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1.2.2.1.Concrete nouns

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Concrete nouns are used to denote objects that have physical properties: typically they can be perceived by means of the human senses (sight, hearing, taste, smell, and touch), although the observation might also be more indirect. The physical properties of the entities denoted by concrete nouns include color, size, weight, intensity, strength, etc. Obvious examples of concrete nouns are auto'car', tafel'table', gebouw'building', water'water' and hout'wood'.

a.	De grote, rode auto	reed	langzaam	voorbij.
	the large red car	drove	slowly	passed
	'The large, red car slowly drove by.'

b.	Jan tilde	de zware tafel	op.
	Jan lifted	the heavy table	prt.
	'Jan lifted the heavy table.'

c.		Het zwarte hout	maakte	de kamer	erg somber.
		the black wood	made	the room	very gloomy

This section is organized as follows. Section I starts by distinguishing four types of concrete nouns on the bases of two semantic features (±shape and ±set). Subsection II discusses the semantic and distributional differences between the four types of concrete nouns on their prototypical use, which is followed in Subsection III by a discussion of the non-prototypical uses of these subclasses. Subsection IV concludes with a discussion of a number of special uses of these concrete nouns.

I. Subclassification
II. Differences between the subclasses
III. Non-prototypical uses
IV. Special uses: exclamative and evaluative constructions
- A. Exclamative use of -shape nouns
- B. Evaluative use of +shape nouns

[+] I. Subclassification

The class of concrete nouns can be subdivided on the basis of the features ±shape and ±set in (41); cf. Rijkhoff (2002).

+shape: entities denoted are conceptualized as having a definite outline.

-shape: entities denoted are not conceptualized as having a definite outline.

+set: entities denoted are conceived of as a group or a non-singleton set.

-set: entities denoted are conceived of as individuals.

The combination of these features results in the four subclasses in Table 5, where the names given in bold are the names that we will use for these noun classes in what follows.

Table 5: Four subclasses of concrete nouns

	[-set]	[+set]
[-shape]	substance nouns: hout‘wood’, water‘water’, gas‘gas’, brood‘bread’	mass nouns: vee‘cattle’, meubilair‘furniture’, politie‘police’, gebeente‘bones’
[+shape]	individual nouns: man‘man’, hond‘dog’, huis‘house’, auto‘car’	collective nouns: groep‘group’, kudde‘flock’, set‘set’, horde‘horde’

The semantic difference between -shape and +shape nouns corresponds to a number of formal differences with regard to countability and pluralization. The distinction between +set and -set, on the other hand, seems purely semantic in nature and does not seem to correspond to any obvious formal difference.

[+] A. -shape: non-count nouns

Substance and mass nouns (i) cannot co-occur with the indefinite article een, but require the use of the zero-article instead, (ii) cannot be pluralized, and (iii) can be modified by -count quantifying expressions as veel'much', weinig/een beetje'a little', wat'some', niet genoeg'not enough' and een hoeveelheid'an amount'. It is on account of these features that these nouns have traditionally been called mass or non-count nouns. We will use these terms in a slightly different way: the notion of non-count noun will be used to refer to the superset comprising the mass and substance nouns, whereas the notion of mass noun will be used for the more restricted concept defined by Table 5.

[+] B. +shape: count nouns

The most conspicuous difference between the +shape and -shape nouns is that the former can be pluralized whereas the latter cannot. It is on account of this fact that the two sets have traditionally been called count and non-count nouns. Singular +shape nouns further differ from the -shape nouns in that they can be preceded by the indefinite article but not by quantifying expressions like wat/een beetje'a little'. Plural +shape nouns also differ from the -shape nouns in that they can be modified by quantifying expressions like enkele'some/a few' and een aantal'a number'.

	individual/collective [+shape]	substance/mass [-shape]
pluralization	possible	not possible
articles	definite: de/het indefinite: een	definite: de/het indefinite: ∅
quantifiers	*wat/een beetje + Nsg een aantal/enkele + Npl	wat/een beetje + Nsg *een aantal/enkele + Nsg

Note in this connection that Dutch differs from English in that it does not distinguish between -count quantifiers like little/much and +count quantifiers like few/many; Dutch uses weinig'little/few' and veel'much/many' both for non-count nouns and for plural count nouns. Nevertheless, the quantifier een beetje (but not wat) can be considered a -count quantifier given that it cannot be used on the intended quantificational meaning with (singular or plural) count nouns: *een beetje boek(en)'a little books'. Similarly, quantifiers like een aantal/enkele can be considered +count quantifiers given that they can only co-occur with plural count nouns. For a detailed discussion of the distribution and function of the various determiners and quantifiers, see Chapter 5 and Chapter 6.

