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Finite clauses as noun complements

quickinfo

The clausal complement may be finite. The complementiser must remain absent in case a complex wh-subject is extracted from subject position. Furthermore, clausal complements may – but not need to – be syntactically subordinated, even if indirect speech is involved.

A noun may take a finite clausal complement. In the example below, it has the form of a clause introduced by a question word wie who (thus a wh-clause).

En nou begin die dissipels stry oor die vraag wie van hulle as die grootste beskou moet word.

and now begin the disciples quarrel over the question who of them as the biggest see.PASS must.AUX.MOD be.AUX.PASS.PRS

And now the disciples are arguing about the question over which of them should be considered the greatest.

VivA-KPO

The example above is an example of syntactically subordinated indirect speech. Syntactic subordination is signalled by the word order characteristic of syntactically subordinated clauses. Incidentally, the example above involves short preposing of a complex wh-phrase wie van hulle who of them from subject position. Apparently, this blocks the presence of a complementiser.

*En nou begin die dissipels stry oor die vraag wie van hulle wat/dat as die grootste beskou moet word

and now begin the disciples quarrel over the question who of them that.REL as the biggest see.PASS must.AUX.MOD be.AUX.PASS.PRS

And now the disciples are arguing about the question over which of them should be considered the greatest

Viva-TK

The clausal complement may also constitute an example of indirect speech that is not syntactically subordinated, as shown below. The lack of syntactic subordination is signalled by the word order, characteristic of main clauses.

Ek het hom huis toe gestuur met die boodskap dat hy moet eet as hy groot en sterk wil word.

I have.AUX him home to send.PST with the message that.COMP he must.AUX.MOD eat if he big and strong want.to.AUX.MOD become

I sent him home with the message that he should eat, should he wish to become big and strong.

VivA-KPO

The sentence above is an example of a clausal complement in indirect speech. Direct speech is signalled by the second person pronoun, as in the example below:

Ek stuur jou huis toe met die boodskap dat jy moet eet as jy groot en sterk wil word.

I send you.SG home to with the message that.COMP you.SG must.AUX.MOD eat if you.SG big and strong want.to.AUX.MOD become

I’m sending you home with the message that you should eat, should you wish to become big and strong.

The preposition van of may be used to introduce such clausal complements, regardless of whether they are direct or indirect speech, syntactically subordinated or not. The example below illustrates this for direct speech which is not syntactically subordinated:

Jy moet 'n boodskap van “hier eindig dit nou”, uitdra.

you.SG must.AUX.MOD a message of here end it now out.carry

A Message of “It ends here and now” must be carried out.

VivA-KPO, adapted

The example below illustrates this for indirect speech which is syntactically subordinated:

Van binne het 'n toeris die deur oopgeruk en 'n gesprek probeer aanknoop deur die indringers se eis om geld te begroet met 'n vraag van hoeveel dit moet wees.

from inside have.AUX a tourist the door open.jerk.PST and a discussion try.LINK start by the intruders PTCL.GEN demand for.COMP money PTCL.INF greet with a question of how.much it must be.INF

From inside, a tourist jerked open the door and tried to start a conversation by meeting the intruders’ demand for money with a question of how much it should be.

VivA-KPO

This use of van of seems to belong more to spoken rather than written language, especially if it does not involve syntactic subordination.

Some finite clauses may be introduced by the preposition oor about (see the first example below). In informal or spoken Afrikaans, the preposition oor about is often fused or compounded with the complementiser dat that (as in the second example below), or even as – in very informal language use – oorlat (as in the last example below).