- Dutch1
- Frisian
- Saterfrisian
- Afrikaans
-
- Phonology
- Segment inventory
- Phonotactics
- Phonological processes
- Phonology-morphology interface
- Word stress
- Primary stress in simplex words
- Monomorphemic words
- Diachronic aspects
- Generalizations on stress placement
- Default penultimate stress
- Lexical stress
- The closed penult restriction
- Final closed syllables
- The diphthong restriction
- Superheavy syllables (SHS)
- The three-syllable window
- Segmental restrictions
- Phonetic correlates
- Stress shifts in loanwords
- Quantity-sensitivity
- Secondary stress
- Vowel reduction in unstressed syllables
- Stress in complex words
- Primary stress in simplex words
- Accent & intonation
- Clitics
- Spelling
- Morphology
- Word formation
- Compounding
- Nominal compounds
- Verbal compounds
- Adjectival compounds
- Affixoids
- Coordinative compounds
- Synthetic compounds
- Reduplicative compounds
- Phrase-based compounds
- Elative compounds
- Exocentric compounds
- Linking elements
- Separable complex verbs (SCVs)
- Gapping of complex words
- Particle verbs
- Copulative compounds
- Derivation
- Numerals
- Derivation: inputs and input restrictions
- The meaning of affixes
- Non-native morphology
- Cohering and non-cohering affixes
- Prefixation
- Suffixation
- Nominal suffixation: person nouns
- Conversion
- Pseudo-participles
- Bound forms
- Nouns
- Nominal prefixes
- Nominal suffixes
- -aal and -eel
- -aar
- -aard
- -aat
- -air
- -aris
- -ast
- Diminutives
- -dom
- -een
- -ees
- -el (nominal)
- -elaar
- -enis
- -er (nominal)
- -erd
- -erik
- -es
- -eur
- -euse
- ge...te
- -heid
- -iaan, -aan
- -ief
- -iek
- -ier
- -ier (French)
- -ière
- -iet
- -igheid
- -ij and allomorphs
- -ijn
- -in
- -ing
- -isme
- -ist
- -iteit
- -ling
- -oir
- -oot
- -rice
- -schap
- -schap (de)
- -schap (het)
- -sel
- -st
- -ster
- -t
- -tal
- -te
- -voud
- Verbs
- Adjectives
- Adverbs
- Univerbation
- Neo-classical word formation
- Construction-dependent morphology
- Morphological productivity
- Compounding
- Inflection
- Inflection and derivation
- Allomorphy
- The interface between phonology and morphology
- Word formation
- Syntax
- Preface and acknowledgements
- Verbs and Verb Phrases
- 1 Characterization and classification
- 2 Projection of verb phrases I:Argument structure
- 3 Projection of verb phrases II:Verb frame alternations
- Introduction
- 3.1. Main types
- 3.2. Alternations involving the external argument
- 3.3. Alternations of noun phrases and PPs
- 3.3.1. Dative/PP alternations (dative shift)
- 3.3.1.1. Dative alternation with aan-phrases (recipients)
- 3.3.1.2. Dative alternation with naar-phrases (goals)
- 3.3.1.3. Dative alternation with van-phrases (sources)
- 3.3.1.4. Dative alternation with bij-phrases (possessors)
- 3.3.1.5. Dative alternation with voor-phrases (benefactives)
- 3.3.1.6. Conclusion
- 3.3.1.7. Bibliographical notes
- 3.3.2. Accusative/PP alternations
- 3.3.3. Nominative/PP alternations
- 3.3.1. Dative/PP alternations (dative shift)
- 3.4. Some apparent cases of verb frame alternation
- 3.5. Bibliographical notes
- 4 Projection of verb phrases IIIa:Selection of clauses/verb phrases
- 5 Projection of verb phrases IIIb:Argument and complementive clauses
- Introduction
- 5.1. Finite argument clauses
- 5.2. Infinitival argument clauses
- 5.3. Complementive clauses
- 6 Projection of verb phrases IIIc:Complements of non-main verbs
- 7 Projection of verb phrases IIId:Verb clusters
- 8 Projection of verb phrases IV: Adverbial modification
- 9 Word order in the clause I:General introduction
- 10 Word order in the clause II:Position of the finite verb (verb-first/second)
- 11 Word order in the clause III:Clause-initial position (wh-movement)
- Introduction
- 11.1. The formation of V1- and V2-clauses
- 11.2. Clause-initial position remains (phonetically) empty
- 11.3. Clause-initial position is filled
