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2.3.1.Finite clauses

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This section discusses finite clausal complements of nouns. Complement clauses are mostly selected by nouns that denote abstract content, and their function is to specify this content. This means that complement clauses are normally only found in combination with speech-act and proposition nouns: since these nouns are typically deverbal, complement clauses can normally be regarded as the inherited complement of the input verb, which immediately implies that the deverbal noun inherits the selectional properties of the base verb. We will discuss the speech-act nouns and the proposition nouns in separate subsections. After that we will show that there is a small set of non-derived nouns that may take a finite clause as their complement. Although it is disputable whether adjectives take clausal complements, we will conclude this section with a discussion of a number of deadjectival nouns.

I. Deverbal speech-act nouns
II. Deverbal proposition nouns
III. Non-derived nouns
IV. Deadjectival nouns

[+] I. Deverbal speech-act nouns

Speech-act nouns take the same kind of complement as their corresponding verb. Finite declarative clauses are always introduced by the complementizer dat'that', just like declarative complement clauses of verbs.

619

a.		Hij	deelde	mee	[dat	zij	zou	komen].	declarative clause
		he	announced	prt.	that	she	shall	come

b.		de mededeling	[dat	zij	zou	komen]	declarative clause
		the announcement	that	she	shall	come

The behavior of the interrogative complement clauses of the speech-act nouns is also completely on a par with the complements of the corresponding verbs: if the speech-act noun takes a yes/no question, the complementizer of'whether' is used, and if the speech-act noun takes a wh-question, a wh-word is used.

620

a.		Ik	vroeg	[of	zij	zou	komen].	yes/no-question
		I	asked	whether	she	would	come

a'.		de vraag	[of	zij	zou	komen]
		the question	whether	she	would	come

b.		Ik	vroeg	[waarom	zij	vertrok].	wh-question
		I	asked	why	she	left

b'.		de vraag	[waarom	zij	vertrok]
		the question	why	she	left

Speech-act nouns denoting a request also take a complement introduced by the complementizer of, although it should be noted that the result is better with indirect requests (with the verb vragen'to ask'), than with direct requests (with the verzoeken'to request').

621

a.	Ik	vroeg/?verzocht	hem	[of	het raam	dicht	kon].	request
	I	asked/requested	him	whether	the window	closed	could
	'I requested whether the window could be closed.'

b.		de	vraag/?het verzoek	[of	het raam	dicht	kon]
		the	question/request	whether	the window	closed	could

The examples above therefore show that all the properties of the complements of the corresponding verbs can be found in these examples. The examples in (622) show that this includes the fact found in colloquial speech that embedded wh-clauses may contain the complementizer of (dat) after the wh-phrase; see Section V11.3.1.1, sub IV for discussion.

622

a.	de vraag	[wie	(of (dat))	er	morgen	komt]
	the question	who	comp	there	tomorrow	comes
	'the question who will come tomorrow'

b.	de vraag	[wat	(of (dat))	ik	lekker	vind]
	the question	what	comp	I	nice	find
	'the question what I like'

c.	de vraag	[waar	(of (dat))	hij	woont]
	the question	where	comp	he	lives
	'the question where he lives'

If the complement clause is a wh-question and the content of the proposition is (partly) recoverable from the context it is often possible to reduce the clause to the constituent containing the wh-element (so-called sluicing). This again holds both for the input verb and the derived noun.

623

a.		Ik	vroeg	[waarom	zij	vertrok].
		I	asked	why	she	left

a'.		de vraag	[waarom	zij	vertrok]
		the question	why	she	left

b.		Jan vroeg	[welk boek	hij	moet	lezen].
		Jan asked	which book	he	must	read

b'.		de vraag	[welk boek	hij	moet	lezen]
		the question	which book	he	must	read

Speech-act verbs can sometimes appear with a main clause as a direct quote. Again, this property is inherited by the speech-acts nouns; the examples in (624) show that the felicitousness of the result largely depends on the property of the base verb.