[+] C. +set and -set

Mass and collective nouns are +set nouns and denote entities that themselves consist of two or more members. Substance and individual nouns are -set nouns and denote unitary entities that do not consist of more members. It should be noted, however, that plural individual noun phrases like (de) mannen'(the) men' also refer to a set; the feature ±set must therefore be considered a feature of the bare noun, which can be overridden by the feature of the plural morpheme.

[+] II. Differences between the subclasses

This subsection discusses in more detail some differences between the four subclasses of concrete nouns on their prototypical uses; the non-prototypical uses of these subclasses will be discussed in Subsection III.

[+] A. Substance nouns -shape-set

Substance nouns like water'water' or hout'wood' have the feature -shape: the entities described by such nouns have measure (weight, volume) but no outline, and for this reason they can be included in the supercategory of non-count nouns. The entities denoted by the substance nouns do not qualify as sets either, given that the entities denoted by substances do not consist of individual members.
Since substance nouns lack a definite outline, they cannot co-occur with the indefinite article, but require the use of the zero-article instead, as is shown by example (43a). Example (43b) shows that substance nouns cannot be pluralized either; consequently, if noun phrases headed by these nouns function as subjects, there is always singular agreement on the verb.

a.	In het glas	zat	∅/*een	water.
	in the glass	satsg	∅/a	water
	'There was water in the glass.'

b.	*	In het glas	zaten	drie waters.
		in the glass	satpl	three waters

Substance nouns can be modified by a -count quantifying expression like een beetje'a little' in example (44a), but not by +count quantifying expressions like enkele'some/a few' in example (44b).

a.	In het glas	zat	wat/een beetje	water.
	in the glass	satsg	a.little/a little	water
	'There was a little water in the glass.'

b.	*	In het glas	zat	enkele/een aantal	water.
		in the glass	satsg	some/a number	water

[+] B. Individual nouns +shape-set

Individual nouns have the feature +shape: they denote entities with a definite outline, such as auto'car' or tafel'table', and for this reason they can be included in the supercategory of count nouns. They can be used to refer to persons, animals and things (e.g., man'man', hond'dog', auto'car'). Since the entities denoted by individual nouns are conceived of as individuals, they also have the feature -set.
Example (45a) shows that, in singular indefinite noun phrases, individual nouns cannot be preceded by the indefinite zero-article ∅, but must be preceded by the indefinite article een'a'. If more than one entity is referred to, the plural form of the noun is preceded by the zero-article, as in (45b). If they function as subjects, noun phrases headed by individual nouns trigger number agreement on the verb: the verb is singular in (45a) and plural in (45b).

a.	Op de tafel	lag	een/*∅	boek.
	on the table	laysg	a/∅	book
	'There was a book on the table.'

b.	Op de tafel	lagen	∅ boeken.
	on the table	laypl	∅ books
	'There were books on the table.'

Note in passing that Section 8.2.2 will show that there is an exception to the general rule that singular individual nouns must be preceded by the indefinite article een'a': predicatively used individual nouns denoting a profession, function or position can be used without the indefinite article: Jan is leraar'Jan is a teacher'.
Plural individual nouns refer to non-singleton sets and can therefore be modified by +count quantifying expressions like enkele'some/a few'. Singular individual nouns, however, cannot co-occur with -count quantifiers like een beetje'a bit'. This is illustrated by (46a) and (46b), respectively.

a.	Op de tafel	lagen	enkele/een aantal	boeken.
	on the table	laypl	some/a number [of]	books
	'There were some/a number of books on the table.'

b.	*	Op de tafel	lag/lagen	wat/een beetje	boek.
		on the table	laysg/pl	a.bit/a bit	book

[+] C. Mass nouns -shape+set

Mass nouns have the features +set and -shape: they denote entities that are conceived of as a non-singleton set, but the set as a whole lacks a definite outline. Examples of these nouns are vee'cattle', politie'police', geboomte'trees' and meubilair'furniture'. Example (47a) shows that, like substance nouns, mass nouns cannot co-occur with the indefinite article, but use the zero-article instead, and (47b) shows that they cannot be pluralized. Accordingly, they only combine with singular verb forms when heading a subject noun phrase.

