 4.1 The referential partitive construction
- 4.2 The partitive construction of abstract quantity
- 4.3 The numerical partitive construction
- 4.4 The partitive interrogative construction
- 4.5 Adjectival, nominal and nominalised partitive quantifiers
- 4.6 Kind partitives
- 4.7 Partitive predication with a preposition
- 4.8 Bare nominal attribution
- 5 Articles and names
- 6 Pronouns
- 7 Quantifiers, determiners and predeterminers
- 8 Interrogative pronouns
- 9 R-pronouns and the indefinite expletive
- 10 Syntactic functions of Noun Phrases
- Adpositions and Adpositional Phrases (PPs)
- 0 Introduction to the PP
- 1 Characteristics and classification of PPs
- 2 Complementation of PPs
- 3 Modification of PPs
- 4 Bare (intransitive) adpositions
- 5 Predication of PPs
- 6 Form and distribution of adpositions with respect to staticity and construction type
- 7 Adpositional complements and adverbials
- Verbs and Verb Phrases (VPs)
- 0 Introduction to the VP in Saterland Frisian
- 1 Characteristics and classification of verbs
- 2 Unergative and unaccusative subjects and the auxiliary of the perfect
- 3 Evidentiality in relation to perception and epistemicity
- 4 Types of to-infinitival constituents
- 5 Predication
- 5.1 The auxiliary of being and its selection restrictions
- 5.2 The auxiliary of going and its selection restrictions
- 5.3 The auxiliary of continuation and its selection restrictions
- 5.4 The auxiliary of coming and its selection restrictions
- 5.5 Modal auxiliaries and their selection restrictions
- 5.6 Auxiliaries of body posture and aspect and their selection restrictions
- 5.7 Transitive verbs of predication
- 5.8 The auxiliary of doing used as a semantically empty finite auxiliary
- 5.9 Supplementive predication
- 6 The verbal paradigm, irregularity and suppletion
- 7 Verb Second and the word order in main and embedded clauses
- 8 Various aspects of clause structure
- Adjectives and adjective phrases (APs)
-
- General
- Phonology
- Afrikaans phonology
- Segment inventory
- Overview of Afrikaans vowels
- The diphthongised long vowels /e/, /ø/ and /o/
- The unrounded mid-front vowel /ɛ/
- The unrounded low-central vowel /ɑ/
- The unrounded low-central vowel /a/
- The rounded mid-high back vowel /ɔ/
- The rounded high back vowel /u/
- The rounded and unrounded high front vowels /i/ and /y/
- The unrounded and rounded central vowels /ə/ and /œ/
- The diphthongs /əi/, /œy/ and /œu/
- Overview of Afrikaans consonants
- The bilabial plosives /p/ and /b/
- The alveolar plosives /t/ and /d/
- The velar plosives /k/ and /g/
- The bilabial nasal /m/
- The alveolar nasal /n/
- The velar nasal /ŋ/
- The trill /r/
- The lateral liquid /l/
- The alveolar fricative /s/
- The velar fricative /x/
- The labiodental fricatives /f/ and /v/
- The approximants /ɦ/, /j/ and /ʋ/
- Overview of Afrikaans vowels
- Word stress
- The phonetic properties of stress
- Primary stress on monomorphemic words in Afrikaans
- Background to primary stress in monomorphemes in Afrikaans
- Overview of the Main Stress Rule of Afrikaans
- The short vowels of Afrikaans
- Long vowels in monomorphemes
- Primary stress on diphthongs in monomorphemes
- Exceptions
- Stress shifts in place names
- Stress shift towards word-final position
- Stress pattern of reduplications
- Phonological processes
- Vowel related processes
- Consonant related processes
- Homorganic glide insertion
- Phonology-morphology interface
- Phonotactics
- Morphology
- Syntax
- Afrikaans syntax
- Nouns and noun phrases
- Characteristics of the NP
- Classification of nouns
- Complementation of NPs
- Modification of NPs
- Binominal and partitive constructions
- Referential partitive constructions
- Partitive measure nouns
- Numeral partitive constructions
- Partitive question constructions