624

a.	?	Hij	deelde	mee:	“Zij komt”.	declarative
		he	announced	prt.	“she will come”

a'.	??	de mededeling	“Zij komt”
		the announcement	“she will come”

b.		Ik	vroeg:	“Komt zij?”.	yes/no-question
		I	asked	“Will she come?”

b'.		de vraag	“Komt zij?”
		the question	“Will she come?”

c.		Ik	vroeg:	“Waarom vertrekt zij?”	wh-question
		I	asked	“Why does she leave?”

c'.		de vraag	“Waarom vertrekt zij?”
		the question	“Why does she leave?”

d.		Ik	vroeg/??verzocht:	“Kan het raam dicht?”.	request
		I	asked/request	“Can the window be closed?”

d'.		de	vraag/??het verzoek	“Kan het raam dicht?”
		the	question/the request	“Can the window be closed?”

The findings of the discussion so far are summarized in Table 14. All speech-act nouns may take a finite complement in subclause order; as with the corresponding verbs, declarative clauses are introduced by the complementizer dat'that', whereas all other clause types are introduced by of'whether'. The acceptability of a clausal complement in main clause order depends on whether the input verb can take a direct quote as its complement.

Table 14: Finite complement clauses of speech-act nouns

		subclause		main clause
		possible	example	possible	example
declarative		+	(619a)	??	(624a)
question	yes/no	+	(619b)	+	(624b)
	Wh-word	+	(619c)	+	(624c)
request/order		+/?	(624d)	+/??	(624d)

For some speakers, the clausal complement of speech-act nouns can be preceded by the preposition van'of' (cf. English the question of who ...). The (a)- and (b)-examples in (625), which are taken from the internet, illustrate this for respectively declarative and interrogative clauses. Especially examples such as (625b') with an interrogative clause introduced by a wh-word seem common.

625

a.	%	een mededeling	van	dat	ik	geen verbinding	met de server	kan maken
		an announcement	of	that	I	no connection	to the server	can make
		'an announcement that I cannot connect to the external computer'

de vraag

van

hij

werkelijk

denkt

dat

dit

hem

zal

helpen

the question

whether

really

thinks

that

this

him

will

help

b'.	%	de vraag	van	wie	er	gaat	betalen
		the question	of	who	there	goes	pay
		'the question who is going to pay'

The occurrence of van perhaps simply reflects the fact that postnominal themes are normally introduced by the functional preposition van. However, there may be more going on given that the clausal complement of nouns like bewering can also be preceded by als, which is again illustrated by means of an example taken from the internet. To our knowledge structures like (625) and (626) have not been investigated so far, and we therefore leave them to future research.

626

%	jouw bewering	als	dat	er	geen onderzoek	meer	mag	gebeuren
	your assertion	als	that	there	no research	anymore	allow	happen
	'your assertion that research should no longer be allowed'

[+] II. Deverbal proposition nouns

A proposition noun like verwachting'expectation' takes a declarative clause introduced by the complementizer dat'that', just like the verb verwachten'to expect'.

627

a.		Ik	verwacht	[dat	zij	zal	komen].
		I	expect	that	she	will	come

b.		de verwachting	[dat	zij	zal	komen]
		the expectation	that	she	will	come

Sometimes complement clauses follow nouns that are normally used as state-of-affairs nouns, such as ontdekking'discovery' in (628): (628a') illustrates its normal use as a state-of-affairs noun, in which it refers to the event of discovering something; (628b) illustrates its more special use as a proposition noun, in which the complement clause specifies the nature of the discovery. This means that the noun ontdekking is ambiguous, not only in meaning but also with regard to the type of entity denoted, just like the corresponding verb ontdekken'discover'; see Section 1.3.1.3, sub I, for a more extensive discussion of ing-nouns.

