- 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
This section discusses a number of prototypical cases of extra-sentential pragmatic markers. We will see that these markers may have a quite different syntactic status: they may be lexical items, phrases and even clauses. These markers do not seem to have clear truth-conditional content but instead perform a wide range of pragmatic functions; they are indexical in that they point to some aspect of the discourse: the addressee, states of affairs occurring during discourse and earlier statements, the speaker’s assumptions, intentions, emotions, etc.
Pragmatic markers are generally highly conventionalized, as is clear from the fact that Haeseryn et al. (1997:ch.11) provides a long list of such markers with their conventional pragmatic value. Example (8) provides a small selection of these cases; the subsections below will modify the characterization of some of the pragmatic functions given in (8), but this need not concern us here.
disapproval – foei!'shame!'; affirmation - ja(wel)'yes'; denial - (wel) nee'no'; doubt – tja'well'; indifference; nou en?'so what?'; agreement – oké'O.K.'; inducement – toe nou!'come on!; curse – 'barst!' 'go to hell!'; request for clarification/repetition – hè/sorry?; request for confirmation– nietwaar? (with a meaning comparable to English tag questions); salutations: goeiedag/hoi!'good day/hey!'; apologies – pardon'sorry'; expression of emotion like goddank'thank god' (relief), sjonge'well' (surprise), hoera'hooray' (joy); etc.disapproval – foei!'shame!'; affirmation - ja(wel)'yes'; denial - (wel) nee'no'; doubt – tja'well'; indifference; nou en?'so what?'; agreement – oké'O.K.'; inducement – toe nou!'come on!; curse – 'barst!' 'go to hell!'; request for clarification/repetition – hè/sorry?; request for confirmation– nietwaar? (with a meaning comparable to English tag questions); salutations: goeiedag/hoi!'good day/hey!'; apologies – pardon'sorry'; expression of emotion like goddank'thank god' (relief), sjonge'well' (surprise), hoera'hooray' (joy); etc. |
We will briefly discuss some of these functions in the following subsection for further clarification. Subsection I starts by discussing pragmatic markers that can be used for addressing some (potential) discourse participant or calling their attention. Subsection II discusses a specific set of pragmatic markers that help to organize the discourse by relating utterances to some earlier or later utterance (or state of affairs), accommodate turn-taking, etc. Subsection III discusses a set of pragmatic markers used for responding to previous utterances, that is, answering, confirming, contradicting. etc. Subsection IV concludes with a discussion of pragmatic markers that are used for expressing the speaker’s emotions.
Proper names such as Jan are typically used for addressing people, but the same holds for nouns indicating kinship relations or professions; see Section N5.1.2.2 for details. The examples in (9) show that such vocatives do not have to precede the sentence, but can also follow it.
a. | Jan, | kan | je | me even | helpen? | |
Jan | can | you | me a.moment | help | ||
'Jan, can you help me a moment. please?' |
a'. | Kan je me even helpen, Jan? |
b. | Papa/Dokter, | wilt | u | een koekje? | |
daddy/doctor | want | you | a biscuit | ||
'Daddy/Doctor, would you like a biscuit.' |
b'. | Wilt u een koekje, Papa/dokter? |
There is no immediate reason for assuming that vocatives are syntactically connected to the sentence, as they can also be used as independent utterances, e.g., when they are used to call someone: Jan! That vocatives are not syntactically connected to the sentence is also clear from the fact that they cannot bind reflexive pronouns, which must have an antecedent within their minimal clause.
* | Jani, | ik | heb | zichzelfi | gezien. | |
Jan | I | have | himself | seen |
In this respect they are similar to salutations (hoi'hi'), interjections (hé!'hey!') and hesitation markers (eh'er'), which can likewise be used as independent utterances. It should be noted, however, that there is a word order restriction regarding interjections and vocatives in that the former must precede the latter. It is not clear whether this shows that vocatives are more intimately related to the following sentence, as the independent uses of Hey, Jan! and Eh, Jan? exhibit a similar word order restriction.
