Nouns and Noun Phrases - University of Macau Library

732 Syntax of Dutch: nouns and noun phrases
(150) a. Ik ga wel met de bus/trein/fiets/auto/taxi/benenwagen.
I go PRT with the bus/train/bike/car/taxi/leg-car
b. Ik stap wel op de bus/trein/boot.
I step PRT on the bus/train/boat
c. Ik spring voor de trein.
I jump before the train
d. Ik zit vaak in de trein.
I sit often in the train
The PP in (150a), which features a non-referential definite noun phrase, sometimes
alternates with a per-PP, featuring the Latinate preposition per, which
systematically takes determiner-less complement noun phrases. The fact that some
of the cases in (150a) alternate with determiner-less (151) supports the claim that
the definite article de in (150a) has no indispensable semantic contribution to make.
(151) Ik ga wel per ∅ bus/trein/ ?? fiets/ ? auto/taxi/*benenwagen.
I go PRT by bus/train/bike/car/taxi/leg-car
‘I will go by bus/train/...’
Just like noun phrases denoting a means of transportation, noun phrases
denoting a means of communication may contain a definite article that does not
necessarily contribute the notion of definiteness. This is very clear in (152b) where
the article de can be dropped without a noticeable change in meaning.
(152) a. Pak de telefoon en vertel het hem!
take the telephone and tell it him
‘Phone him up and tell him!’
b. Ik zag het op (de) televisie.
I saw it on the television
‘I saw it on television.’
c. Ik hoorde het op *(de) radio.
I heard it on the radio
‘I heard it on the radio.’
5.1.4.2. Articles in evaluative contexts
This section discusses several cases in which the use of an indefinite or a definite
article leads to what we may call a subjective/evaluative interpretation, revealing
the speaker’s subjective evaluation of some aspect of his utterance; see Section
8.2.2 for a similar effect in the domain of nominal predicates. This holds especially
for the indefinite article een in exclamative contexts and for stressed definite articles.
I. The spurious indefinite article een
The examples in (153) and (154) illustrate the evaluative use of een in exclamative
constructions, which inherently express some evaluation on the part of the speaker,
which may be either positive or negative (depending on contextual or extralinguistic
factors). We are dealing with a spurious indefinite article een in these
examples, which is clear from the fact, illustrated by the (b)-examples, that it can be
used in combination with plurals.