- 12 Word order in the clause IV:Postverbal field (extraposition)
- 13 Word order in the clause V: Middle field (scrambling)
- 14 Main-clause external elements
- Nouns and Noun Phrases
- 1 Characterization and classification
- 2 Projection of noun phrases I: complementation
- Introduction
- 2.1. General observations
- 2.2. Prepositional and nominal complements
- 2.3. Clausal complements
- 2.4. Bibliographical notes
- 3 Projection of noun phrases II: modification
- Introduction
- 3.1. Restrictive and non-restrictive modifiers
- 3.2. Premodification
- 3.3. Postmodification
- 3.3.1. Adpositional phrases
- 3.3.2. Relative clauses
- 3.3.3. Infinitival clauses
- 3.3.4. A special case: clauses referring to a proposition
- 3.3.5. Adjectival phrases
- 3.3.6. Adverbial postmodification
- 3.4. Bibliographical notes
- 4 Projection of noun phrases III: binominal constructions
- Introduction
- 4.1. Binominal constructions without a preposition
- 4.2. Binominal constructions with a preposition
- 4.3. Bibliographical notes
- 5 Determiners: articles and pronouns
- Introduction
- 5.1. Articles
- 5.2. Pronouns
- 5.3. Bibliographical notes
- 6 Numerals and quantifiers
- 7 Pre-determiners
- Introduction
- 7.1. The universal quantifier al 'all' and its alternants
- 7.2. The pre-determiner heel 'all/whole'
- 7.3. A note on focus particles
- 7.4. Bibliographical notes
- 8 Syntactic uses of noun phrases
- Adjectives and Adjective Phrases
- 1 Characteristics and classification
- 2 Projection of adjective phrases I: Complementation
- 3 Projection of adjective phrases II: Modification
- 4 Projection of adjective phrases III: Comparison
- 5 Attributive use of the adjective phrase
- 6 Predicative use of the adjective phrase
- 7 The partitive genitive construction
- 8 Adverbial use of the adjective phrase
- 9 Participles and infinitives: their adjectival use
- 10 Special constructions
- Adpositions and adpositional phrases
- 1 Characteristics and classification
- Introduction
- 1.1. Characterization of the category adposition
- 1.2. A formal classification of adpositional phrases
- 1.3. A semantic classification of adpositional phrases
- 1.3.1. Spatial adpositions
- 1.3.2. Temporal adpositions
- 1.3.3. Non-spatial/temporal prepositions
- 1.4. Borderline cases
- 1.5. Bibliographical notes
- 2 Projection of adpositional phrases: Complementation
- 3 Projection of adpositional phrases: Modification
- 4 Syntactic uses of the adpositional phrase
- 5 R-pronominalization and R-words
- 1 Characteristics and classification
- Phonology
-
- General
- Phonology
- Segment inventory
- Phonotactics
- Phonological Processes
- Assimilation
- Vowel nasalization
- Syllabic sonorants
- Final devoicing
- Fake geminates
- Vowel hiatus resolution
- Vowel reduction introduction
- Schwa deletion
- Schwa insertion
- /r/-deletion
- d-insertion
- {s/z}-insertion
- t-deletion
- Intrusive stop formation
- Breaking
- Vowel shortening
- h-deletion
- Replacement of the glide w
- Word stress
- Clitics
- Allomorphy
- Orthography of Frisian
- Morphology
- Inflection
- Word formation
- Derivation
- Prefixation
- Infixation
- Suffixation
- Nominal suffixes
- Verbal suffixes
- Adjectival suffixes
- Adverbial suffixes
- Numeral suffixes
- Interjectional suffixes
- Onomastic suffixes
- Conversion
- Compositions
- Derivation
- Syntax
- Verbs and Verb Phrases
- Characteristics and classification
- Unergative and unaccusative subjects
- Evidentiality
- To-infinitival clauses
- Predication and noun incorporation
- Ellipsis
- Imperativus-pro-Infinitivo
- Expression of irrealis
- Embedded Verb Second
- Agreement
- Negation
- Nouns & Noun Phrases
- Classification
- Complementation
- Modification
- Partitive noun constructions
- Referential partitive constructions
- Partitive measure nouns
- Numeral partitive constructions
- Partitive question constructions
- Nominalised quantifiers
