Nouns and Noun Phrases - University of Macau Library

972 Syntax of Dutch: nouns and noun phrases
(78) Dit/Dat alles zou onnodig zijn geweest, als ...
this/that all would unnecessary have been if
‘This/That would all have been unnecessary if ...’
7.1.3. Distribution of noun phrases modified by al and alle
This section discusses the syntactic distribution of noun phrases containing predeterminers
bare al, alle + Num and simplex alle described in Section 7.1.2. We
will consider whether they occur as arguments (subject, direct object, indirect
object, complement of a preposition), as predicates and/or as °adjuncts. In addition,
we will discuss the distribution of noun phrases containing the forms allebei and
beide ‘both’.
7.1.3.1. Distribution as arguments
Noun phrases containing pre-determiner bare al, alle + Num/allebei, or simplex
alle/beide all occur in argument positions, and there are no restrictions on the
argument functions these phrases may have. Table 8 summarizes the distribution of
the relevant noun phrases.
Table 8: Distribution of al and its alternants as arguments
bare al alle + Num allebei alle beide
subject (79a) + + + + +
derived subject (79a′) + + + + +
direct object (79b) + + + + +
indirect object (79c) + + + + +
object of preposition (79d) + + + + +
The examples in (79) illustrate the contexts in which the forms listed in the table
can be inserted; note that, contrary to our usual convention, the parentheses around
the article do not indicate that de is optional: it is obligatory with bare al,
alle + Num and allebei, but it cannot be realized with alle and beide. In the (a)examples
in (79), we are dealing with subjects; in the first example the phrase
within square brackets is an underlying subject, and in the second (passive) example
it is a derived one. Examples (79b&c) illustrate the use of this phrase as a direct and
an indirect object, respectively, and (79d) illustrates its use as the object of a
preposition.
(79) a. [___ (de) beurspromovendi] werkten hard aan hun proefschrift.
the bursary.students worked hard on their dissertation
a′. [___ (de) beurspromovendi] werden door de commissie ondervraagd.
the bursary.students were by the committee interrogated
b. De commissie ondervroeg [___ (de) beurspromovendi].
the committee interrogated the bursary.students
c. De commissie stelde [___ (de) beurspromovendi] een vraag.
the committee posed the bursary.students a question
d. De commissie luisterde aandachtig naar [___ (de) beurspromovendi].
the committee listened attentively to the bursary.students