Taalportaal - the digital language portal

Dutch
Frisian
Saterfrisian
Afrikaans

Show all

8.2.1.VP adverbials

quickinfo

This section discusses various types of VP adverbials. A first group, which will be referred to as process adverbials, consists of adverbials that modify the eventuality itself by indicating, e.g., a manner, an instrument or a means. A second group, which we will refer to as agentive, consists of agentive door-PPs, which we find in passive constructions, and comitative met-PPs, which introduce a co-agent. A third group consists of spatio-temporal adverbials, which locate the eventuality in space and time. A fourth group consists of contingency adverbials referring to causes, reasons, purposes, etc. We conclude with a brief discussion of predicate-degree adverbials. The adverbials in (20) restrict the denotation of the verbal predicate and are characterized by the fact that they can be questioned by means of a wh-phrase.

Process: manner; instrument; means; volition; domain

Agentive: passive door-PP; comitative met-PP

Spatio-temporal: place; time

Contingency: cause, reason, purpose, result, concession

Predicate-degree: erg'very'; een beetje'a bit'

I. Process Adverbials
II. Agentive adverbials
III. Spatio-temporal adverbials
- A. Temporal adverbials
- B. Spatial adverbial phrases
IV. Contingency adverbials
V. Predicate-degree adverbials

[+] I. Process Adverbials

Process adverbials restrict the denotation of the verbal predicate by adding specific information about the eventuality and are characterized by the fact that they can be questioned by means of a wh-phrase. We will briefly discuss the five semantic subclasses in (21).

Manner: grondig'thoroughly'; hoe'how'.

Instrument: met een schep'with a shovel'; waarmee'with what'

Means: met de bus'by bus'; hoe'how'

Domain: juridisch'legally'; hoe'how'

Volition: vrijwillig'voluntarily'; graag'gladly', ?hoe'how'

Manner adverbs such as grondig'thoroughly' in (22a) are prototypical cases of process adverbials; they restrict the denotation of the verb phrase by specifying the manner in which the eventuality was performed: the primed examples show that manner adverbs satisfy the two VP-adverbial tests introduced in Section 8.1, sub III. Instrumental adverbials such as met een schep'with a shovel' in (22b) restrict the denotation of the verb phrase by specifying the instrument used in performing the action; the primed examples show that instrumental adverbials satisfy the two VP-adverbial tests. Instrumentals normally have the form of a met-PP although there are also incidental adjectival forms like handmatig'by hand' and machinaal'mechanically'.

a.	Jan	heeft	het artikel	grondig	gelezen.	manner
	Jan	has	the article	thoroughly	read
	'Jan has read the article thoroughly.'

a'.

Jan heeft het artikel gelezen en hij deed dat grondig.

a''.

Jan

heeft het artikel grondig gelezen. → Jan heeft het artikel gelezen.

b.	Jan heeft	het gat	met een schep	gegraven.	instrument
	Jan has	the hole	with a shovel	dug
	'Jan has dug the hole with a shovel.'

b'.

Jan heeft het gat gegraven en hij deed dat met een schep.

b''.

Jan heeft het gat met een schep gegraven. → Jan heeft het gat gegraven.

Another set of process adverbials indicates the means used in performing the action, as in (23a), substantial subsets of these adverbials indicate means of transportation or communication; some typical examples are given in (23b&c). The primed examples again show that these adverbials satisfy the two VP-adverbial tests.

a.	Jan heeft	het gat	met zand	gevuld.	means
	Jan has	the hole	with sand	filled
	'Jan has filled the hole with sand.'

a'.

Jan heeft het gat gevuld en hij deed dat met zand.

a''.

Jan heeft het gat met zand gevuld. → Jan heeft het gat gevuld.

b.	Jan is met de bus/te voet	naar Leiden	gegaan.	means of transportation
	Jan is with the bus/on foot	to Leiden	gone
	'Jan has gone to Leiden by bus/on foot.'

b'.

Jan is

naar Leiden gegaan en hij deed dat met de bus/te voet.

b''.

Jan is met de bus/te voet naar Leiden gegaan → Jan is naar Leiden gegaan.

c.	Jan heeft	Marie	per brief/telefonisch	ingelicht.	means of communication
	Jan has	Marie	by letter/by.phone	informed
	'Jan has informed Marie by letter/phone.'

c'.

Jan heeft Marie ingelicht en hij deed dat per brief/telefonisch.

c''.