- Kind partitives
- Partitive predication with prepositions
- Bare nominal attributions
- Articles and names
- Pronouns
- Quantifiers and (pre)determiners
- Interrogative pronouns
- R-pronouns
- Syntactic uses
- Adjective Phrases
- Characteristics and classification
- Complementation
- Modification and degree quantification
- Comparison by degree
- Comparative
- Superlative
- Equative
- Attribution
- Agreement
- Attributive adjectives vs. prenominal elements
- Complex adjectives
- Noun ellipsis
- Co-occurring adjectives
- Predication
- Partitive adjective constructions
- Adverbial use
- Participles and infinitives
- Adposition Phrases
- Characteristics and classification
- Complementation
- Modification
- Intransitive adpositions
- Predication
- Preposition stranding
- Verbs and Verb Phrases
-
- General
- Morphology
- Morphology
- 1 Word formation
- 1.1 Compounding
- 1.1.1 Compounds and their heads
- 1.1.2 Special types of compounds
- 1.1.2.1 Affixoids
- 1.1.2.2 Coordinative compounds
- 1.1.2.3 Synthetic compounds and complex pseudo-participles
- 1.1.2.4 Reduplicative compounds
- 1.1.2.5 Phrase-based compounds
- 1.1.2.6 Elative compounds
- 1.1.2.7 Exocentric compounds
- 1.1.2.8 Linking elements
- 1.1.2.9 Separable Complex Verbs and Particle Verbs
- 1.1.2.10 Noun Incorporation Verbs
- 1.1.2.11 Gapping
- 1.2 Derivation
- 1.3 Minor patterns of word formation
- 1.1 Compounding
- 2 Inflection
- 1 Word formation
- Morphology
- Syntax
- Adjectives and adjective phrases (APs)
- 0 Introduction to the AP
- 1 Characteristics and classification of APs
- 2 Complementation of APs
- 3 Modification and degree quantification of APs
- 4 Comparison by comparative, superlative and equative
- 5 Attribution of APs
- 6 Predication of APs
- 7 The partitive adjective construction
- 8 Adverbial use of APs
- 9 Participles and infinitives as APs
- Nouns and Noun Phrases (NPs)
- 0 Introduction to the NP
- 1 Characteristics and Classification of NPs
- 2 Complementation of NPs
- 3 Modification of NPs
- 3.1 Modification of NP by Determiners and APs
- 3.2 Modification of NP by PP
- 3.3 Modification of NP by adverbial clauses
- 3.4 Modification of NP by possessors
- 3.5 Modification of NP by relative clauses
- 3.6 Modification of NP in a cleft construction
- 3.7 Free relative clauses and selected interrogative clauses
- 4 Partitive noun constructions and constructions related to them
- 4.1 The referential partitive construction
- 4.2 The partitive construction of abstract quantity
- 4.3 The numerical partitive construction
- 4.4 The partitive interrogative construction
- 4.5 Adjectival, nominal and nominalised partitive quantifiers
- 4.6 Kind partitives
- 4.7 Partitive predication with a preposition
- 4.8 Bare nominal attribution
- 5 Articles and names
- 6 Pronouns
- 7 Quantifiers, determiners and predeterminers
- 8 Interrogative pronouns
- 9 R-pronouns and the indefinite expletive
- 10 Syntactic functions of Noun Phrases
- Adpositions and Adpositional Phrases (PPs)
- 0 Introduction to the PP
- 1 Characteristics and classification of PPs
- 2 Complementation of PPs
- 3 Modification of PPs
- 4 Bare (intransitive) adpositions
- 5 Predication of PPs
- 6 Form and distribution of adpositions with respect to staticity and construction type
- 7 Adpositional complements and adverbials
- Verbs and Verb Phrases (VPs)
- 0 Introduction to the VP in Saterland Frisian
- 1 Characteristics and classification of verbs
- 2 Unergative and unaccusative subjects and the auxiliary of the perfect
- 3 Evidentiality in relation to perception and epistemicity
- 4 Types of to-infinitival constituents
- 5 Predication
- 5.1 The auxiliary of being and its selection restrictions
- 5.2 The auxiliary of going and its selection restrictions
- 5.3 The auxiliary of continuation and its selection restrictions
- 5.4 The auxiliary of coming and its selection restrictions