a. | Hé, | Jan, | kan | je | me even | helpen? | |
hey | Jan | can | you | me a.moment | help | ||
'Hey, Jan, can you help me a moment?' |
b. | Eh, | Jan, | kan | je | me even | helpen? | |
er | Jan | can | you | me a.moment | help | ||
'Er, Jan, can you help me a moment, please?' |
It is not the case that vocatives are always closest to the following sentence; the examples in (12) show that they can be preceded or followed by phrases such as zeg/kijk (eens), which are likewise used for drawing attention.
a. | Zeg | (eens), | Jan, | kan | je | me even | helpen? | |
say | prt | Jan | can | you | me a.moment | help | ||
'Hey, Jan, can you help me a moment?' |
a'. | Jan, zeg (eens), kan je me even helpen? |
b. | Kijk | (eens), | Jan, | daar | loopt | een eekhoorn! | |
look | prt | Jan | there | walks | a squirrel | ||
'Look, Jan, there is a squirrel over there!' |
b'. | Jan, kijk (eens), daar loopt een eekhoorn! |
It should be pointed out, however, that the structure of the examples in (12) is not very clear. First, note that zeg/kijk (eens) appears to be a regular imperative clause, which is clear from the fact that at least kijk (eens) can also be used as an independent utterance: this suggests that we might be dealing with two juxtaposed clauses. If so, the vocatives in the primed examples may belong to the imperative, as is in fact also suggested by the acceptability of Jan, kijk eens!. It is therefore not so obvious that the primed examples show that vocatives can be separated from their associate sentences by other extra-sentential elements. The primeless examples are potentially ambiguous for the same reason, as the vocatives can be construed either with the preceding imperative or with the following interrogative/declarative clause.
The discussion above has shown that elements used for addressing and drawing attention can often be used independently. Despite the orthographic convention of using a comma, we might therefore be dealing with separate utterances or, alternatively, with some sort of juxtaposition.
One of the prototypical functions of sentence-external pragmatic markers is that they help in organizing the discourse by pointing to some earlier statement or some state of affairs. Diewald (2009) distinguishes two different kinds, which she refers to as text-connective and discourse markers, respectively.
Coordinating conjunctions like en'and', maar'but', and dus'therefore' can be used as text-connective markers. These elements are quite common in the initial position of an utterance but it is questionable that they are really sentence-external: we may simply be dealing with a coordinate structure, with the first conjunct left implicit: [[Ø] conjunction [clause]]. The speaker may leave the first conjunct implicit for reasons of economy, as the implication is that the hearer is able to provide a reasonable interpretation of the first conjunct. Examples such as given in (13) are typically used to express that the speaker has a specific attitude towards the truth of the proposition expressed by the second conjunct: (13a) expresses that the speaker is uncertain about the truth value of this proposition, (13b) that he has reasons to believe that it is true, and (13c) that he has reasons to conclude that it is true. The question intonation of these sentences conveys that the speaker requests further information about the actual truth value of the proposition.
a. | En | heb | je | het boek | gekocht? | |
and | have | you | the book | bought | ||
'And did you buy the book?' |
b. | Maar | jij | komt | toch | ook? | |
but | you | come | prt | too | ||
'But you're coming too, aren't you?' |
c. | Dus | Peter | is boos | vertrokken? | |
so | Peter | is angry | left | ||
'So, Peter has left angry?' |
Foolen & Van der Wouden (2011) claim that coordinating conjunctions are only used in the coda of an utterance if they are followed by a hesitation marker. In many cases, we can see the use of this marker as an invitation by the speaker to the addressee to complete the missing part.
a. | Peter is erg knap, | maar | uh. | |
Peter is very handsome | but | er |
b. | Mijn ouders | zijn | weg, | dus | uh. | |
my parents | are | out | so | er |
The hearer may use conjunctions in order to ask for more information (A: Peter is ziek'Peter is ill' B: En?'And what does that mean for us?'), further explication (A: Ik heb geen tijd'Iʼve got no time' B: Dus?'So what now?'), or to express that he has the feeling that some assertion has a negative implication (A: Jan is erg knap'Jan is very handsome'. B: Maar?'But is there some downside perhaps?').