- Partitive constructions with nominalised quantifiers
- Partitive predication with prepositions
- Binominal name constructions
- Binominal genitive constructions
- Bare nominal attribution
- Articles and names
- Pronouns
- Quantifiers, determiners and predeterminers
- Syntactic uses of the noun phrase
- Adjectives and adjective phrases
- Characteristics and classification of the AP
- Complementation of APs
- Modification and Degree Quantification of APs
- Comparison by comparative, superlative and equative degree
- Attribution of APs
- Predication of APs
- The partitive adjective construction
- Adverbial use of APs
- Participles and infinitives as adjectives
- Verbs and verb phrases
- Characterisation and classification
- Argument structure
- Verb frame alternations
- Complements of non-main verbs
- Verb clusters
- Complement clauses
- Adverbial modification
- Word order in the clause: Introduction
- Word order in the clause: position of the finite Verb
- Word order in the clause: Clause-initial position
- Word order in the clause: Extraposition and right-dislocation in the postverbal field
- Word order in the middle field
- Emphatic constructions
- Adpositions and adposition phrases
This section discusses modification of the so-called measure adjectives. Some examples of these adjectives, which always come in antonym pairs, are given in (230). We will show that, compared to the other types of scalar adjectives, measure adjectives exhibit rather special behavior with respect to modification.
a. | breed | 'wide' |
a'. | smal | 'narrow' |
b. | diep | 'deep' |
b'. | ondiep | 'shallow' |
c. | dik | 'thick' |
c'. | dun | 'thin' |
d. | lang | 'long' |
d'. | kort | 'short' |
e. | lang | 'long' |
e'. | kort | 'brief' |
f. | hoog | 'high' |
f'. | laag | 'low' |
g. | oud | 'old' |
g'. | jong | 'young' |
h. | zwaar | 'heavy' |
h'. | licht | 'light' |
Being scalar, measure adjectives can be modified either by means of an amplifier or a downtoner, which is illustrated for some of these adjectives in (230).
a. | zeer/vrij | breed/smal | |
very/rather | wide/narrow |
b. | heel/tamelijk | oud/jong | |
very/rather | old/young |
c. | absurd/een beetje | lang/kort | |
absurdly/a bit | long/short |
For the same reason, measure adjectives can be combined with the interrogative intensifier hoe'how'. This is illustrated in (232) for some of the adjectives in (230). Observe that questioning the adjectives in the primed examples of (230) normally gives rise to an infelicitous result; the reasons for this will be discussed in Subsection II.
a. | Hoe breed/??smal | is het zwembad? | |
how wide/narrow | is the swimming pool |
b. | Hoe oud/??jong | is dat paard? | |
how old/young | is that horse |
c. | Hoe lang/??kort | is het zwembad? | |
how long/short | is the swimming pool |
The examples in (233) show that the measure adjective can also occur in exclamative constructions with wat.
a. | Wat | is dat zwembad | breed/smal! | |
what | is that swimming pool | wide/narrow |
b. | Wat | is dat paard oud/jong! | |
what | is that horse old/young |
c. | Wat | is dat zwembad | lang/kort! | |
what | is that swimming pool | long/short |
Measure adjectives are special in that they can be modified by nominal measure phrases like drie meter'three meters' in (234a). The ungrammaticality of (234b) shows that the use of such measure phrases is normally restricted to contexts in which no other intensifier is present. Nominal measure phrases are possible, however, if the adjective is modified by te'too', in which case they indicate the extent to which the subject of the adjective exceeds the implied norm. The first two subsections below will discuss, respectively, examples of the type in (234a) and (234b). The third subsection concludes with a discussion of subextraction of the nominal measure phrase from complex APs.