- 5.5 Modal auxiliaries and their selection restrictions
- 5.6 Auxiliaries of body posture and aspect and their selection restrictions
- 5.7 Transitive verbs of predication
- 5.8 The auxiliary of doing used as a semantically empty finite auxiliary
- 5.9 Supplementive predication
- 6 The verbal paradigm, irregularity and suppletion
- 7 Verb Second and the word order in main and embedded clauses
- 8 Various aspects of clause structure
- Adjectives and adjective phrases (APs)
-
- General
- Phonology
- Afrikaans phonology
- Segment inventory
- Overview of Afrikaans vowels
- The diphthongised long vowels /e/, /ø/ and /o/
- The unrounded mid-front vowel /ɛ/
- The unrounded low-central vowel /ɑ/
- The unrounded low-central vowel /a/
- The rounded mid-high back vowel /ɔ/
- The rounded high back vowel /u/
- The rounded and unrounded high front vowels /i/ and /y/
- The unrounded and rounded central vowels /ə/ and /œ/
- The diphthongs /əi/, /œy/ and /œu/
- Overview of Afrikaans consonants
- The bilabial plosives /p/ and /b/
- The alveolar plosives /t/ and /d/
- The velar plosives /k/ and /g/
- The bilabial nasal /m/
- The alveolar nasal /n/
- The velar nasal /ŋ/
- The trill /r/
- The lateral liquid /l/
- The alveolar fricative /s/
- The velar fricative /x/
- The labiodental fricatives /f/ and /v/
- The approximants /ɦ/, /j/ and /ʋ/
- Overview of Afrikaans vowels
- Word stress
- The phonetic properties of stress
- Primary stress on monomorphemic words in Afrikaans
- Background to primary stress in monomorphemes in Afrikaans
- Overview of the Main Stress Rule of Afrikaans
- The short vowels of Afrikaans
- Long vowels in monomorphemes
- Primary stress on diphthongs in monomorphemes
- Exceptions
- Stress shifts in place names
- Stress shift towards word-final position
- Stress pattern of reduplications
- Phonological processes
- Vowel related processes
- Consonant related processes
- Homorganic glide insertion
- Phonology-morphology interface
- Phonotactics
- Morphology
- Syntax
- Afrikaans syntax
- Nouns and noun phrases
- Characteristics of the NP
- Classification of nouns
- Complementation of NPs
- Modification of NPs
- Binominal and partitive constructions
- Referential partitive constructions
- Partitive measure nouns
- Numeral partitive constructions
- Partitive question constructions
- Partitive constructions with nominalised quantifiers
- Partitive predication with prepositions
- Binominal name constructions
- Binominal genitive constructions
- Bare nominal attribution
- Articles and names
- Pronouns
- Quantifiers, determiners and predeterminers
- Syntactic uses of the noun phrase
- Adjectives and adjective phrases
- Characteristics and classification of the AP
- Complementation of APs
- Modification and Degree Quantification of APs
- Comparison by comparative, superlative and equative degree
- Attribution of APs
- Predication of APs
- The partitive adjective construction
- Adverbial use of APs
- Participles and infinitives as adjectives
- Verbs and verb phrases
- Characterisation and classification
- Argument structure
- Verb frame alternations
- Complements of non-main verbs
- Verb clusters
- Complement clauses
- Adverbial modification
- Word order in the clause: Introduction
- Word order in the clause: position of the finite Verb
- Word order in the clause: Clause-initial position
- Word order in the clause: Extraposition and right-dislocation in the postverbal field
- Word order in the middle field
- Emphatic constructions
- Adpositions and adposition phrases
Three different types of intensifiers can be distinguished: amplifiers like zeer'very', which scale upwards from some tacitly assumed standard value or norm, downtoners like vrij'rather', which scale downwards from some tacitly assumed standard value or norm, and neutral intensifiers like min of meer'more or less', which are neutral in this respect.