a.		In de kamer	stond	∅/*een	meubilair.
		in the room	stoodsg	∅/a	furniture

b.	*	In de kamer	stonden	drie meubilairs.
		in the room	stoodpl	three furnitures

Being non-count nouns, mass nouns can be modified by -count quantifying expressions like een beetje'a little', but not by +count quantifiers like enkele'some/a few'. This is shown by (48a) and (48b), respectively.

a.	In de kamer	stond	wat/een beetje	meubilair.
	in the room	stoodsg	a.little/a little	furniture
	'There was a bit of furniture in the room.'

b.	*	In de kamer	stond/stonden	enkele/een aantal	meubilair.
		in the room	stoodsg/stoodpl	some/a.number.of	furniture

A further distinction can be made according to whether the set denoted by the mass nouns is homogeneous (consisting of identical or similar members) or heterogeneous (consisting of members differing in shape, color, function etc.). Nouns belonging to the former category, such as politie'police', do not allow modification by means of allerlei'all sorts of' or velerlei'many sorts of', whereas nouns belonging to the latter class, like vee or meubilair, speelgoed'toys', snoepgoed'sweets' do (Vossen 1995).

a.	??	Er	was allerlei	politie	op straat.
		there	was all.sorts.of	police	in the.street
		'There were all sorts of police in the street.'

b.	De kinderen	kregen	allerlei	speelgoed/snoepgoed.
	the children	got	all.sorts.of	toys/sweets
	'The children were given all sorts of toys/sweets.'

[+] D. Collective nouns +shape+set

Collective nouns differ from mass nouns in that they have the feature +shape: they denote entities that are conceived of as a non-singleton set that has a definite outline in the sense that it consists of a restricted (though possibly unknown) number of members and is, as such, bounded. Examples of collective nouns are groep'group', kudde'flock', verzameling'set', club'club', vereniging'club/society', regering'government' and collectie'collection'. Collective nouns behave largely like individual nouns; example (50a) shows that they can be preceded by the indefinite article een, but not by the zero-article, and (50b) shows that the plural is used when more than one set is referred to. Consequently, if noun phrases headed by these nouns function as subjects, they will trigger number agreement on the verb.

a.	Op de foto	stond	een/*∅	regering	afgebeeld.
	on the photo	stoodsg	a/∅	government	depicted
	'The photo showed a government.'

b.	Op de foto	stonden	twee regeringen	afgebeeld.
	on the photo	stoodpl	two governments	depicted
	'The photo showed two governments.'

Plural collective nouns can be modified by +count quantifying expressions like enkele'some/a few'; singular collective nouns, however, cannot be preceded by -count quantifiers like een beetje'a little'. This is shown by (51a) and (51b), respectively.

a.	Op de foto	stonden	enkele/een aantal	regeringen.
	on the photo	stood	some/a number	governments
	'The photo showed some/a number of governments.'

b.	*	Op de foto	stond	wat/een beetje	regering.
		on the photo	stood	a.little/a little	government

A substantial subclass of collective nouns exhibit special behavior in the sense that they cannot readily occur on their own, but are preferably followed by a plural individual noun, specifying their members. Collective nouns like kudde therefore normally occur as the first noun in a binominal noun phrase. An example involving the collective noun kudde'flock' is given in (52).

a.	In de wei	stond	een kudde ?(schapen).
	in the meadow	stood	a flock [of] sheep
	'There was a flock of sheep in the meadow.'

b.	In de wei	stonden	twee/enkele/een aantal	kuddes ?(schapen).
	in the meadow	stood	two/some/a.number.of	flocks [of] sheep
	'There were two/some/a few/a number of flocks of sheep in the meadow.'

Although binominal noun phrases often contain collective nouns (because these denote a designated number of members), it is not a prerequisite that the first noun be a collective noun; Chapter 4 will show that the collective nouns form only one subtype of a wider range of nouns that can be used in binominal noun phrases.

[+] III. Non-prototypical uses

This subsection shows that the classification presented in the preceding subsections is characterized by a certain degree of flexibility in the sense that it is sometimes possible to use nouns belonging to one category in a way that is more appropriate for another category. In what follows. we will discuss three cases of such non-prototypical uses, which all involve a shift in the value of the feature ±shape. The most common shift from the feature -shape to +shape involves the use of a substance noun as an individual noun, but there are also some more marked cases in which a substance noun is used as an individual noun. There is just a single case that involves a shift from the feature +shape to -shape, namely, the use of an individual noun as a substance noun.