a. | De balk | is drie meter | lang. | |
the beam | is three meters | long |
b. | * | De balk | is drie meter | erg | lang. |
the beam | is three meters | very | long |
c. | De balk | is drie meter | te | lang. | |
the beam | is three meters | too | long |
The adjectives in the primed and primeless examples in (230) differ in an important respect: adjectives of the former group can be modified not only by means of intensifiers, as in (231), but also by means of nominal measure phrases; combining the adjectives of the latter group with these measure phrases normally leads to an infelicitous result. This is demonstrated in (235).
a. | drie meter | breed/diep/dik/lang/hoog | |
three meter | wide/deep/thick/long/high |
a'. | * | drie meter | smal/ondiep/dun/kort/laag |
three meter | narrow/shallow/thin/short/low |
b. | tien jaar | oud/*jong | |
ten year | old/young |
c. | twee uur | lang/*kort | |
two hour | long/short |
In the acceptable examples in (235), the adjectives have lost their antonymous meaning aspect in the sense that they no longer stand in opposition to the adjectives in the primed examples in (230). The use of the adjective oud'old' in (236a), for example, does not imply that the kitten is old; in fact, the kitten is quite young (namely two days), which can be emphasized by using an evaluative particle such as pas'only' or maar'only'. Therefore, it is clear that the adjective oud'old' no longer stands in opposition to the adjective jong'young'. Something similar holds for the adjective lang'long' in (236b).
a. | Het poesje | is (pas) | twee dagen | oud/*jong. | |
the kitten | is only | two days | old/young |
b. | De weg | is (maar) | twintig meter | lang/*kort. | |
the road | is only | twenty meter | long/short |
Given that measure adjectives like oud and lang do not exhibit an antonymous meaning aspect if they are modified by a measure phrase, they should be considered as neutral forms in such cases. Adjectives such as jong and kort, on the other hand, normally retain their full meaning, which accounts for the fact that examples such as (237) can only be used in jest.
Opa | is negentig jaar | jong. | ||
grandfather | is ninety years | young |
If measure adjectives are questioned, it is generally the neutral form that shows up, as in (232) and (238). The non-neutral form can only be used if the context provides specific clues that the entity in question is in fact young/short and that the speaker wants to know to what degree this is the case.
a. | Hoe oud/??jong | is het poesje? | (Het is pas) | twee dagen | (oud). | |
how old/young | is the kitten | it is only | two days | old |
b. | Hoe lang/??kort | is de weg? | (Hij is maar) | twintig meter | (lang). | |
how long/short | is the road | he is only | twenty meter | long |
The semantics of the examples above is rather transparent: the nominal measure phrase indicates the precise position of the subject of the adjective on the implied scale. For instance, example (236a) indicates that d = ||2 days||. However, we cannot represent this example as in (239a) as this would wrongly imply that the kitten is old. A more appropriate representation would therefore be the one in (239b), in which the use of boldface indicates that we are dealing with the neuter form of a measure adjective.
a. | ∃d [ OUD (het poesje,d) & d = ||2 days||] |
b. | ∃d [ AGE (het poesje,d) & d = ||2 days||] |
The nominal measure phrase and the adjective form a constituent, which is clear from the fact that they can be placed in clause-initial position together; cf. the constituency test. This is demonstrated by means of the primeless examples in (240), which correspond to the examples in (236). The singly-primed examples show that topicalization of the nominal modifier in isolation gives rise to a slightly marked result, and requires an intonation contour with heavy accent on the numeral. Stranding the nominal measure phrase, as in the doubly-primed examples, is excluded.
a. | [Twee dagen oud] | is het poesje | pas. | |
two days old | is the kitten | only |
a'. | ?? | TWEE dagen is het poesje pas oud. |
a''. | * | Oud is het poesje pas twee dagen. |
b. | [Twintig meter lang] | is de weg | maar. | |
twenty meter long | is the road | only |
b'. | ?? | TWINtig meter is de weg maar lang. |
b''. | * | Lang is de weg maar twintig meter. |
Occasionally, the predicative adjective can be dropped if a nominal measure phrase is present. This is, for example, the case if we are dealing with age, as in (241a). If referring to human beings, examples such as (241b) can also be used to indicate a personʼs height.