a. | Amplifiers scale upwards from a tacitly assumed standard value/norm |
b. | Downtoners scale downwards from a tacitly assumed standard value/norm |
c. | Neutral intensifiers are neutral with regard to the tacitly assumed standard value/norm. |
The implied norm can be represented as an interval of the range indicated by the two scalar adjectives, as in (7). The downtoners refer to a certain point or interval on the implied between the neutral zone and the norm, whereas the amplifiers refer to a point/interval at the opposite site of the norm. The neutral intensifiers indicate a point/interval in or in the vicinity of the norm.
The semantic effect of the use of a downtoner can be expressed by making use of the semantic representations introduced in 3.1.1. First, let us assume that of two degrees d1 and d2, d1 is lower than d2 (d1 < d2), if d1 is closer to the neutral zone than d2. And, further, let us refer to the implied norm by means of dn. Now, consider the examples in (8), along with their semantic representations in the primed examples.
a. | Jan is zeer goed. | amplifier | |
Jan is very good |
a'. | ∃d [ GOED (Jan,d) & d > dn] |
b. | Jan is vrij goed. | downtoner | |
Jan is rather good |
b'. | ∃d [ GOED (Jan,d) & d < dn] |
c. | Jan is min of meer goed. | neutral | |
Jan is more or less good |
c'. | ∃d [ GOED (Jan,d) & d ≈ dn] |
The semantic effect of the amplifier zeer'very' can then be described by means of the semantic representation in (8a'). This representation is similar to the semantic representation in (5a) with the addition of the part that expresses that the degree to which Jan is good exceeds the implied norm (d > dn). The semantic effect of the downtoner is expressed in the semantic representation in (8b') by the addition of the part that expresses that the degree to which Jan is good is lower than the implied norm (d < dn). The effect of the neutral intensifier, finally, is expressed by the addition of the part that states that the degree to which Jan is good is approximately equal to the norm (d ≈ dn).
Intensifiers can be of several categories: they can be APs, NPs or PPs. Their categorial status may be clear from their internal structure, their morphological behavior, or from the fact that the same forms can be used in positions that are typical of APs, NPs, or PPs. The intensifier ernstig'seriously' in (9a), for example, is an adjective, which is clear from the following two facts: it can be modified by means of the adverbial intensifiers zeer'very' and vrij'rather', which are never used to modify a noun (cf. the examples in (9a) and (9b)), and it may undergo comparative formation, as in (9a'). Given the presence of the indefinite determiner een'a' and the possibility of adding an attributive adjective such as klein'little', the intensifier een beetje'a bit' in (9b) clearly has the internal makeup of a noun phrase. The presence of the preposition in in example (9c) clearly indicates that the intensifier in hoge mate'to a high degree' is a PP.
a. | Jan is | (zeer/vrij) | ernstig | ziek. | |
Jan is | very/rather | seriously | ill |
a'. | Jan is ernstiger | ziek | dan Peter. | |
Jan is more seriously | ill | than Peter |
b. | Jan is een | (klein/*zeer/*vrij) | beetje | ziek. | |
Jan is a | little/very/rather | bit | ill |
c. | Jan is in hoge mate | ziek. | |
Jan is to high degree | ill | ||
'Jan is ill to a high degree.' |
Many intensifiers cannot easily be classified as belonging to one of the three categories AP, NP, or PP, because the possibilities for modifying them are themselves limited, and their morphological behavior and their internal makeup provide few clues. Following tradition, we call these intensifiers adverbs, although it may be the case that we are in fact dealing with regular adjectives; cf. Chapter 8.