[+] A. Substance nouns used as individual nouns (-shape → +shape)

Substance nouns can occasionally be used as individual nouns. This may take place through conversion (∅-derivation), by adding the diminutive suffix -je or one of its allomorphs, or by combining the noun with the indefinite article een'a'. We will discuss the three cases in the order indicated.

[+] 1. Conversion

Individualization through conversion may result in a noun denoting objects made of the substance in question. Example (53) shows that the converted noun can be combined with either an indefinite or a definite article and be pluralized. Note that in these cases both uses are common, with the result that it is difficult to establish whether one use is dominant over the other or in what direction the conversion goes.

substance noun	individual noun
	singular	plural
glas‘glass’	een/het glas‘a/the glass’	glazen‘glasses’
steen‘stone’	een/de steen‘a/the stone’	stenen‘stones’
brood‘bread’	een/het brood‘a/the loaf of bread’	broden‘loaves of bread’

Conversion can also result in a noun denoting a specific type of the substance denoted by the substance noun; the individual noun gas in (54) denotes a particular gas, and the individual nouns bier and wijn denote certain kinds or brands of beer and wine. In both cases, the converted noun can be combined with an indefinite article and be pluralized. Not that, when we want to maintain that we are dealing with a shift in the feature ±shape, we again have to give the feature +shape a wide interpretation by assuming that, cognitively speaking, types of gases and liquids do have a certain definite outline in the sense that, e.g., different types of gases do, chemically speaking, have different, characteristic structures.

substance noun	individual noun
	singular	plural
gas‘gas’	een/#het gas‘a/the gas’	gassen‘gases’
wijn‘wine’	een/#de wijn‘a/the wine’	wijnen‘wines’
bier‘beer’	een/#het bier‘a/the beer’	bieren‘beers’

Example (54) also shows that definite determiners are not possible with the intended reading; a definite noun phrases like het gas'the gas' instead seems to refer to a contextually determined quantity of gas. Still, definite determiners are possible on the type reading in examples such as (55), in which the restrictive modifiers create a contrastive context.

a.	De witte wijn	is erg goed	(maar	de rode	niet).
	the white wine	is very good	but	the red	not
	'The white wine is very good (but the red wine isnʼt).'

b.	De Franse wijn	was erg duur	(maar	de Italiaanse	niet).
	the French wine	was very expensive	but	the Italian	not
	'The French wine was very expensive (but not the Italian wine).'

It is not only in cases such as (55) that restrictive modifiers facilitate the type reading. Conversion often leads to very marked results: using an example such as een melk to refer to a particular type of that substance is only possible in very specific contexts, but the addition of a restrictive modifier often makes such indefinite noun phrases fully acceptable.

a.		een melk	??(met extra veel calcium)
		a milk	with extra much calcium

b.	een zand	??(dat zeer geschikt is voor het bouwen van zandkastelen)
	a sand	that very suitable is for the building of sand castles
	'a kind of sand that is very suitable for building sand-castles'

c.	een	??(voor quiches en soepen	erg geschikte)	spinazie
	a	for pies and soups	very suitable	spinach
	'a type of spinach that is very suitable for pies and soups'

[+] 2. Diminutive

The diminutive form of substance nouns denotes a small object made (up) of the substance in question, usually of a very specific type or character. For example, while krijt denotes chalk in general, krijtje denotes a piece of chalk used for writing on a blackboard. The derived nouns in (57) can be combined with either an indefinite or definite article and can be pluralized.

substance noun	individual noun
	singular	plural
krijt‘chalk’	een/het krijtje‘a/the piece of chalk’	krijtjes‘pieces of chalk’
stof‘dust’	een/het stofje‘a/the particle of dust’	stofjes‘particles of dust’
ijs‘ice-cream’	een/het ijsje‘an/the ice-cream’	ijsjes‘ice-creams’

Derivation by means of the diminutive suffix is restricted in its application. The diminutive forms in (57), for example, are so commonly used that they may be said to have gained full lexical status, each having a specific meaning transcending the sum of head noun and diminutive suffix. Other combinations of substance noun and diminutive suffix, however, lead to varying degrees of markedness, as can be seen in (58).