Jan heeft Marie per brief/telefonisch ingelicht. → Jan heeft Marie ingelicht.

Adverbials like juridisch'legally', lichamelijk'physically', medisch'medically', psychologisch'psychologically', and wetenschappelijk'scientifically' are known as domain adverbials because they restrict the process to a specific (e.g. legal, medical, or scientific) domain.

a.	Jan vecht	zijn ontslag	juridisch	aan.
	Jan fights	his dismissal	legally	prt
	'Jan contests his dismissal on legal grounds.'

a'.

Jan vecht zijn ontslag aan en hij doet dat juridisch.

a''.

Jan vecht zijn ontslag juridisch aan. → Jan vecht zijn ontslag aan.

b.	Marie onderzocht	de kat	medisch.
	Marie examined	the cat	medically
	'Marie medically examined the cat.'

b'.

Marie onderzocht de kat en zij deed dat medisch.

b''.

Marie onderzocht de kat medisch. → Marie onderzocht de kat.

Volitional adverbials like gedwongen'forced', met opzet'on purpose', met tegenzin'reluctantly', met plezier'with pleasure', noodgedwongen'by necessity', opzettelijk'deliberately', per ongeluk'by accident', and vrijwillig'voluntarily' specify the relation between the eventuality denoted by the verb (phrase) and the person performing/undergoing it. These adverbials are often considered subject-oriented, which is well-founded in the case of vrijwillig'voluntarily', as passivization of example (25a) shifts the orientation of this adverb from agent to theme.

a.	De dokter	onderzocht	Marie vrijwillig.	agent
	the doctor	examined	Marie voluntarily
	'The doctor examined Marie of his own volition.'

b.	Marie werd	vrijwillig	onderzocht.	theme
	Marie was	voluntarily	examined
	'Marie was examined of her own free will.'

However, adverbials such as opzettelijk'deliberately' and per ongeluk'by accident' are oriented towards the (implied) agent only, as is clear from the fact that passivization of example (26a) does not affect the orientation of these adverbials.

a.		Jan beledigde	Marie opzettelijk.	agent
		Jan insulted	Marie deliberately

b.		Marie werd	opzettelijk beledigd.	implied agent
		Marie was	deliberately insulted

The examples in (27) show for the adverbials vrijwillig in (25a) and opzettelijk in (26a) that volitional adverbials satisfy the two VP-adverbial tests.

a.		De dokter	onderzocht	Marie	en	hij	deed	dat	vrijwillig.
		the doctor	examined	Marie	and	he	did	that	voluntarily

a'.

De dokter onderzocht Marie vrijwillig. → De dokter onderzocht Marie.

b.		Jan beledigde	Marie	en	hij	deed	dat	opzettelijk.
		Jan insulted	Marie	and	he	did	that	deliberately

b'.

Jan beledigde Marie opzettelijk. → Jan beledigde Marie.

That process adverbials are VP adverbials is also supported by the fact that, under a neutral (that is, non-contrastive) intonation, they follow modal adverbials such as waarschijnlijk'probably'; this is illustrated in (28). We will see in Section 8.2.2, sub XI, however, that domain adverbials such as juridisch in (28d) may also be used as clause adverbials.

a.	Jan heeft	het gat	waarschijnlijk	met zand	gevuld.
	Jan has	the hole	probably	with sand	filled
	'Jan has probably filled the hole with sand.'

b.	Jan is waarschijnlijk	met de bus/te voet	naar Leiden	gegaan.
	Jan is probably	with the bus/on foot	to Leiden	gone
	'Jan has probably gone to Leiden by bus/on foot.'

c.	Jan heeft	Marie waarschijnlijk	per brief/telefonisch	ingelicht.
	Jan has	Marie probably	by letter/by.phone	informed
	'Jan has probably informed Marie by letter/phone.'

d.	Hij	vecht	zijn ontslag	waarschijnlijk	juridisch	aan.
	he	fights	his dismissal	probably	legally	prt
	'He probably contests his dismissal on legal grounds.'

e.	Jan beledigde	Marie waarschijnlijk	opzettelijk.
	Jan insulted	Marie probably	deliberately
	'Jan probably insulted Marie deliberately.'