The remainder of this section is organized as follows. We will start the discussion on intensification with the amplifiers (Subsection I), downtoners (Subsection II), and neutral intensifiers (Subsection III). This is followed by a discussion of the interrogative intensifier hoe'how' in Subsection IV. The exclamative element wat, which constitutes a category in its own right, will be discussed in Subsection V.
Amplifiers scale upwards from a tacitly assumed norm. In order for an intensifier to be characterized as an amplifier, we should be able to infer from the combination intensifier + adjective that the state described by the adjective exceeds the assumed norm. This can be tested by placing the modified scalar adjective in the frame shown in (10a), in which co-indexation expresses that the subject of the first clause is coreferential with the subject of the second clause. The element zelfs'even' requires that the following AP scale upwards: the degree d2 implied by the second clause must be higher than the degree d1 implied by the first clause (d2 > d1). If the result is acceptable, we are dealing with an amplifier; if it is not, the modifier is most likely a downtoner. This is illustrated for the amplifier zeer'very' in (10b), and for the downtoner vrij'rather' in (10c).
a. | NPi is A; | pronouni | is zelfs | MODIFIER | A | |
NP is A | is even | |||||
b. | Jan is aardig; | hij | is zelfs | zeer | aardig. | |
Jan is nice | he | is even | very | nice | ||
c. | % | Jan is aardig; | hij | is zelfs | vrij | aardig. |
Jan is nice | he | is even | rather | nice |
The following subsections discuss the categories that may function as an amplifier. Adverbs apart, amplifiers belong to the categories AP and PP.
There are a limited number of elements that function as amplifiers for which it cannot readily be established whether they are APs, NPs or PPs, and which we will refer to as adverbs for convenience. Some examples are given in (11).
a. | heel goed | 'very good' |
b. | hogelijk verbaasd | 'highly amazed' |
c. | hoogst interessant | 'most interesting' |
d. | uitermate gevaarlijk | 'extremely dangerous' |
e. | uiterst belangrijk | 'extremely important' |
f. | zeer zacht | 'very soft' |
The adverb heel'very' is special in that, at least in colloquial speech, it optionally gets the attributive -e ending if it modifies an attributively used adjective ending in -e. This is completely excluded with the other adverbs in (11). This contrast is illustrated in (12).
a. | een | heel/hel-e | aardig-e | jongen | |
a | very | nice | boy |
b. | een | uiterst/*uiterst-e | aardig-e | jongen | |
an | extremely | nice | boy |
The examples in (13) show that the adverbs in (11) cannot be modified themselves, and are normally not used in negative clauses (except in denials of some previously made assertion). In that respect, they differ from the adjectival amplifiers in (20) in Subsection B below.
a. | * | zeer | heel | goed |
very | very | good |
a'. | Dat boek | is (?niet) | heel | goed. | |
that book | is not | very | good |
b. | * | zeer | hogelijk | verbaasd |
very | highly | amazed |
b'. | Jan is (*niet) | hogelijk | verbaasd. | |
Jan is not | highly | amazed |
c. | * | zeer | hoogst | interessant |
very | most | interesting |
c'. | Dat artikel | is (*niet) | hoogst | interessant. | |
that article | is not | most | interesting |
d. | * | heel | uitermate | gevaarlijk |
very | extremely | dangerous |
d'. | Vuurwerk | is (*niet) | uitermate | gevaarlijk. | |
Firework | is not | extremely | dangerous |
e. | * | heel | uiterst | belangrijk |
very | extremely | important |
e'. | Het probleem | is (*niet) | uiterst belangrijk. | |
the problem | is not | extremely important |
f. | * | heel | zeer | zacht |
very | very | soft |
f'. | De deken | is (?niet) | zeer zacht. | |
the blanket | is not | very soft |
The adverbs typisch'typically', specifiek'specifically' and echt'truly' may also belong to this group, but they have the distinguishing property that they combine with relational adjectives, not with scalar set-denoting adjectives (cf. *typisch groot'typically big'). Although as a rule the relational adjectives do not occur in predicative position, addition of these amplifiers generally makes this possible due to the fact that the modified adjective is then construed as a set-denoting adjective referring to some typical property or set of properties; cf. Section 1.3.3. Example (14), for instance, expresses that the cheese under discussion has properties that are characteristic of Dutch cheese.