a.	??	een	melkje
		a	milkdim

b.	?	een	theetje
		a	teadim

c.	*?	een	zilvertje
		a	silverdim

Judgments on the acceptability of the diminutive forms in the examples in (58) will doubtlessly vary from speaker to speaker, and they largely depend on socio-cultural phenomena. For example, a diminutive form like melkje'little milk' will definitely be marked (although acceptable in baby-talk), whereas a form like yoghurtje'little yogurt' is acceptable, due to the fact that yogurt is often sold in small cups. Similarly, the diminutive form often refers to drinks served in certain quantities without explicit mention of that quantity.

a.	een	cognacje
	a	cognacdim
	'a glass of cognac'

b.	een	biertje
	a	beerdim
	'a glass of beer'

[+] 3. Combining the indefinite article een and a substance noun

The combination of indefinite article and substance noun can also be used to refer to (culturally defined) fixed quantities or individual entities in constructions such as those given in (60). This particular use is more or less restricted to situations in which listed or displayed items (especially food) are ordered. In these and some of the earlier cases, there is reason for assuming that we are dealing with ellipsis. Thus, the phrase een koffie'a coffee' in (60a) might be taken as the elliptical form of the binominal noun phrase een kop(je) koffie'a cup of coffee'. Similarly, the noun phrase een melk'a milk' in example (56a) above may be taken as the simplified form of the noun phrase een soort melk'a kind of milk'. Evidence in favor of such an analysis can be found in the fact, illustrated in example (60b), that it is possible to use a cardinal numeral to indicate that we are referring to a non-singleton set in combination with a singular substance noun. This can be accounted for by assuming that agreement holds between the numeral and the empty or elided noun; cf. the primed examples.

a.		Een koffie,	alstublieft.
		a coffee	please

a'.		een	(kop)	koffie
		a	cup of	coffee

b.		Mag	ik	twee bier	van u?
		may	I	two beer	from you

b'.		twee	(glazen)	bier
		two	glasses of	beer

c.		Een spaghetti,	graag.
		a spaghetti	please

c'.		een	(bord)	spaghetti
		a	plate of	spaghetti

Note that the northern variety of Dutch may differ in this respect from other varieties of Dutch; in Flemish Dutch, for example, twee koffie/bier is not acceptable. Instead a plural (diminutive) form is used: Twee koffies/biertjes'two coffees/beers'.
Not all of the non-prototypical uses of substance nouns discussed earlier can be analyzed as involving ellipsis. For example, the fully lexicalized nouns in examples (53) and (54) do not seem to have an appropriate semantic correlate that can be taken as its basic form. This will be clear from the examples in (61), which show that when the noun bier refers to a certain kind of beer, it must be pluralized if preceded by a cardinal numeral, whereas this is not possible in the corresponding binominal construction; an ellipsis account is therefore not plausible.

a.	Ze	hebben	hier	honderden	bieren/*bier.
	they	have	here	hundreds	beers/beer
	'They have hundreds of kinds of beer over here.'

b.	Ze	hebben	hier	honderden	soorten	bier/*bieren.
	they	have	here	hundreds	kinds [of]	beer/beers
	'They have hundreds of kinds of beer over here.'

Something similar holds for the noun phrase een biertje in (59b). The fact that the diminutive ending attaches to the substance noun bier suggests that this noun must be the underlying head and that there is no reason for assuming the presence of another (empty or elided) noun: see the contrast in (62), which shows that in the binominal construction the diminutive suffix cannot be attached to the substance noun.

a.		Ze	vroeg	een glas	bier/*biertje.
		she	asked.for	a glass [of]	beer/beerdim.

b.		Ze	vroeg	een glaasje	bier.
		she	asked.for	a glassdim. [of]	beer

[+] B. Mass nouns used as individual nouns (-shape → +shape)

Instances where mass nouns are used as individual nouns are rare and idiosyncratic, which might be expected given that they involve an additional shift in the feature ±set, but not impossible. Such instances always involve the use of a pluralized mass noun referring to different kinds of the entity denoted, rather than to the mass itself. Thus example (63a), although definitely marked, is acceptable in an informal context, where different kinds of police (e.g., state police, county police, municipal police) are being distinguished. Clearly, cases like these cannot be regarded as involving ellipsis given that the corresponding binominal construction requires the noun to be singular: drie (soorten) politie'three kinds of police'.

a.	??	Al	heb	je	drie polities,	dan	ben	je	nog	niet	veilig.
		even	have	you	three police	then	are	you	still	not	safe
		'Even if you have three police forces, you still wonʼt be safe.'

b.	Al	heb	je	drie soorten politie,	dan	ben	je	nog	niet	veilig.
	even	have	you	three kinds of polices	then	are	you	still	not	safe
	'Even if you have three kinds of police forces, you still wonʼt be safe.'