While text-connective markers can be considered to be syntactically incorporated, namely in a coordinate structure, this does not hold for discourse markers, which are often prosodically separated from the following sentence by a distinct intonation break. The markers echter'however' and immers'after all' in (15) sound somewhat formal and bookish; the former implies a contrast while the latter introduces a sentence that provides a motivation for an earlier utterance; these markers are given here in utterance-initial position but they can also occur in final position. Note that these elements may also occur in clause-internal position, but in such cases they can be analyzed as clause adverbials; cf. Section 8.2.2.
a. | Ik | wil | wel | komen. | Echter, | ik | weet | niet | of | ik | kan. | |
I | want | prt | come | However | I | know | not | whether | I | can | ||
'I do want to come. However, I donʼt know whether I can.' |
b. | Jan | helpt | je | wel. | Immers, | hij is thuis. | |
Jan | helps | you | prt | after all | he is home | ||
'Jan will help you. He is at home, after all.' |
The initial markers trouwens'by the way/incidentally' and overigens'for that matter' are quite common in colloquial speech: they indicate that the proposition in the accompanying sentence involves a side issue. In (16), the marker trouwens is given the utterance-initial position but it can also be used in medial and final position.
Peter komt | niet. | Trouwens, | dat is niet de eerste keer. | ||
Peter comes | not | by.the.way | that is not the first time | ||
'Peter wonʼt come. Thatʼs not the first time, by the way.' |
Discourse markers like ik bedoel'I mean', kortom'in short' and eerlijk gezegd'frankly' indicate that the sentence following it is of a special nature: the sentence intends to clarify or to summarize the earlier discourse, or is of a confidential nature.
Kortom: | Ik | doe | het | niet. | ||
in.short | I | do | it | not | ||
'In short, I wonʼt do it.' |
Interjections like tja and aha may express a certain opinion of a preceding utterance or some state of affairs occurring at speech time: tja indicates that it is an unexpected or unwanted but open-and-shut case, while aha indicates that it is illuminating in one way or another.
a. | Marie is niet | hier. | Tja, | dan | ga | ik | maar | naar huis | |
Marie is not | here | well | then | go | I | prt | to home | ||
'Marie isnʼt here. Well, then I'd better go home.' |
b. | Marie is niet | hier. | Aha, | dan | zit | ze | bij Peter. | |
Marie is not | here | Ah | then | sits | she | with Peter | ||
'Marie isnʼt here. Ah, then sheʼll be at Peters place.' |
Discourse markers having the word order of an interrogative clause such as Weet je'you know' or an imperative such as Luister eens!'Listen!' are often used to introduce a new discourse topic.
a. | Weet je: | Ik moet | straks | weg | en ... | |
know you | I must | later | away | and | ||
'You know, I have to leave soon and ...' |
b. | Luister | eens: | Peter komt | straks en ... | |
listen | prt | Peter comes | later | ||
'Listen, Peter will come soon and ...' |
Discourse markers at the end of the utterance often have a special status in that they facilitate turn-taking. Discourse markers like toch or niet (waar) elicitate a reply from the hearer and thus invite him to take the next turn: Peter is al vertrokken, toch/niet(waar)?'Peter has already left, hasnʼt he?' The next subsection will discuss discourse markers that may show up in the new turn.
The polar elements ja'yes' and nee'no' are prototypically used as answers to yes/no-questions. This is illustrated in the (a)-examples in (20): the polar elements indicate whether or not the open proposition expressed by the question is applicable to the domain of discourse. Such polar phrases can, however, also be used to affirm or to contradict propositions given earlier in the discourse: the (b)-examples provide an instance in which affirmation/contradiction is consciously elicitated by the first speaker by virtue of the discourse marker toch. The polar phrases ja/nee in (20) can be used as independent utterances but they can also be followed by a clause expressing the propositional content of the reply in full.