Deze kaas | is typisch | Nederlands. | ||
this cheese | is typically | Dutch |
The group of adjectival amplifiers is extremely large and seems to constitute an open class to which new forms can be readily added. The adjectival amplifiers can be divided into two groups on the basis of whether the have retained their original meaning.
The adjectival amplifiers in (15) resemble the adverbs in (11) in that they only have an amplifying effect; their original meaning, which is given in the glosses, has more or less disappeared.
a. | knap | moeilijk | |
handsomely | difficult |
e. | verschrikkelijk | geinig | |
terribly | funny |
b. | flink | sterk | |
firmly | strong |
f. | vreselijk | aardig | |
terribly | nice |
c. | oneindig | klein | |
infinitely | small |
g. | waanzinnig | goed | |
insanely | good |
d. | ontzettend | aardig | |
terribly | nice |
h. | geweldig | lief | |
tremendously | sweet |
Like the adverbs in (11), the amplifiers in (15) cannot be amplified themselves, and cannot occur in negative clauses. Two examples are given in (16).
a. | * | heel | vreselijk | geinig |
very | terribly | funny |
a'. | Jan is (*niet) | vreselijk | geinig. | |
Jan is not | terribly | funny |
b. | * | erg waanzinnig goed |
very insanely good |
b'. | Jan is (*niet) | waanzinnig | goed. | |
Jan is not | insanely | good |
We can probably include the evaluative adjectives in (17) in the same group as the adjectives in (15): the examples in (18) show that they cannot be amplified or occur in negative clauses either.
a. | jammerlijk | slecht | |
deplorably | bad |
c. | verduiveld | goed | |
devilishly | good |
b. | verdomd | leuk | |
damned | nice |
d. | verrekt | moeilijk | |
damned | difficult |
a. | * | erg jammerlijk slecht |
very deplorably bad |
a'. | Dat boek is (*niet) | jammerlijk | slecht. | |
that book is not | deplorably | bad |
b. | * | zeer | verdomd | leuk |
very | damned | nice |
b'. | Dat boek is (*niet) | verdomd | leuk. | |
that book is not | damned | nice |
However, example (17d) is somewhat special since the amplifier verrekt can be intensified by the addition of an -e ending, as illustrated in (19a). As the AP verrekte moeilijk is used in predicative position, this ending on verrekte cannot, of course, be an attributive ending. Actually, the use of the additional schwa has a degrading effect if the AP is used attributively, as is shown in (19b).
a. | Dit | is verrekte | moeilijk. | |
this | is damned | difficult |
b. | *? | de | verrekte | moeilijke | opgave |
the | damned | difficult | exercise |
The adjectival amplifiers of the second group have more or less retained the meaning they have in attributive or predicative position. As a result of this, giving a satisfactory translation in English is occasionally quite difficult. Some examples are given in (20) and (21).
a. | druk | bezig | |
lively | busy |
c. | hard | nodig | |
badly | needed |
b. | erg | ziek | |
badly | ill |
d. | hartstochtelijk | verliefd | |
passionately | in.love |
a. | absurd | klein | |
absurdly | small |
f. | buitengewoon | groot | |
extraordinarily | big |
b. | afgrijselijk | lelijk | |
atrociously | ugly |
g. | enorm | groot | |
enormously | big |
c. | behoorlijk | dronken | |
quite | drunk |
h. | extra | goedkoop | |
extra | cheap |
d. | belachelijk | groot | |
absurdly | big |
i. | ongelofelijk | mooi | |
unbelievably | handsome |
e. | bijzonder | groot | |
especially | big |
j. | opmerkelijk | mooi | |
strikingly | beautiful |
The use of the adjectival amplifiers in (20) and (21) is very productive, although it should be observed that they cannot be used to modify an adjective of the same form. This is illustrated in (22).
