Nouns and Noun Phrases - University of Macau Library

(134) Ik ga vanavond naar
I go tonight to
Determiners: articles and pronouns 727
⎡de
film / bioscoop ⎤
⎢ het theater / *toneel⎥
.
⎢de
opera
⎥
⎣⎢
* het concert ⎦⎥
⎡ the movie / cinema⎤
⎢ the theater / play ⎥
⎢ the opera ⎥
⎣⎢
the concert ⎦⎥
Something similar can be observed from the examples in (135), which are quite
common ways of expressing that one wants to make a career in the world of the
movies, theater, etc, but it is not the case that there is a form for all artistic careers.
For example, whereas it is possible to use Ik wil bij de opera to express that one
aspires a job as an opera singer, one cannot express that one wants to become a
member of an orchestra by saying Ik wil bij het orkest; this example can only be
used with a referential reading of the noun phrase “I want to join the orchestra”,
(135) Ik wil bij
I want with
⎡de
film / *bioscoop⎤
⎢ het theater / toneel ⎥ .
⎢de
opera
⎥
⎣⎢
* het concert ⎦⎥
⎡ the movie / cinema⎤
⎢ the theater / play ⎥
⎢ the opera ⎥
⎣⎢
the concert ⎦⎥
In order to express that one wants to make a career as a musician (e.g., as a member
of an orchestra), one would instead use the construction in (136a). This construction
is a very restricted, idiomatic construction that does not allow any of the other
definite noun phrases; (136b) is only acceptable under a literal meaning where het
theater and, more marginally, de opera refer to buildings where performances take
place (an option lacking for de film).
(136) a. Hij wil de muziek in.
he wants the music into
‘He wants to make a career in music.’
b. Ik wil *de film/ # het theater/ # de opera in.
Note that example (136a) involves a postpositional and, hence, directional PP.
When we want to express that someone is a professional musician, the postpositional
PP would be replaced by a prepositional (locational) one, as in (137a).
The (b)-examples show that this construction does not allow any of the other
definite noun phrases either: only the literal meanings are available.
(137) a. Hij zit in de muziek.
he sits in the music
‘He is a professional musician.’
b. # Hij zit in de film/het theater/de opera.