a. | Jan is veertig jaar | (oud). | |
Jan is forty year | old |
b. | Jan is twee meter | (lang). | |
Jan is two meter | high |
Similarly, if a certain object is partly defined by means of having a certain proportion (length, width, etc.), or if the intended proportion can be recovered from the context, the adjective is occasionally left out as well. Some examples are given in (242).
a. | Deze toren | is honderd meter | (hoog). | |
this tower | is hundred meter | high |
b. | Deze weg | is drie kilometer | (lang). | |
this road | is three kilometer | long |
c. | De brief | is drie kantjes | (lang). | |
the letter | is three pages | long |
d. | Deze draad | is twee millimeter | (dik). | |
this thread | is two millimeter | thick |
As is shown in the primeless examples of (243), the temporal measure adjective lang differs from the other measure adjectives in that it cannot readily be used in copular constructions. The intended assertions can be expressed instead by means of the verb duren'to go on' in the primed examples. Note that the adjective is preferably dropped if a nominal measure phrase is present, which may be due to the fact that the meaning expressed by the neutral form of the adjective lang is already implied by the measure verb duren.
a. | ?? | De operatie | is lang. |
the operation | is long |
a'. | De operatie | duurt | lang. | |
the operation | lasts | long |
b. | * | De operatie | is twee uur. |
the operation | is two hours |
b'. | De operatie | duurt | twee uur. | |
the operation | lasts | two hours |
c. | ?? | De operatie | is twee uur | lang. |
the operation | is two hours | long |
c'. | ? | De operatie | duurt | twee uur | lang. |
the operation | lasts | two hours | long |
The copular verb zijn'to be' is possible, however, in the examples in (244), which involve coordination of a temporal measure adjective and an adjective of some other type. The measure verb duren, on the other hand, is excluded in these cases.
a. | De vergadering | was/*duurde | kort | maar krachtig. | |
the meeting | was/lasted | short | but powerful |
b. | De vergadering | was/*duurde | lang en vervelend. | |
the meeting | was/lasted | long and boring |
The primeless examples of (245) show that the measure adjective of weight zwaar'heavy' can be used in copular constructions, but not if a nominal measure phrase is present. If we replace the copula by the measure verb wegen'to weigh', as in the primed examples, the nominal measure phrase becomes fully acceptable. Expressing both the measure adjective and the nominal measure phrase yields a rather marked result, which may again be due to the fact that the meaning expressed by the neutral form of the adjective zwaar is already implied by the measure verb wegen.
a. | Mijn kat | is (erg) zwaar. | |
my cat | is very heavy |
a'. | % | Mijn kat | weegt | (erg) zwaar. |
my cat | weighs | very heavy |
b. | ?? | Mijn kat | is vier kilo. |
my cat | is four kilos |
b'. | Mijn kat | weegt | vier kilo. | |
my cat | weighs | four kilos |
c. | ? | Mijn kat | is vier kilo | zwaar. |
my cat | is four kilos | heavy |
c'. | * | Mijn kat | weegt | vier kilo | zwaar. |
my cat | weighs | four kilos | heavy |
The examples in (246) show that measure verbs obligatorily take an adjectival complement if no nominal measure phrase is present, which shows that the meanings expressed by the non-neutral forms of the measure adjectives surpass those already implied by the measure verbs. For completeness’ sake, note that the measure adjectives can at least marginally be left out if the verb is heavily stressed or used in constructions such as De vergadering duurde en duurde en duurde'The meeting went on and on and on'.
a. | De vergadering | duurt | *(lang/kort). | |
the meeting | lasts | long/brief |
b. | Mijn kat | weegt | *(zwaar/licht). | |
my cat | weighs | heavy/light |
For completeness’ sake, we want to note that examples such as (245a') are often rejected in the normative literature, although the metaphorical use of zwaar wegen in example such as (247) is accepted by all speakers; for details, we refer the reader to onzetaal.nl/taaladvies/advies/zwaar-wegen-veel-wegen. We will briefly return to this issue in V2.4.
