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4.2.2.Supplementives

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The supplementive use of adpositional phrases is very restricted. In traditional grammar, it is assumed that only als-phrases and absolute met-constructions are used in this function. Some examples are given in (61); the primeless examples illustrate the relation of “simultaneousness” and the primed ones the relation of “material implication”.

a.	Als student	was hij	lid van de studentenvereniging.
	as a student	was he	member of the studentsʼ.union
	'When he was a student, he was a member of the studentsunion.'

a'.	Als student	kan	je	daar	goedkoper	eten.
	as a student	can	one	there	cheaper	eat
	'If one is a student, one gets dinner cheaper there.'

b.	Met krulspelden in zijn haar	kwam	Jan de kamer	binnen.
	with curlers in his hair	came	Jan the room	into
	'Jan entered the room while he had curlers in his hair.'

b'.	Met krulspelden in zijn haar	voelt	Jan zich	wat	verlegen.
	with curlers in his hair	feels	Jan REFL.	somewhat	embarrassed
	'When Jan has curlers in his hair, he feels somewhat embarrassed.'

We may add to this that predicative PP idioms like in de war'confused' and over zijn toeren'upset' can also be used as supplementives, which need not surprise us given that such PP idioms behave like adjectives in many respects; cf. Section 3.3, sub I.

a.	Jan stond volkomen in de war	op het station.
	Jan stood completely confused	at the station
	'Totally confused, Jan stood at the station.'

b.	Jan	vertrok	volkomen	over zijn toeren.
	Jan	left	completely	over his toeren
	'Jan left totally cracked up.'

Although traditional grammar analyzes the spatial adpositional phrases in (63) as adverbial phrases, it seems likely that they, too, can be used as supplementives. Example (63) is at least threefold ambiguous: it may be the case that Jan was in the garden while observing the moles, or that the moles were in the garden while being observed, or that the event of observing took place in the garden. Since the characteristic of the supplementive is that it is predicated of the subject or the direct object of the clause, we should be dealing with the supplementive use of the adpositional phrase under the first two readings of (63); only under the third reading are we dealing with an adverbially used PP.

dat	Jan de mollen	gisteren	in de tuin	observeerde.
that	Jan the moles	yesterday	in the garden	observed
'that Jan observed the moles in the garden yesterday.'

The suggestion that spatial adpositional phrases may also be used as supplementives is supported by the fact that these phrases may express a relation of “material implication”; example (64) can be paraphrased as “when Jan is in school, he is always very obedient”. Since, to the best of our knowledge, the contrast between the supplementive and adverbial reading of spatial adpositional phrases is not described in the literature, we will not discuss it any further.

Op school	is Jan altijd	zeer	gehoorzaam.
at school	is Jan always	very	obedient
'When Jan is at school, heʼs always very obedient.'

What is extensively described in the literature is the distinction between the supplementive and the adverbial use of the als-phrases; cf. Haeseryn (1997). Consider the examples in (65). In (65a) we are dealing with a supplementive als-phrase: the example expresses that Janʼs being a student and Janʼs living in lodgings took place simultaneously. In (65b), on the other hand, the als-phrase is used as an adverbial phrase expressing a comparison: Jan is living in lodgings as if he were a student. The two als-phrases differ in that the complement of the supplementive phrase is the bare noun phrase student, whereas the complement of the adverbial phrase contains an indefinite article: een student. Furthermore, modification by the attributive adjective echt is only possible in the adverbial construction.

a.	Als	(*echte)	student	woonde	hij	op kamers.	supplementive
	as	true	student	lived	he	in rooms
	'When he was a student, he was in lodgings.'

b.	Als	een	(echte)	student	woonde	hij	op kamers.	adverbial
	like	a	true	student	lived	he	in rooms
	'He lived in lodgings like a (true) student.'

Another difference between the two uses of als-phrases is that the complement of the supplementive phrase does not agree in number with the noun phrase it is predicated of. In order to obtain the supplementive reading in (66a), the complement of als must be singular, despite the fact that the noun phrase the als-phrase is predicated of (the subject of the clause) is plural. The complement of the adverbial phrase in (66b), on the other hand, must be plural as well.

a.	Als student/#studenten	woonden	zij	op kamers.	supplementive
	as student/students	lived	they	in rooms
	'When they were students, they were in lodgings.'

b.	Als studenten/*een student	woonden	zij	op kamers.	adverbial
	like students/a student	lived	they	in rooms
	'They lived in lodgings like students.'

