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    Complete infinitival clause
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    The adjective may be followed by a complete infinitival clause, that is, without an object gap. An example is given below:

    Example 1

    Hy wie dom genôch om tsjin dy frou yn te gean
    he was foolish enough for against that woman in to go
    He was foolish enough to speak up against that woman
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    The high degree limit of an adjective is that degree level of the adjective at which or above which the proposition described in the non-finite clause becomes true. In the example below, the argument of which the adjective is predicated is identical to the subject of the clause:

    Example 2

    Hy wie dom genôch en gean tsjin dy frou yn
    he was foolish enough and go against that woman in
    He was foolish enough to speak up against that woman

    In the example above, the non-finite clause has the form of an Imperative-pro-participio, featuring a clause-initial verb that has the morphological shape of an imperative. The same example can also be construed with a om-te for to infinitive with the verb at the end of the clause:

    Example 3

    Hy wie dom genôch om tsjin dy frou yn te gean
    he was foolish enough for against that woman in to go
    He was foolish enough to speak up against that woman

    The infinitival clause may form a constituent with the Adjective Phrase (AP) containing the functional modifier genôch enough and the attributive adjective:

    Example 4

    a. [Dom genôch en gean tsjin har yn] wie ik lykwols al
    foolish enough and go against her in was I however indeed
    However, I was indeed foolish enough to speak up against her
    b. [Dom genôch om tsjin har yn te gean] wie ik lykwols al
    foolish enough for against her in to go was I however indeed
    However, I was indeed foolish enough to speak up against her

    The complementiser en and can never be dropped. The complementiser om for can be dropped depending on the construction type. In the following construction it cannot be dropped:

    Example 5

    *Hy wie dom genôch om tsjin har yn te gean
    he was so foolish against her in to go
    He was foolish enough to speak up against her

    The infinitival clause cannot be replaced with an Adposition Phrase (PP):

    Example 6

    *Hy wie dêr dom genôch foar/fan/..
    he was R foolish enough for/of/..
    He was foolish enough for ..

    The construction is subject to an alternation, that is, it comes in two varieties, depending on whether the adjective is predicated of a person or a proposition. The person argument of the adjective may show up in a PP introduced by the preposition fan of, in case the adjective is predicated of a proposition. If the adjective is predicated of the propositional argument, then that argument is usually expressed by the anticipatory pronoun it it, which is coreferential with the following clause:

    Example 7

    a. Predication of the person argument
    Hy wie dom genôch om har út te laitsjen
    he was foolish enough as her out to laugh
    He was foolish enough to make fun of her
    *Hy wie dom genôch har út te laitsjen
    he was foolish enough her out to laugh
    He was foolish enough to make fun of her
    b. Predication of the propositional argument
    It wie dom genôch fan him (om) har út te laitsjen
    it was foolish enough of him for her out to laugh
    It was foolish enough of him to make fun of her

    The complementiser om for is optional only if the adjective is predicated of the propositional argument. These two sentences do not mean the same thing. In (7a), the infinitival clause is true at or above the high degree limit of the adjective predicated of the person. In (7b) the truth of the infinitival clause does not seem to depend on the degree of foolishness of the person involved.

    References:
      ABOUT THIS TOPIC
      Author(s):
      Eric Hoekstra, Joke Weening
      Category:
      Frisian Syntax
      Publication date:
      14 May 2020
      Keywords:
      object gap
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