628

a.	Willem Janszoon ontdekte	Australië	al	in 1605.
	Willem Janszoon discovered	Australia	already	in 1605
	'Willem Janszoon already discovered Australia in 1605.'

a'.	De ontdekking van Australië	vond	al	in 1605	plaats.
	the discovery of Australia	took	already	in 1605	place
	'The discovery of Australia took place in 1605.'

b.	Men	ontdekte	in de 15e eeuw	dat de aarde rond is.
	one	discovered	in the 15th century	that the earth round is
	'It was discovered in the 15th century that the earth is round.'

b'.	De ontdekking	dat de aarde rond is	dateert	uit de 15e eeuw.
	the discovery	that the earth round is	dates	from the 15th century
	'The discovery that the earth is round dates from the 15th century.'

That it is, indeed, the type of derived noun that determines whether complementation by means of a clause is possible is shown by the fact illustrated in (629a&b) that concrete deverbal nouns like ontdekker'discoverer' cannot take a clausal complement; despite the fact that it is also derived from the verb ontdekking, the er-noun can only take the original theme argument in the form of a PP or a genitive noun phrase, as shown by (629a'&b'); cf. Section 2.2.3.1. Note that some speakers accept the variant of example (629b) with the preposition van introducing the clausal complement, but such constructions probably involve ellipsis of the noun phrase het feit'the fact'.

629

a.		de ontdekker van Amerika/Amerikaʼs ontdekker
		the discoverer of America/Americaʼs discoverer

b.	*	de ontdekker	dat de aarde rond is
		the discoverer	that the earth round is

b'.	de ontdekker	van	%(het feit)	dat	de aarde	rond	is
	the discoverer	of	the fact	comp	the earth	round	is
	'the discoverer of the fact that the earth is round'

[+] III. Non-derived nouns

There are only a few instances of complement clauses following head nouns that are not derived, that is, where the head noun is a relational noun (cf. Section 1.2.3) whose argument takes the form of a clause. Some examples are given in (630).

630

a.	Het idee	dat zij gauw zou komen,	vrolijkte	hem	op.
	the idea	that she soon would come	cheered	him	up
	'The idea that she would come soon cheered him up.'

b.	Het feit	dat de kandidaat een vrouw was,	speelde	geen rol.
	the fact	that the candidate a woman was	played	no role
	'The fact that the candidate was a woman didnʼt play a role.'

c.	Het probleem	dat het programma	steeds vastloopt,	is niet	te verhelpen.
	the problem	that the program	all the time jams	is not	to remedy
	'The problem that the program keeps jamming canʼt be helped.'

d.	Het gevaar/de kans	dat het plan mislukt,	blijft	bestaan.
	the danger/the chance	that the plan fails	remains	exist
	'The danger/chance that the plan fails will remain.'

e.	Het risico	dat hij betrapt zou worden,	wilde	hij	niet	lopen.
	the risk	that he caught would be	wanted	he	not	run
	'He didnʼt want to run the risk of being caught.'

For some speakers, use of van preceding the clause is (marginally) possible in spoken language: (631a) illustrates this by means of an example adapted from the internet.

631

a.	het idee	van	dat	hij	waarschijnlijk	eerder	sterft	dan ik
	the idea	of	that	he	probably	sooner	dies	than I
	'the idea that he will probably die before me'

b.	het risico	van	dat	het	niet meer steriel	zou	zijn
	the risk	of	that	it	no longer sterile	would	be
	'the risk that it would no longer be sterile'

Another special (but common) construction can be found in (632), which is very productive with nouns like gerucht'rumor' and stelling'thesis' (as well as with derived speech act nouns like bewering'assertion' and proposition nouns like verwachting'expectation'). By using this construction, the speaker expresses doubt as to the truth or the correctness of the claim contained in the complement clause. The construction is characterized by the remarkable fact that the dependent clause has main clause order: the finite verb occupies the second position of the clause. Further, the finite verb is preceded by the element als, and must be a past tense form (possibly an old subjunctive) of the modal verb zullen'will'.