[+] II. Agentive adverbials

There are two types of agentive adverbials. The agentive door-PP in (29a) refers to the agent of the eventuality in passive constructions, while the comitative met-PP in (29b) introduces a co-agent. The primed examples show that these adverbials satisfy the first VP-adverbial test, provided we also passivize the conjoined pronoun doet dat clause in (29a').

a.	Het pakket	werd	door Jan	bezorgd.	agentive
	the parcel	was	by Jan	delivered
	'The parcel was delivered by Jan.'

a'.	Het pakket	werd	bezorgd	en	dat	werd	door Jan	gedaan.
	the parcel	was	delivered	and	that	was	by Jan	done
	'The parcel was delivered and that was done by Jan.'

a''.

Het pakket werd door Jan bezorgd. → Het pakket werd bezorgd.

b.	Jan heeft	met Els	het museum	bezocht.	comitative
	Jan has	with Els	the museum	visited
	'Jan has visited the museum with Els.'

b'.

Jan heeft het museum bezocht en hij deed dat met Els.

b''.

Jan heeft met Els het museum bezocht. → Jan heeft het museum bezocht.

That agentive adverbials are VP adverbials is also supported by the fact illustrated in (30) that, under a neutral intonation, they follow modal adverbials such as waarschijnlijk'probably'. Observe that comitative PPs can easily precede the modal adverbs but only if the nominal complement of met can be accented, which suggests that this order is the result of focus movement; cf. Section 13.3.2.

a.	Het pakket	wordt	waarschijnlijk	door Jan	bezorgd.
	the parcel	is	probably	by Jan	delivered
	'The parcel will probably be delivered by Jan.'

b.	Jan heeft	<met Els/*ʼr>	waarschijnlijk	het museum <met Els/ʼr>	bezocht.
	Jan has	with Els/her	probably	the museum	visited
	'Jan has probably visited the museum with Els/her.'

[+] III. Spatio-temporal adverbials

Spatio-temporal VP adverbials restrict the denotation of the predicate by anchoring the eventuality at a certain location or time.

a.	Marie	heeft	waarschijnlijk	in de tuin	gewerkt.
	Marie	has	probably	in the garden	worked
	'Marie has probably been working in the garden.'

b.	Marie heeft	waarschijnlijk	om drie uur	koffie	gedronken.
	Marie has	probably	at 3 oʼclock	coffee	drunk
	'Marie probably drank coffee at 3 oʼclock.'

That the adverbials in de tuin and om drie uur in (31) function as VP adverbials is not only suggested by the fact that they follow the modal adverb waarschijnlijk'probably' but also by the fact that they satisfy the VP-adverbial tests from Section 8.1, sub III: this is illustrated in (32), which shows that the primeless examples allowing the pronoun doet dat + adverb paraphrase also pass the entailment test.

a.	Marie	heeft	in de tuin	gewerkt.
	Marie	has	in the garden	worked
	'Marie has been working in the garden.'

a'.

Marie heeft gewerkt en ze deed dat in de tuin.

a''.

Marie heeft in de tuin gewerkt. → Marie heeft gewerkt.

b.	Marie heeft	om drie uur	koffie	gedronken.
	Marie has	at 3 oʼclock	coffee	drunk
	'Marie drank coffee at 3 oʼclock.'

b'.

Marie heeft koffie gedronken en ze deed dat om drie uur.

b''.

Marie heeft om drie uur koffie gedronken. → Marie heeft koffie gedronken.

The various subtypes of spatio-temporal VP adverbials will be discussed in Subsections A and B. Note that we diverge from more traditional grammars by assuming that spatial phrases are not only used as adverbials but also as complementives. Semantically, adverbial and complementive phrases differ in that an adverbial phrase provides more information about the eventuality as a whole while a complementive phrase provides more information about the subject or the direct object of the clause (which originates as its logical subject). The difference is illustrated in (33): while (33a) expresses that the eventuality of Jan playing takes place in the garden, (33b) merely expresses that Jan’s location is in the garden.

a.	Jan speelt	in de tuin.	adverbial
	Jan plays	in the garden
	'Jan is playing in the garden.'

b.		Jan is in de tuin.	complementive
		Jan is in the garden

For a more detailed discussion, we refer the reader to Sections P1.1.2.2 and P4.2.1.1, where it is extensively argued that complementive PPs function as predicates denoting a (change of) location or a direction. Some representative examples discussed in these sections are given in (34).

a.		Jan ligt	in het zwembad.	location
		Jan lies	in the swimming.pool

b.		Jan valt	in het zwembad.	change of location
		Jan falls	into the swimming.pool

c.		Jan valt/*ligt	het zwembad	in.	directional
		Jan falls	the swimming.pool	into

Finally, it should be noted that spatio-temporal adverbials can also be used as clause adverbials; we will ignore this use here and provide the relevant data in Section 8.2.2, sub IX; the semantic difference between the two cases will be investigated in more detail in Section 8.2.3.