If the complement of the adverbial phrase denotes a collective, like stel'couple' in (65), number agreement is not needed for the adverbial reading to arise. The difference between the supplementive and adverbial use of the als-phrase can then again be detected by the absence or presence of the indefinite article een'a'.

a.	Als getrouwd stel	leefden	zij	samen.	supplementive
	as married couple	lived	they	together
	'When they were a married couple they lived together.'

b.	Als een getrouwd stel	leefden	zij	samen.	adverbial
	like a married couple	lived	they	together
	'They lived together as if they were a married couple.'

The following subsections will discuss the behavior of the supplementive adpositional phrases with respect to topicalization, scrambling, PP-over-V and R-extraction.

I. Topicalization and scrambling
II. PP-over-V
III. R-extraction

[+] I. Topicalization and scrambling

The primeless examples in (61) and the (a)-examples in (65) to (67) have amply illustrated that topicalization of the supplementive is possible. It is, however, difficult to decide whether scrambling of supplementives is possible, since it is not clear what the base position of the supplementive is. The only thing we know is that it is generated in some position in the middle field of the clause, which is clear from the fact that if the supplementive is not topicalized, it must follow the argument it is predicated of. In (68a), the supplementive follows both the subject and the object of the clause and it may be predicated of either of the two; the reading in which the supplementive is predicated of the object Jan may be the most salient one for some speakers, but example (68a') clearly shows that an intervening object does not block the predication relation between the supplementive and the subject. In (68b), on the other hand, the supplementive precedes the object, so that it can only be predicated of the subject.

a.	dat	ik	Jan als student	erg aardig	vond.
	that	I	Jan as student	very nice	considered
	'When Jan was a student, I considered him to be very nice.'
	'When I was a student, I considered Jan to be very nice.'

a'.	dat	ik	dat boek	als student	erg mooi	vond.
	that	I	that book	as student	very beautiful	considered
	'When I was a student, I considered that book to be very beautiful.'

b.	dat	ik	als student	Jan erg aardig	vond.
	that	I	as student	Jan very nice	considered
	'When I was a student, I considered Jan to be very nice.'

Since it is likely that the meaning difference between the primeless examples in (68) is related to differences in the underlying position of the supplementive phrase, it will be clear that it would be hard to establish that such phrases can be scrambled. Note that whatever the base position of the supplementive may be, it is clear that it must precede the complementive; cf. *dat ik Jan erg aardig als student vond.

[+] II. PP-over-V

The examples in (69) show that PP-over-V of the supplementive seems possible. Like (68c), example (69a) seems to be ambiguous between a reading in which the supplementive is predicated of the object and a reading in which it is predicated of the subject of the clause. The reading in which the supplementive is predicated of the object may again be the most salient one for some speakers, but (69b) clearly shows that an intervening object does not block the predication relation between the supplementive and the subject.

a.	dat	ik	Jan erg aardig	vond	als student.
	that	I	Jan very nice	considered	as student
	'When Jan was a student, I considered Jan to be very nice.'
	'When I was a student, I considered Jan to be very nice.'

b.	dat	ik	dat boek	erg mooi	vond	als student.
	that	I	that book	very beautiful	considered	as student
	'When I was a student, I considered that book to be very beautiful.'

[+] III. R-extraction

R-extraction is excluded, but that need not surprise us given that als never allows it.

a.		dat	ik	Jan als student	erg aardig	vond.
		that	I	Jan as student	very nice	considered

b.	*	dat	ik	er	Jan als	erg aardig	vond.
		that	I	there	Jan as	very nice	considered

References:

Haeseryn, Walter, Romijn, Kirsten, Geerts, Guido, Rooij, Jaap de & Toorn, Maarten C. van den1997Algemene Nederlandse spraakkunstGroningenNijhoff

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About this article

Author(s): Hans Broekhuis

Category: Dutch Syntax

Keywords: Adpositional PhraseBare Noun PhraseNoun PhrasePP-over-VPredicative use of the Adpositional PhraseR-extractionScramblingSupplementiveTopicalization

Version: 1.0, December 2015

Version history:

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

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