a. | erg/*bijzonder | bijzonder | |
very | special |
b. | bijzonder/*erg | erg | |
very | bad |
Note also that there are also adjectival modifiers that have fully retained their lexical meaning, but whose main function is not intensification; cf. Section 8.3. Some examples are given in (23).
a. | De tafel | is onherstelbaar | beschadigd. | |
the table | is irreparably | damaged |
b. | De soep | is lekker zout. | |
the soup | is tastily salty |
The main semantic difference between the two sets of amplifiers in (20) and (21) is that amplification is less strong with the former than with the latter: the amplifiers in (20) express that the state denoted by the modified adjective holds to a high degree, whereas the amplifiers in (21) express that the state holds to an extremely high or even the highest degree. In other words, the amplifiers in (20) are more or less on a par with the prototypical amplifier zeer'very', whereas the amplifying force of the amplifiers in (21) exceeds the amplifying force of zeer. This can be made clear by means of the frame in (24a), in which the element zelfs'even' requires that the second AP scale upward with respect to the first one; cf. the discussion of (10). Given that the amplifiers in (20) cannot be felicitously used in this frame, we may conclude that their amplifying force does not surpass the amplifying force of zeer. The fact that the amplifiers in (21) can be readily used in this frame, on the other hand, shows that their amplifying force is stronger than that of zeer.
a. | NPi is zeer A; NP is very | pronouni | is zelfs is even | MODIFIER | A. | |
b. | % | Jan is zeer ziek. Jan is very ill | Hij he | is zelfs is even | erg very | ziek. ill |
c. | Gebouw B is zeer lelijk. building B is very ugly | Het it | is zelfs is even | afgrijselijk atrociously | lelijk. ugly |
This difference between the amplifiers in (20) and (21) is also reflected in their gradability. The examples in (25) show that the amplifiers in (20) can themselves be amplified by, e.g., the adverbs in (11) and undergo comparative/superlative formation.
a. | een | heel | erg | zieke | jongen | |
a | very | very/badly | ill | boy |
a'. | Jan is erger | ziek | dan Peter. | |
Jan is more.very/worse | ill | than Peter |
a''. | Jan is hetergst | ziek. | |
Jan is the worst | ill |
b. | Een nieuwe computer | is heel hard | nodig. | |
a new computer | is very badly | needed |
b'. | Een nieuwe computer | is harder | nodig | dan een nieuwe printer. | |
a new computer | is more.badly | needed | than a new printer |
b''. | Een nieuwe computer | is het hardst | nodig. | |
a new computer | is the most.badly | needed |
The examples in (26), on the other hand, show that amplification of the amplifiers in (21) is excluded and that the same thing holds for comparative and superlative formation.
a. | *? | een | heel afgrijselijk | lelijk | gebouw |
a | very atrociously | ugly | building |
a'. | * | Gebouw B | is afgrijselijker | lelijk | dan gebouw C. |
building B | is more atrociously | ugly | than building C |
a''. | * | Gebouw B | is het afgrijselijkst | lelijk. |
building B | is the most atrociously | ugly |
b. | * | Dit boek | is uiterst opmerkelijk | mooi. |
this book | is extremely strikingly | beautiful |
b'. | * | Dit boek | is opmerkelijker | mooi | dan dat boek. |
this book | is more strikingly | beautiful | than that book |
b''. | * | Dit boek | is het opmerkelijkst | mooi. |
this book | is the most strikingly | beautiful |
It is important to note that the unacceptability of the examples in (26) is not due to some idiosyncratic property of the adjectives; modification and comparative and superlative formation are both possible if these adjectives are used attributively or predicatively, as is demonstrated in (27).
a. | een | heel afgrijselijk | gebouw | |
a | very atrocious | building |
a'. | Gebouw B | is afgrijselijker | dan gebouw C. | |
building B | is more atrocious | than building C |