Still, it should be noted that the conversion in (63a) is quite rare: the examples in (64) show that it is impossible with most mass nouns and that a binominal construction or compound noun must be used in order to convey the intended message.

a.	*	Je	vindt	verscheidene	veeën	in dit gebied.
		one	finds	several	cattles	in this area

b.		Je	vindt	verscheidene	soorten	vee/veesoorten	in dit gebied.
		one	finds	several	sorts of	cattle/cattle.kinds	in this area

[+] C. Individual nouns used as substance nouns (+shape → -shape)

The use of +shape as -shape nouns only involves the use of individual nouns as substance nouns. In all cases we are dealing with conversion. Contexts in which reference is made to food are typical for this kind of use: the nouns kip/appel'chicken/apple', which normally refer to entities, are used in (65a&b) to refer to an unbounded quantity of edible parts of these entities.

a.	We	aten	gisteravond	kip.
	we	ate	yesterday.evening	chicken
	'We had chicken last night.'

b.	Mijn neefje	is dol	op meloen.
	my little cousin	is fond	of melon
	'My little cousin is fond of melon.'

Not all individual nouns referring to edible entities accept this kind of conversion quite so readily. In particular, nouns denoting small objects like bes'berry' or rozijn'raisin' in (66a) defy a substance interpretation. This, however, seems to hold only for objects that are normally conceptualized as separate objects, possibly because they are consumed that way. This would account for the fact that the examples in (66b), which also involve small objects with a definite shape, are acceptable.

a.	??	Mijn neefje	is dol	op bes/rozijn.
		my little cousin	is fond	of berry/raisin
		'My little cousin is fond of berries/raisins.'

b.	Zij	houdt	niet	van groene peper/kruidnagel.
	she	likes	not	of green pepper/clove
	'She doesnʼt like green pepper/cloves.'

However, it should be noted that nouns like bes'berry' or aardbei'strawberry' also resist conversion in examples such as (67), which intend to refer to substances which are flavored by means of, e.g., an extract of berries/strawberries, while this is easily possible with nouns like meloen'melon'. It seems, therefore, that it is the prototypical and not the actual use of the noun that counts.

a.	*	Er	zit	bes/rozijn	in de thee.
		there	is	berry/raisin	in the tea

b.	??	Er	zit	aardbei	in dit ijs.
		there	is	strawberry	in this ice cream

c.		Er	zit	meloen	in dit drankje.
		there	is	melon	in this drink

Conversion is also less common in non-culinary contexts and often yields less acceptable results. Nevertheless examples such as (68) are conceivable, especially on a generic reading.

a.	Ik	houd	erg	van %(de) zee.
	I	like	very.much	of the sea
	'I like (the) sea very much.'

b.	?	Veel bos	is goed	voor het milieu.
		much forest	is good	for the environment
		'A lot of forest is good for the environment.'

Another case that may involve the use of +shape nouns as -shape nouns is discussed in Subsection IVB.

[+] IV. Special uses: exclamative and evaluative constructions

In (42), we have seen that the feature ±shape has an effect on the determiners the nouns may co-occur with: count nouns take the indefinite article een, whereas the non-count nouns take the zero-article. In some constructions, however, these co-occurrence restrictions do not seem to apply. We will discuss two of these cases.