a. | Dit argument | woog | zwaar | bij onze beslissing. | |
the argument | weighed | heavy | with our decision | ||
'this argument played an important role in our decision.' |
b. | Dat schuldgevoel | weegt | zwaar. | |
that sense.of.guilt | weighs | heavy | ||
'That sense of guilt is a burden.' |
The examples in (248) show that nominal measure phrases can also be used to modify complex APs headed by te'too'. In cases like these, the measure adjectives are always overtly expressed.
a. | De kast | is drie centimeter | te breed. | |
the closet | is three centimeters | too wide |
b. | De vergadering | duurde | twee uur | te *(lang). | |
the meeting | lasted | two hours | too long | ||
'The meeting went on for two hours.' |
The fact that the measure adjective cannot be omitted may be related to the fact that we are not dealing with the neutral form of the adjectives. The examples in (249) show, at least, that non-neutral forms can enter the construction as well; cf. the contrast with the examples without te ’too’ in (235).
a. | drie centimeter | te | breed/diep/dik/lang/hoog | |
three centimeter | too | wide/deep/thick/long/high |
a'. | drie centimeter | te | smal/ondiep/dun/kort/laag | |
three centimeter | too | narrow/shallow/thin/short/low |
b. | tien jaar | te | oud/jong | |
ten year | too | old/young |
c. | twee uur | te | lang/kort | |
two hour | too | long/short |
Note that it is not only the intensifier te'too' that may license the presence of a nominal measure but that the same thing holds for the comparative form of the measure adjectives in (250); see Section 4.3.2, sub I, for more discussion. For convenience, we will include such comparative examples in the discussion below.
a. | drie centimeter | breder/dieper/dikker/langer/hoger | |
three centimeter | wider/deeper/thicker/longer/higher |
a'. | drie centimeter | smaller/ondieper/dunner/korter/lager | |
three centimeter | more.narrow/more.shallow/thinner/shorter/lower |
b. | tien jaar | ouder/jonger | |
ten year | older/younger |
c. | twee uur | langer/korter | |
two hour | longer/shorter |
The fact that nominal measure phrases may modify the non-neuter forms of the measure adjectives if the latter are modified by te or have the comparative form may also account for the fact that adjectives like zwaar'heavy' and warm'warm', which cannot readily be preceded by nominal measure phrases in their unmodified positive form (cf. (245)), can co-occur with them in (251).
a. | Jan weegt | 50 kilo | *(te) | zwaar/licht. | |
Jan weighs | 50 kilo | too | heavy/light |
a'. | Jan weegt | 5 kilo | zwaarder/lichter. | |
Jan weighs | 5 kilo | heavier/lighter |
b. | Het water | is 10 graden | *(te) | warm/koud. | |
the water | is 10 degrees | too | warm/cold |
b'. | Het water | is 10 graden | warmer/kouder. | |
the water | is 10 degrees | warmer/colder |
From a semantic point of view the examples discussed so far are not completely on a par with those in (235). Section 1.3.2.2, sub I, has argued that the truth-value of constructions containing a gradable adjective is generally determined in relation to a possibly contextually determined comparison class/set. In the case of an adjective in the positive degree or an adjective preceded by te'too', the comparison class/set can be made explicit by means of a voor-PP, and in the case of a comparative by means of a dan/als-phrase. This is illustrated in (252).
a. | Jan is lang | voor | een jongen | van zijn leeftijd. | |
Jan is long | for | a boy | of his age |
b. | Jan is te lang | voor | een jongen | van zijn leeftijd. | |
Jan is too long | for | a boy | of his age |
c. | Jan is langer dan Peter | |
Jan is longer than Peter |
Things change, however, if the adjective is modified by a nominal measure phrase. The examples in (253) show that this blocks the addition of a voor-phrase to the adjective in the positive degree, whereas nothing changes if the adjective is preceded by te or in the comparative form. This suggests that, in a sense, the addition of a nominal measure phrase to adjectives in the positive degree makes the AP “absolute" in nature, whereas the gradable nature of adjectives preceded by te and comparatives remains unaffected.