[+] A. Temporal adverbials

Temporal VP adverbials can be punctual or durational: the adverbial om drie uur'at 3 oʼclock' in (35a) locates the eventuality of Jan walking in the park at a specific point on the time axis while the adverbial de hele dag'the whole day' in (35b) indicates the duration of the eventuality: it refers to an interval on the time axis during which the eventuality of Jan walking in the park took place. The primed examples show that both instances satisfy the VP-adverbial tests.

a.	Jan wandelde	om drie uur	in het park.	punctual
	Jan walked	at 3 oʼclock	in the park
	'Jan walked in the park at three oʼclock.'

a'.

Jan wandelde in het park en hij deed dat om drie uur.

a''.

Jan wandelde om drie uur in het park. → Jan wandelde in het park.

b.	Jan wandelde	de hele dag	in het park.	durational
	Jan walked	the whole day	in the park
	'Jan walked in the park all day.'

b'.

Jan wandelde in het park en hij deed dat de hele dag.

b''.

Jan wandelde de hele dag in het park. → Jan wandelde in het park.

In addition, temporal adverbials can be relational or non-relational: cf. Haeseryn et al. (1997). Relational temporal adverbials locate the eventuality expressed by the clause with respect to some other eventuality on the time axis while non-relational temporal adverbials locate the eventuality on the time axis without taking other eventualities into consideration (although the speech time may still function as an anchoring point). Examples of non-relational temporal adverbials are volgende week'next week' and verleden jaar'last year' in (36). Such adverbials can typically be replaced by the temporal proforms nu'now', toen'then (past)' and dan'then (future)'. The adverbials onlangs'recently' and straks'later' or spoedig'soon' are special in indicating proximity to the speech time.

a.	We	gaan	volgende week/dan	naar Maastricht.
	we	go	next week/then	to Maastricht
	'We will go to Maastricht next week/then.'

b.	Jan is verleden jaar/toen	gepromoveerd.
	Jan is last year/then	taken.his.PhD
	'Jan was awarded his PhD last year/then.'

Relational temporal adverbials are typically PPs or clauses. Prototypical punctual examples are given in (35a) and in the (a)-examples in (37); in the latter examples, the adverbials locate Jan’s going home in a position after, respectively, the meeting and the moment that Jan had spoken to Els. That the PP and the clause are relational is also clear from the fact that they can be pronominalized by means of the pronominal PP daarna'after that' in (37b). It should be noted, however, that they can have a non-relational reading as well, as is clear from the fact that they can also be replaced by the non-relational proform toen'then' in (37b').

a.	Jan ging	na de vergadering	naar huis.	relational/non-relational
	Jan went	after the meeting	to home
	'Jan went home after the meeting.'

a'.	Jan ging	naar huis	nadat	hij	Els gesproken	had.	relational/non-relational
	Jan went	to home	after	he	Els spoken	had
	'Jan want home after he had spoken to Els.'

b.		Jan ging	daarna	naar huis.	relational
		Jan went	after.that	to home

b'.		Jan ging	toen	naar huis.	non-relational
		Jan went	then	to home

In the (a)-examples in (38), we provide instances of a prepositional and a clausal adverbial expressing a durational relation. Although the PP and the clause must receive a relational interpretation, they cannot be replaced by a pronominal PP because PPs headed by sinds ‘since’ do not allow pronominalization at all; instead sindsdien'since then' in (38b) is used, which is a fossilized form consisting of the preposition sinds and a case-marked demonstrative meaning “since that moment”.

a.	Jan heeft	sinds haar vertrek	erg hard	gewerkt.
	Jan has	since her departure	very hard	worked
	'Jan has worked very hard since her departure.'

a'.	Jan heeft	erg hard	gewerkt	sinds	zij	vertrokken	is.
	Jan has	very hard	worked	since	she	left	is
	'Jan has worked very hard since she left.'

b.	Jan heeft	sindsdien	erg hard	gewerkt.
	Jan has	since.then	very hard	worked
	'Jan has worked very hard since then.'