[+] A. Exclamative use of -shape nouns

Combinations of an indefinite article and a non-count noun are normally not acceptable, and the same thing holds for plural individual nouns. This is illustrated here again in the primeless examples in (69). These combinations become fully acceptable if preceded by the exclamative element wat, as in the primed examples. In these cases, the noun phrases form an exclamation, conveying the idea of an unexpectedly large quantity, or an unexpected quality; the water may be very dirty, the furniture extremely beautiful, and the books of extraordinary quality.

a.	*	een	water
		a	water

a'.		Wat	een water!
		what	a water

b.	*	een	meubilair
		a	furniture

b'.		Wat	een meubilair!
		what	a furniture

c.	*	een	boeken
		a	books

c'.		Wat	een boeken!
		what	a books

The use of the indefinite article also become possible in other exclamative surroundings, as shown by (70); the exclamative use is triggered by the use of the ethical dative me and/or the empathic particle toch, and the use of the noun phrases in the primeless examples in (69) is licensed.

a.	Na die stortbui	lag	me er	een water	op de weg!
	after that downpour	lay	me there	a water	on the road
	'After that downpour, the quantity of water on the road was incredible.'

b.	In die kamer	stond	me toch	een meubilair!
	in that room	stood	me prt	a furniture
	'That room was absolutely packed with furniture.'

c.	Er	lagen	me toch	een boeken	over de grond	verspreid!
	there	lay	me prt	a books	on the ground	scattered
	'An incredible quantity of book was scattered over the floor!'

[+] B. Evaluative use of +shape nouns

A quantifier like een beetje'a little bit' normally only occurs with non-count nouns like the substance noun water'water' in (71a) and the mass noun meubilair'furniture' in (71b). With individual nouns like boek'book' in (71c), the modifier een beetje is normally not possible.

a.		een	beetje	water
		a	bit [of]	water

b.		een	beetje	meubilair
		a	bit [of]	furniture

c.	#	een	beetje	boek
		a	bit [of]	book

Nevertheless, example (71c) is marked with “#”, since it may be acceptable on a very specific reading, and in a context characterized by a high degree of informality. Illustrations are given in (72). These examples express a (positive or negative) evaluation on the part of the speaker: the speaker is talking about books/men with certain characteristics that make them worthy of that name, that is, the speaker is talking about qualities, not entities, and in this sense it can be said that the individual nouns boek and man are used as substance nouns.

a.	Een beetje boek	kost	al	gauw	€ 25.
	a bit [of] book	costs	already	soon	€ 25
	'A book that is worthy of the name costs at least € 25.'

b.	Een	beetje	man pikt	zoiets	niet.
	a	bit [of]	man takes	something like that	not
	'A real man wouldnʼt stand for that.'

Given the right context, every individual noun can be converted into a substance noun in this way, although the result is always at least stylistically marked. The examples in (73) show that quantifying expressions like te veel'too much', niet genoeg'not enough' and een hoeveelheid'a quantity', which are normally restricted to substance nouns or plural count nouns, may trigger a similar interpretative effect as een beetje, if they are used in combination with singular individual nouns.

a.	Hij	is mij	teveel manager/niet genoeg manager.
	he	is me	too.much manager/not enough manager
	'Heʼs too much of a manager/not enough manager to my taste.'

b.	Dat	is een flinke hoeveelheid boek	die	je	daar	mee	zeult!
	that	is a fair quantity book	that	you	there	prt.	tote
	'Thatʼs quite a number of books youʼre toting around!'

In a similar way, collective nouns can be used as mass nouns. Use and effect are comparable to conversion from individual to substance noun. Here, too, conversion is more likely to be acceptable in contexts involving an evaluation on the part of the speaker. In (74a), for instance, the impression given is that of a sports club with a fair number of members and a certain status, while in (74b), the stamp collection in question must be considerable in size.

a.	Een beetje sportclub	heeft	tegenwoordig	een sponsor.
	a little bit [of] sports club	has	nowadays	a sponsor
	'Any self-respecting sports club has a sponsor nowadays.'

b.	Een beetje postzegelverzameling	kost	al	gauw	duizenden euroʼs.
	a bit [of] stamp collection	costs	already	soon	thousands euros
	'Any reasonably-sized stamp collection costs easily thousands of euros.'

References:

Rijkhoff, J2002The noun phraseOxfordOxford University Press
Vossen, Piek1995Grammatical and conceptual individuation in the lexiconStudies in Language Use 15AmsterdamIFOTT

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About this article

Author(s): Hans Broekhuis, Evelien Keizer

Category: Dutch Syntax

Keywords: AgreementArticleBinominal ConstructionCollective NounCollective typeConcrete NounConversionCount NounDativeDiminutiveEmphatic ParticleEthical DativeExclamativeIndefinite ArticleIndividual NounMass NounNon-count NounNounParticleProfession NounSubject-verb AgreementSubstance NounZero-derivation

Version: 1.0, December 2015

Version history:

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

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