a. | Jan is 1.90 m lang | (*voor | een jongen | van zijn leeftijd). | |
Jan is 1.90 m long | for | a boy | of his age |
b. | Jan is 20 cm te lang | voor | een jongen | van zijn leeftijd. | |
Jan is 20 cm too long | for | a boy | of his age |
c. | Jan is 10 cm langer dan Peter | |
Jan is 10 cm longer than Peter |
The primeless examples in (254) show that, as in the case of the measure adjectives in the positive form in (240), preposing of APs like those in (249) and (250) may pied-pipe the nominal measure phrases, which demonstrates that they form a constituent. The singly-primed examples show that preposing the nominal phrase in isolation is marked, but not entirely excluded. Stranding the nominal measure phrase is normally impossible; the doubly-primed examples may perhaps be marginally acceptable if the nominal measure phrase is presented as an afterthought, in which case it must be preceded by an intonation break, but this is irrelevant here.
a. | [Drie jaar te oud/jong] is Jan. | |
'Jan is three years too old/young.' |
b. | [Drie jaar ouder/jonger] is Jan. | |
'Jan is three years older/younger.' |
a'. | ?? | Drie jaar is Jan te oud/jong. |
b'. | ?? | Drie jaar is Jan ouder/jonger. |
a''. | * | Te oud is Jan drie jaar. |
b''. | * | Ouder is Jan drie jaar. |
Examples (240) and (254) have shown that APs modified by a nominal measure phrase normally cannot be split. This is possible, however, if the nominal measure phrase is questioned. We illustrate this in (255) for some of the primeless examples in (249) and (250).
a. | Hoeveel centimeter | is dat zwembad | te | breed/diep/lang? | |
how.many centimeters | is that pool | too | wide/deep/long |
a'. | Hoeveel centimeter | is dit zwembad | breder/dieper/langer dan dat andere? | |
how.many centimeters | is that pool | wider/deeper/longer than that other.one |
b. | Hoeveel centimeter | is dat zwembad | te | smal/ondiep/kort? | |
how.many centimeters | is that pool | too | narrow/shallow/short |
b'. | Hoeveel centimeter | is dit zwembad | smaller/ondieper/korter | dan | dat andere? | |
how.many centimeters | is this pool | narrower/shallowest/shorter | than | that other.one |
c. | Hoeveel jaar | is Jan te oud/jong? | |
how.many years | is Jan too old/young |
c'. | Hoeveel jaar | is Jan ouder/jonger | dan Peter? | |
how.many years | is Jan older/younger | than Peter |
Extraction of the nominal measure phrase is sometimes also allowed if it is assigned heavy accent or preceded by a focus particle like slechts'only'.
a. | Slechts drie jaar | is Jan te oud/jong. | |
only three years | is Jan too young/old |
b. | Slechts drie jaar | is Jan ouder/jonger. | |
only three years | is Jan older/younger |
Given the acceptability of the examples above, we expect similar extractions to be possible in the case of neutral measure adjectives in the positive degree. This expectation, however, is not borne out; the primeless examples in (257) sound relatively odd (although examples such as (257a) are given as fully acceptable by Corver, 1990, for which reason we mark it with a percentage sign). Plausibly, this should not be attributed to some syntactic restriction but to the fact that the same questions can be expressed more economically by combining the positive measure adjectives with the interrogative intensifier hoe'how'; cf. example (238).
a. | % | Hoeveel meter | is dat zwembad | breed/diep/lang? |
how.many meters | is that pool | wide/deep/long |
a'. | Hoe breed/diep/lang | is dat zwembad? | |
how wide/deep/long | is that pool |
b. | *? | Hoeveel jaar | is Peter oud? |
how.many years |