a. | Is Peter al | vertrokken? | |
Is Peter already | left | ||
'Has Peter left already?' |
b. | Peter is al | vertrokken, | toch? | |
Peter is already | left | prt | ||
'Peter has already left, hasnʼt he?' |
a'. | Ja, | hij | is | al | vertrokken. | |
yes | he | is | already | left |
b'. | Ja, | hij | is | al | vertrokken. | |
yes | he | is | already | left |
a''. | Nee, | hij | is nog | niet | vertrokken. | |
no | he | is yet | not | left |
b''. | Nee, | hij | is nog | niet | vertrokken. | |
no | he | is yet | not | left |
It is not easy to determine the precise meaning contribution of ja and nee in examples like those in (20). It seems too simple to say that ja expresses confirmation and nee expresses denial of some presupposition held by the speaker. This is clear from the fact that the negative counterparts of the examples in (20a&b), which suggest the opposite presuppositions, may trigger exactly the same answers. We ignore the fact that jawel may be preferred to ja in (21b'); we return to this in our discussion of (26).
a. | Is Peter nog | niet | vertrokken? | |
Is Peter yet | not | left | ||
'Hasnʼt Peter left yet?' |
b. | Peter is nog | niet | vertrokken, | toch? | |
Peter is yet | not | left | prt | ||
'Peter hasnʼt already left, has he?' |
a'. | Ja, | hij | is | al | vertrokken. | |
yes | he | is | already | left |
b'. | Ja(wel), | hij | is | al | vertrokken. | |
yes | he | is | already | left |
a''. | Nee, | hij | is nog | niet | vertrokken. | |
no | he | is yet | not | left |
b''. | Nee, | hij | is nog | niet | vertrokken. | |
no | he | is yet | not | left |
The fact that the sentences in the primed examples above can be omitted without a clear change of meaning suggests that ja and nee are in a sense shorthand for, respectively, the positive and the negative sentences following them. One way of formally accounting for this is by saying that these sentences are syntactically present but elided if these polar elements are used independently; See Van Craenenbroeck (2010:ch.15) for related discussion. There are other reasons for assuming this. First, the examples in (22) show that polar ja and nee can easily be coordinated with full sentences; this would immediately follow if the polar elements are followed by phonetically empty sentences.
a. | Is Peter al | vertrokken? | |
Is Peter already | left | ||
'Has Peter left already?' |
b. | Ja, | maar | hij | komt | zo | terug. | |
yes | but | he | comes | soon | back | ||
'Yes, but heʼll be back soon.' |
b'. | Nee, | maar | hij | heeft | wel | zijn jas | al | aan. | |
no | but | he | has | prt | his coat | already | on | ||
'No, but heʼs put his coat on already.' |
Secondly, polar ja and nee can also be combined with a non-main clause, as shown by the answers to the question in (23a); this again follows if they are followed by phonetically empty sentences.
a. | Ben | je | morgen | hier? | |
are | you | tomorrow | here | ||
'Will you be here tomorrow?' |
b. | Ja, | omdat | ik | mijn werk | wil | afmaken. | |
yes | because | I | my work | want | prt.-finish | ||
'Yes, because I want to finish my work.' |
b'. | Nee, | tenzij | je | dat | wil. | |
no | unless | you | that | want | ||
'No, unless you want me to.' |
Thirdly, if we are indeed dealing with ellipsis, we would expect it to be subject to the recoverability condition on deletion: elements that cannot be recovered from the context must be overtly expressed. The examples in (24) suggest that this is indeed the case; see Pope (1971) for a larger sample of English examples. Note in passing that there is little or no reason for assuming that waarschijnlijk morgen and natuurlijk niet are constituents, which gives the ellipsis analysis even greater credibility.
a. | Ben | je | deze week | hier? | |
are | you | this week | here | ||
'Will you be here this week?' |
b. | Ja, | waarschijnlijk | ben | ik | morgen | hier. | |
yes | probably | am | I | tomorrow | here | ||
'Yes, probably tomorrow.' |
b'. | Nee, | natuurlijk | ben | ik | deze week | hier | niet: | het | is Kerstmis. | |
no | of.course | am | I | this week | here | not | it | is Christmas | ||
'No, of course not: itʼs Christmas.' |
Note that the overtly expressed remnant need not be a clausal constituent. The second sentence in (25a) shows that it can also be a complementizer: as is shown by the near paraphrase in (25b), polar ja corresponds to the italicized part of the conditional clause introduced by the complementizer indien'if'.
