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    1.1.4 The combinatorial properties of prepositions
    quickinfo

    The prepositional complement is commonly realised as one of the following syntactic categories:

    • Noun Phrase (NP)
    • Prepositional Phrase
    • Postpositional phrase
    • Clause
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    The prepositional complement may be realised as a NP, as in the examples below:

    1
    Ätter alven.
    nach eleven
    After eleven o’clock.
    2
    Bäte ju Dore.
    behind the door
    Behind the door.

    The prepositional complement may be realised as a prepositional phrase:

    3
    Bit ap uus Bääsjebabe waas nemens in dän Oorlog wezen.
    until on our granddad was nobody in the war been
    Down to our granddad, nobody was in the war.
    4
    Die Ruum waas bit ap dän lääste Stoul ful.
    the room was until on the last chair full
    The room was filled up to the last chair.

    It may be realised as a postpositional phrase, bracketed in the examples below:

    5
    Die Kat ron bit [an’t Huus tou]
    the cat walked until at.the house to
    The cat walked up to the house.
    6
    Bit [an dusse Tied antou].
    until to this time to.to
    Until this time.

    The internal structure of such phrases is still a matter of theoretical investigation. A prepositional complement may be realised as a clause. However, in such cases, the clause must be doubled by the R.pronoun deer ‘there, it’:

    7
    Dan jo hieden underwaiens mädeenuur deeruur boald, [wäl fon him die Grootste waas.]
    for they had on.the.way with.each.other R.about talked who of them the greatest was
    For while on the way, they had disputed among themselves, who should be the greatest.

    The clause has been bracketed in the example above. R-pronouns are a set of locative pronouns which can either be interpreted either as locations or as ordinary arguments (persons, things, propositions), depending on the syntactic structure in which they appear. R-pronouns are interpreted as arguments in case they function as adpositional complements. It may further be appreciated that prepositions have wider combinatorial properties than postpositions.

    References
      About this article
      Author(s): Eric Hoekstra, Bouke Slofstra
      Category: Saterfrisian Syntax
      Version: 1.0, December 2023
      Version history:
      version editor(s) date remarks
      1.0 Eric Hoekstra, Bouke Slofstra December 2023
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