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    1.3.5.The residue
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    The three adjective classes discussed in the previous sections leave us with a residue of adjectives that neither attribute a property to the head noun, nor express a kind-of relation, nor imply some negative or positive evaluation. Often, these adjectives seem to be related to adverbs. The following subsections discuss some subclasses of this residue.

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    [+]  I.  Modal adjectives

    The modal adjectives are comparable to the modal adverbs in that they express some notion of modality. In (158a), for instance, vermeend'alleged/supposed' expresses the fact that the person we are talking about has been mistaken for or is supposed to be the culprit. In (158b) we express the fact that the thing we are talking about may turn out to be a counterexample. In (158c), finally, we express the fact that Peter may possibly leave. As is illustrated in the primed examples, the modal adjectives, not being set-denoting, cannot be used predicatively.

    158
    a. de vermeende dader
      the  alleged  culprit
    a'. * De dader is vermeend.
       the culprit  is alleged
    b. het potentiële tegenvoorbeeld
      the  potential  counterexample
    b'. * Het tegenvoorbeeld is potentieel.
       the counterexample  is potential
    c. Peters eventuele vertrek
      Peterʼs  possible  departure
    c'. * Peters vertrek is eventueel.
       Peterʼs departure  is possible
    [+]  II.  Amplifiers

    The second subclass is constituted by the amplifiers like those in (159), which scale upwards from some implicitly assumed norm. These adjectives do not attribute a property to the head noun but emphasize that the description provided by noun phrase is applicable to the subject of the copular clause. This means that the adjectives are clearly not set-denoting, which correctly predicts that they cannot be used in the predicative position of the primed examples. The adjectives are, however, clearly related to the adverbs in the doubly-primed examples, which have a similar amplifying meaning.

    159
    a. Hij is een echte held
      he  is a  true  hero
    a'. * Deze held is echt.
       this hero  is true
    a''. Hij is echt een held.
      he  is  truly  a hero
    b. Dat is absolute onzin
      that is absolute nonsense
    b'. * Deze onzin is absoluut.
       this nonsense  is absolute
    b''. Dit is absoluut onzin.
      this  is absolutely  nonsense
    c. Dit is een duidelijke fout
      this is a  clear  mistake 
    c'. * Deze fout is duidelijk.
       this mistake  is clear
    c''. Jan heeft duidelijk een fout gemaakt.
      Jan has  clearly  a mistake  made
      'Jan clearly made a mistake.'
    [+]  III.  Quantifiers

    The third subclass is constituted by quantifiers like gedeeltelijk'partial', half'half', volledig'total' in (160). With (perhaps) the exception of the last example, quantifiers cannot be used predicatively. They are, however, clearly related to the adverbs in the doubly-primed examples.

    160
    a. een gedeeltelijke vergoeding
      a  partial  compensation
    a'. *? De vergoeding was gedeeltelijk.
       the compensation was partial
    a''. De schade werd gedeeltelijk vergoed.
      the damage  was  partially  compensated
    b. een halve toezegging
      a  half  promise
    b'. *? De toezegging was half.
       the promise  was  half
    b''. Jan had het al half toegezegd.
      Jan had it  already  half promised
    c. een volledige onderwerping
      a  total  submission
    c'. ? De onderwerping was volledig.
       the victory  was total
    c''. De vijand werd volledig onderworpen.
      the enemy  was  completely  submitted
    [+]  IV.  Restrictors

    The fourth subclass is constituted by restrictors such as those in (161), which restrict the reference of the noun. Like the subclasses above, they cannot be used predicatively (with the intended meaning). They differ from these classes, however, in that the restrictors do not have an adverbial counterpart.

    161
    a. een zeker persoon
      a  certain  person
    a'. # Deze persoon is zeker.
    b. de enige gelegenheid
      the  only  occasion
    b'. # Deze gelegenheid is enig.
    c. het precieze antwoord
      the  precise  answer
    c'. # Het antwoord is precies.

    Perhaps time adjectives such as gewezen/voormalig/vroeger'former', huidig'present(day)', toekomstige'future', and vorige'previous' also fall into this class.

    162
    a. de voormalige koningin
      the  former  queen
    a'. * De koningin is voormalig.
    b. de huidige koningin
      the  present  queen
    b'. * De koningin is huidig.
    c. de toekomstige koning
      the  future  king
    c'. * De koning is toekomstig.
    d. de vorige vergadering
      the  previous  meeting
    d'. * De vergadering is vorig.
    [+]  V.  Adjectives related to adverbial phrases

    Besides the cases discussed in the previous subsections, there are many adjectives that do not seem to fall into a well-defined class, but which do seem to be related to adverbs. Some typical examples are given in (163); observe that the nouns are all deverbal.

    163
    a. een snelle berekening
      a  quick  calculation
    b. een harde werker
       a  hard  worker
    a'. * De berekening is snel.
    b'. * De werker is hard.
    a''. Hij berekent het snel.
      he  calculates  it  quickly
    b''. Hij werkt hard.
       he  works  hard
    c. een zware roker
      a  heavy  smoker
    d. een frequente bezoeker
       a  frequent  visitor
    c'. # De roker is zwaar.
    d'. * De bezoeker is frequent.
    c''. Hij rookt zwaar.
      he  smokes  heavily
    d''. Hij bezoekt de bioscoop frequent.
       he  visits  the cinema  frequently

    Some more or less idiomatic examples in which the relation of the attributively used adjectives to the adverbially used adjectives is less direct are given in (164). Observe that these adjectives can also be used predicatively, but then the meaning is slightly different. In this respect they resemble the adjectives discussed in Subsection VI.

    164
    a. het late journaal
      'the late news; the news that is broadcast late in the evening'
    a'. Het journaal is laat (vandaag).
      'The news is late/later than usual (today).'
    b. een goede moeder
      'a good mother; a mother who takes care of her children well'
    b'. Zijn moeder is goed.
      'His mother is good (not necessarily as a mother).'
    c. een snelle auto
      'a fast car; a car that can drive fast'
    c'. ? Die auto is snel.
      that car is fast
    [+]  VI.  Non-prototypical use of set-denoting adjectives

    Some set-denoting adjectives can be used attributively in a non-qualifying manner, which is excluded if they are used predicatively; the predicatively used adjectives in the primed examples in (165) cannot be interpreted in the same manner as the attributively used adjectives in the primeless examples. Example (165c'') shows that the attributively used adjectives cannot be used adverbially either. Examples of this sort have a more or less idiomatic flavor.

    165
    a. een oude vriend van me
      an  old  friend  of mine
    a'. # Deze vriend van mij is oud.
       this friend of mine  is old
    b. de gewone man
      the  common  man
    b'. # Deze man is gewoon.
       this man  is common
    c. een grote eter
      a  big  eater
    c'. # Deze eter is groot.
       this eater is big
    c''. * Hij eet groot.
      he  eats  big

    For completeness’ sake, compare the examples in (165a&c) to those in (166a&b); the latter do seem to behave like set-denoting adjectives, given that they give rise to a more or less acceptable result on the intended reading if they are used in predicative position.

    166
    a. een oude vriendschap
      an  old friendship
    a'. ? Onze vriendschap is oud.
    b. een grote eetlust
      a  big appetite
    b'. Mijn eetlust is groot.
    References:
      About this article
      Author(s): Hans Broekhuis
      Category: Dutch Syntax
      Keywords: AdjectiveAmplifying AdjectiveModal AdjectiveQuantifying AdjectiveResidueRestrictive Adjective
      Version: 1.0, December 2015
      Version history:
      version editor(s) date remarks
      1.0 Hans Broekhuis December 2015
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