a. | Ben je geïnteresseerd? | Indien | ja, | stuur | dan | het formulier | in. | |
are you interested | if | so | send | then | the form | in | ||
'Are you interested? If so, please return the form.' |
b. | Indien | je | geïnteresseerd | bent, | stuur | dan | het formulier | in. | |
if | you | interested | are | send | then | the form | in | ||
'If you are interested, please return the form.' |
Finally, the hypothesis of ellipsis may also account for the fact that the preferred answer to the negative question in (26a') is jawel: denying a negative proposition generally favors the presence of the affirmative marker wel. As contradicting a negative presupposition also favors the presence of wel, ellipsis would also account for the use of jawel in (26b').
a. | Ben | je | deze week | niet | hier? | |
are | you | this week | not | here | ||
'Wonʼt you be here this week?' |
b. | Je | bent | deze week | niet | hier, | toch? | |
you | are | this week | not | here | prt | ||
'You wonʼt be here this week, will you?' |
b. | Ja, | ik | ben | deze week | wel hier. | |
yes | I | am | this week | aff here | ||
'Yes, I will be here this week.' |
b'. | Ja, | ik | ben | deze week | wel | hier. | |
yes | I | am | this week | aff | here | ||
'Yes, I will be here this week.' |
This discussion has shown that polar ja and nee are not primarily used to affirm or to deny a presupposition, but “agree” with a (possibly elided) positive or negative clause following it. This makes it understandable that these elements can also be used in contexts like (27), in which the hearer simply accepts the truth of the (negative/positive) propositions in the primeless examples.
a. | Jan | komt | morgen. | |
Jan | comes | tomorrow | ||
'Jan will come tomorrow.' |
b. | Jan | komt | morgen | niet. | |
Jan | comes | tomorrow | not | ||
'Jan wonʼt come tomorrow.' |
a'. | Ja, | dat | wist | ik al. | |
yes | that | knew | I already | ||
'Yes, I knew that already.' |
b'. | Ja, | dat | wist | ik al. | |
yes | that | knew | I already | ||
'Yes, I knew that already.' |
a''. | Nee, | dat | wist | ik | niet. | |
no | that | knew | I | not | ||
'No, I didnʼt know that.' |
b''. | Nee, | dat | wist | ik | niet. | |
no | that | knew | I | not | ||
'No, I didnʼt know that.' |
Our brief (and incomplete) discussion of the use of the polar elements ja'yes' and nee'no' shows that they have the hallmark of pragmatic markers in that they do not carry truth-conditional content: they simply indicate that the (possible phonetically empty) clauses they are associated with are positive or negative. In this respect they differ from the polar elements welles and nietes in (28), which are typically used to contradict or refute a proposition in the immediate preceding discourse.
a. | Ik | kom | morgen | niet. | Welles, | want | het | is veel | te leuk. | |
I | come | tomorrow | not | Yes | because | it | is much | too nice | ||
'I wonʼt come tomorrow. Yes, you will, because it will be very nice.' |
b. | Ik | kom | morgen. | Nietes, | (want) | je | moet | naar de dokter. | |
I | come | tomorrow | No | because | you | must | to the doctor | ||
'Iʼll come tomorrow. No, you wonʼt, because you have to see the doctor.' |
Like polar ja and nee, welles and nietes seem to have the status of a full clause: this is clear from the fact illustrated in the mini-dialogue in (28) that they can be in a coordinate structure with another clause. It is, however, not clear whether these elements are associated with an elided clause as this clause cannot be made explicit. Furthermore the examples in (29) show that it is not possible to combine these elements with embedded clauses. Note in passing that welles and nietes also differ in this respect from the affirmative marker wel and the negative adverb niet'not' in the two mini-dialogues in (29); this is not surprising as we are probably dealing with reduced clauses in that case: Jij komt wel/niet'you will/wonʼt'.
a. | Ik | kom | morgen | niet. | Wel/*Welles | als | Marie | het | vraagt. | |
I | come | tomorrow | not | aff/yes | if | Marie | it | requests | ||
Intended reading: 'I wonʼt come tomorrow. You will when Marie requests it.' |
b. | Ik | kom | morgen. | Niet/*Nietes | als | het | regent. | |
I | come | tomorrow | no/No | if | it | rains | ||