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5.4 The auxiliary of coming and its selection restrictions
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The auxiliary of coming kume ‘come’ can select an infinitive, a to-infinitive or a PP infinitive. When accompanied by a to-infinitive or a PP infinitive, it must be an infinitive without a middle field. This is discussed in more detail in the sections below.

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[+]1. The auxiliary of coming selecting a bare infinitive

The copula kume ‘to come’ combines with a restricted set of bare infinitives. The constrruction has the meaning that the subject is approaching. These infinitives usually consist of an argumentless adposition of approach such as the particle oun ‘to’ and a verb of (a manner of) motion such as lope ‘walk’. Some examples are given below:

1
Hie koom deer ounlopen.
he came there to.walk
There he came walking towards ... (us, them, depending on the context).
2
Dät keem him so munter jun klingen.
it came him so happy towards sound
The sound came so happily towards him.

The first example above doesn’t specify the locational topic whom the subject is approaching. The last example specifies the locational topic in an indirect object PP. In the first example a person is approaching, in the last example a sound. The construction itself carries the notion of approach, so verbs which do not denote motion may also be used, as in the following example:

3
Hie koom deer oanbabbeljen.
he came there to.babble
He arrived babbling.

The directionality and motion is carried by the directional adposition and by the auxiliary verb, whereas the main verb here doesn’t specify a manner of motion, but an activity carried out while the subject is approaching. In all cases, the infinitive takes the form of a gerundial infinitive.

[+]2. The auxiliary of coming selecting a to-infinitive

The verb of coming may also select a to-infinitive, as in tou ieten kume ‘come to eat’. For more information, see: 4.3.Subject oriented to-infinitives with clause union.

[+]3. The auxiliary of coming selecting a PP infinitive

Like the verb of going, the verb of coming can be used with a PP infinitive to express the beginning of an act or a process (Laker & Kramer 2022). Some examples are provided below:

4
Nu moast deer een goudet Fjuur under dän Pot so dät hie an’t Sjoden koom.
now must there a good fire below the pot so that he at.the boiling came
Now a good fire had to be made below the pot so that it would begin to boil.
5
Do komen wie uk an ’t Balen.
then came we also at the talking
Then we also began to talk.

The first example involves a process. The to-infinitive is found to the left of the selecting auxiliary verb in the verb cluster. The second example involves an activity. So, when combined with the PP infinitive, the locational verbs of coming and of going both acquire the more abstract meaning of beginning.

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