632

a.	het gerucht	als	zou	er	leven	zijn	op Mars
	the rumor	as	would	there	life	be	on Mars
	'the rumor that there would be life on Mars'

b.	de stelling	als	zou	slaan	minder	erg	zijn	dan schelden
	the thesis	as	would	hitting	less	bad	be	than scolding
	'the thesis that hitting would be less bad than scolding'

[+] IV. Deadjectival nouns

Adjectives sometimes seem to take a clausal complement due to the fact that the anticipatory pronominal PP er + P can often be left unpronounced; illustration of this is given in the (a)-examples of (633) and (634). It seems that the corresponding deadjectival nouns do not inherit the complement of the input adjective: the primeless (b)-examples are definitely marked without, and completely unacceptable with, an anticipatory pronominal PP. The primed (b)-examples show, however, that such constructions are possible (although slightly marked) if the clause follows the preposition. It still remains to be seen whether we are dealing here with a preposition complemented by a clause, which would imply that inheritance is possible after all, or whether we are dealing with ellipsis of a proposition noun phrase like het feit'the fact'.

633

a.	Jan is (er)	boos	(over)	dat Peter niet uitgenodigd is.
	Jan is there	angry	about	that Peter not invited is
	'Jan is angry because Peter hasnʼt been invited.'

b.		Jans	boosheid	??(*erover)	dat Peter niet uitgenodigd is
		Janʼs	anger	there-about	that Peter not invited is

b'.		Jans	boosheid	over	?(het feit)	dat Peter niet uitgenodigd is
		Janʼs	anger	about	the fact	that Peter not invited is

634

a.	Jan is (er)	tevreden	(over)	dat Peter uitgenodigd is.
	Jan is there	satisfied	about	that Peter invited is
	'Jan is pleased because Peter has been invited.'

b.		Jans	tevredenheid	??(*erover)	dat Peter uitgenodigd is
		Janʼs	satisfaction	there-about	that Peter invited is

b'.		Jans	tevredenheid	over	?(het feit)	dat Peter uitgenodigd is
		Janʼs	satisfaction	about	the fact	that Peter invited is

The suggestion that the doubly-primed examples in (633) and (634) involve ellipsis seems to be supported by the fact, illustrated in (635b&b'), that interrogative clausal complements cannot be part of the prepositional phrase. Example (635b') can be saved to some extent, however, by adding the noun phrase de vraag, since in that case it is the content noun vraag which functions as the complement of the preposition naar, with the interrogative clause functioning as the complement of the noun vraag.

635

a.	Jan is (er)	nieuwsgierig	(naar)	of Peter uitgenodigd is.
	Jan is there	curious	to	whether Peter invited is
	'Jan is curious whether Peter has been invited.'

b.	*	Jans	nieuwsgierigheid	(ernaar)	of Peter uitgenodigd is
		Janʼs	curiosity	there-to	whether Peter invited is

b'.		Jans	nieuwsgierigheid	naar *(??de vraag)	of Peter uitgenodigd is
		Janʼs	curiosity	to the question	whether Peter invited is

The (high degree of) unacceptability of clausal complements with deadjectival nouns follows from the overall generalization that clauses referring to a proposition can only follow a certain group of nouns, namely those that denote abstract content: in the case of deadjectival nouns, the clause does not specify the contents of the head noun, but instead serves to indicate the cause or source of the property or emotion in question.

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About this article

Author(s): Hans Broekhuis, Evelien Keizer

Category: Dutch Syntax

Keywords: Anticipatory PronounClauseDeadjectival NominalizationDependent ClauseDeverbal NominalizationNominalizationNounPronounProposition NounR-pronominalizationSluicingSpeech-act NounState-of-affairs Noun

Version: 1.0, December 2015

Version history:

version	editor(s)	date	remarks
1.0	Hans Broekhuis, Evelien Keizer	December 2015

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