Temporal PPs such as om drie uur'at 3 oʼclock', op zondag'on Sunday', in (het jaar) 1990'in (the year) 1990', op eerste kerstdag'on Christmas Day', in/tijdens de vakantie'in/during the vacation', tijdens de oorlog'during the war', which are more or less conventionalized means of referring to specific (often recurring) points/intervals on the time axis, are strictly non-relational: they can only be replaced by a temporal pro-form. Some examples are given in (39).

a.	We gaan	in de vakantie	naar Maastricht.
	we go	in the vacation	to Maastricht
	'We are going to Maastricht in the vacation period.'

a'.		We gaan	dan/*daarin	naar Maastricht.
		we go	then/there.in	to Maastricht

b.		Jan is in 2013 gepromoveerd.
		Jan is in 2013 taken.his.PhD
		'Jan took his PhD in 2013.'

b'.		Jan is toen/*daarin	gepromoveerd.
		Jan is then/there.in	taken.his.PhD

Temporal adverbials may also refer to a repeated action: example (40a) may express the single eventuality of Jan ringing the doorbell three times (e.g. as a means of identifying himself). That we are dealing with VP adverbials is again clear from the (b)-examples, which show that the two VP-adverbial tests can be satisfied.

a.	Jan belde	drie keer (achter elkaar)	aan.
	Jan rang	three times after each.other	prt.
	'Jan rang the doorbell three times (in succession).'

Jan belde aan en hij deed dat drie keer (achter elkaar).

b'.

Jan belde

drie keer (achter elkaar) aan. → Jan belde aan.

[+] B. Spatial adverbial phrases

Spatial adverbial PPs such as in het park'in the park' in (41a) are normally locational; directional PPs as well as PPs denoting change of location function as complementives and will therefore not be discussed here. The (b)-examples show once more that clauses with locational adverbial PPs satisfy the two VP-adverbial tests.

a.	Jan heeft	in het park	gespeeld.
	Jan has	in the park	played
	'Jan has played in the park.'

Jan heeft gespeeld en hij deed dat in het park.

b'.

Jan heeft in het park gespeeld. → Jan heeft gespeeld.

It seems that locational adverbial PPs can refer to a specific location or to a distance: in (41a) the PP in het park simply refers to the specific location where the eventuality of Jan playing takes place, while in (42a) the adverbial phrase refers to the distance Jan has covered by running. It might be tempting to analyze the noun phrase de hele weg naar huis/4 kilometer as a direct object, as would certainly be appropriate for an example such a Jan rende de 100 meter in 12 seconden'Jan ran the 100 meters in 12 seconds', but the fact that the noun phrase can occur in a conjoined pronoun doet dat clause in (42b) is sufficient to show that this is not correct because direct objects are not able to do that.

a.	Jan heeft	de hele weg naar huis/4 kilometer	gerend.
	Jan has	the whole way to home/4 kilometer	run
	'Jan has run the whole way home/for 4 kilometers.'

Jan heeft

gerend en hij deed dat de hele weg naar huis/4 kilometer.

b'.

Jan heeft de hele weg naar huis/4 kilometer gerend. → Jan heeft gerend.

For completeness’ sake, it should be noted that the distance reading of spatial PPs comes quite close sometimes to the duration reading of temporal PPs: the adverbial de hele weg naar huis in (43) can easily be construed as referring to the time span needed to cover the track.

Jan heeft	de hele weg naar huis	gekletst.
Jan has	the whole way to home	talked
'Jan has chatted the whole way home.'

Haeseryn et al. (1997:1190ff.) observe that punctual locational PPs can be relational or non-relational. Relational locational PPs denote a specific location relative to some other location and are pronominalized by means of a pronominal PP. Non-relational locational PPs, on the other hand, refer directly to a specific place and are pronominalized by a bare R-word. Examples with relational location PPs are given in (44a). It should be noted, however, that as in the case of temporal PPs, these PPs also allow a non-relational interpretation; they can be replaced either by a pronominal PP, as in (44b), or by a bare R-word, as in (44b').

a.	Jan verstopt	zich	achter/onder de bank.	relational/non-relational
	Jan hides	refl	behind/under the couch
	'Jan is hiding behind/under the couch.'

b.		Jan verstopt	zich	daarachter/daaronder.	relational