• Dutch
  • Frisian
  • Saterfrisian
  • Afrikaans
Show all
As prepositional complement
quickinfo

Free relative clauses may function as prepositional complements.

readmore

The following two sentences below involve a free relative clause functioning as a prepositional complement:

1
a. Om har sa min mooglik lykje te litten op wa't se winlik wie
for her as little possible resemble to let on who she in.fact was
To make her look as little as possible like the person who she actually was
b. It is sa tasnien op wat westerske minsken ferwachtsje te finen
it is so tailored to what western people expect to find
It is so much tailored to what western people expect to find

In the sentences above, the preposition op on has a function in the containing clause, but not in the relative clause. It is possible for the combination of preposition and relative pronoun to function both in the relative clause and the containing clause, provided that both clauses have the same main verb, as shown below:

2
a. Ik wachtsje op wa't hy wachtet
I wait for who he waits
I am waiting for whom he is waiting
b. Ik stim op wa'tsto stimst
I vote for who.2SG vote.2SG
I vote for whom you vote

The result is odd in case different main verbs are used, even if they subcategorise for the same preposition, as in the example below:

3
*Ik fertrou op wa'tsto stimst
I trust on who.2SG vote.2SG
I trust the person whom you vote for

Changing the structure by adding the preposition in the relative clause does not result in a grammatical sentence:

4
?*Ik fertrou op wa'tsto op stimst
I trust on who.2SG on vote.2SG
I trust the person whom you vote for

The ungrammaticality of this sentence is at least partly due to the fact that the pronoun wa who cannot be separated from the preposition:

5
?*Wa stimsto op?
who vote.2SG for
Whom do you vote for?

Furthermore, free relatives fail to trigger the process licensing R-pronouns, in case a pronoun with non-personal reference is involved. This is illustrated by the contrast below:

6
a. It is sa tasnien op wat westerske minsken ferwachtsje te finen
it is so tailored to what western people expect to find
It is so much tailored to what western people expect to find
b. *It is sa tasnien wêrop westerske minsken ferwachtsje te finen
it is so tailored R.to western people expect to find
It is so much tailored to what western people expect to find

In main clause questions, this process must take place, and the grammaticality judgments are reversed:

7
a. ?*Op wat is it tasnien?
to what is it tailored
To what is it tailored?
b. Wêr is it op tasnien?
What.R is it to tailored
What is it tailored to?

Such facts indicate that free relatives have a structure in which the free relative pronoun is not the complement of the preposition.

References
    printreport errorcite