Taalportaal - the digital language portal

Dutch1
Frisian
Saterfrisian
Afrikaans

Show all

AdvP

quickinfo

In combinations of an adverb and an adposition, two types ca be distinguished. The first, the so-called pronominal adverbs, involves an R-pronoun, as in hjiryn here-in in this. As a consequence of containing a pronominal part, such words refer to another word in the context. Another remarkable feature is the fact that they can be split.

The other type involves an adverb that has been converted from an adjective. An example is skeanoer diagonally across, consisting of the adverb skean diagonally and the adpostion oer across.

R-pronouns
Other cases

[+]R-pronouns

Adpositions productively combine with an adverb if this is an R-pronoun, i.e. if it concerns the adverbs hjir here, dêr there and expletive der there as their left-hand member. So, with the preposition yn in we get the adverbs hjiryn here-in in this, dêryn there-in in that and the semantically more diffuse deryn there-in in it.

Since der there has a Schwa, it leaves stress for the adpositional member, for example in deryn. With hjir here and dêr there the stress may also be put on the adverb, as in hjiryn and dêryn.

These combinations usually function as pronominal adverbs. They therefore refer to another phrase in the discourse or situational context, for example in

Sagau't de hûn wetter sjocht, springt er deryn

So-soon-C the dog water sees, jumps-he there-in

As soon as the dog sees water, he jumps into it

in which the element der refers to the noun wetter water.

Combinations of R-pronoun and adposition may also occur as relative pronouns and interrogative pronouns. In the latter case the R-pronoun is wêr where.

In all uses the two parts can and sometimes must be split. For instance, if we insert an adverb in the example above, the parts der and yn are separated:

..., springt er der fuortendaliks yn

... jumps-he there immediately in

..., he immediately jumps into it

For other examples, see the topics referred to above, and also the topic on R-pronouns in the syntactic part. It should be noted that the possibility to separate these combinations might put their status as morphological constructs into question, as does the fact that the first part is referential.

[+]Other cases

Some adpositions may also combine with other adverbs, but this pattern is a much more restricted one. An example is skeanoer diagonally across, consisting of the adverb skean diagonally and the adposition oer across.

It might be questioned whether the first members are true adverbs, as the instances could also be viewed as adjectives. However, since the combination itself functions as an adverb, it makes sense that the first member is an adverb converted from adjectives that acts as left-hand member.

Only a handful of adpositions is available to act as right-hand member. Most productive by far is oan on, even to such a degree that it had better be considered a suffixoid, the more so since its semantic contribution is blurred to a large extent. Formations with -oan have therefore been treated in the topic on -oan, in the part on derivation. At first sight the suffixoid -wei, belonging to the same stock of adverbial suffixes, might be considered on a par with -oan. However, it makes more sense to consider -wei connected to the noun wei way rather than to the postposition wei away.

These AdvP compounds divide in two subtypes, depending on which member is the head and which one is the modifier. The few compounds with by by, for example, have their head at the right side. So, deunby nearby is a sub case of more general by, which means something like 'a small distance from'. The adverbial deun close has an intensifying function, indicating a very small distance. The same effect have flakby nearby and tichtby nearby. With the preposition oer over we have the directional adverbs dwersoer cross(over) and skeanoer diagonally across, which both indicate a crossing, more or less in a direction of 90 and 45 degrees, respectively. Also with om (a)round we see the adposition acting as head, for example in dûbelom doubly around or ferkeardom wrongly around. It makes sense to consider these combinations as univerbations.

On the other hand, we also find AdvP compounds in which the adposition rather functions as a modifier. We see this in particular when the adpositions ôf down, op up and út out are involved. The preposition op up, for example, adds a sense of upwards direction, often boiling down to a more pregnant expression of what is already indicated by the head, as in heechop high-up high in a vertical sense or rjochtop right-up straight up. This can also be applied metaphorically, as in fleurichop cheerful-up quite cheerfully.

The preposition út out adduces the idea of stretching out. Examples are breedút broad-out spread out and platút flat-out flat outspread. Metaphorical uses are frijút free-out open-heartedly and folút full-out in full. Finally, there is the postposition ôf off, the semantic contribution of which might be best described as some kind of discontinuation or truncation. Examples are koartôf short-off curt and dea-ôf dead-off worn out.

The stress in these two subtypes of AdvP compounds is on the heads. Therefore, we have flakby nearby, in contrast to breedút spread out. However, in emphatic contexts the stress in these formations may easily shift to the other member.

References

⇑ Back to top

About this article

Author(s): Siebren Dyk

Category: Frisian Morphology

Keywords:

Version: 1.0, December 2023

Version history:

version	editor(s)	date	remarks
1.0	Siebren Dyk	December 2023

printreport errorcite

Jump to:

introduction
references
related articles