Nouns and Noun Phrases - University of Macau Library

980 Syntax of Dutch: nouns and noun phrases
quantified [-HUMAN] pronoun iets by the examples in (101). The (a)-examples show
that when iets is the complement of a preposition, R-pronominalization is preferred.
The (b)-examples, on the other hand, show that pronominalization is impossible
when the pronoun iets is part of the so-called partitive genitive construction iets
hards ‘something hard’: R-pronominalization and °R-extraction are excluded both
with and without pied piping of the genitival adjective hards. This suggests that the
examples in (100) are excluded because the quantifier alle(n) and the R-pronoun
waar also form a single phrase that functions as the complement of a PP.
(101) a. ? Hij liep tegen iets aan.
he walked against something prt.
‘He walked into something.’
a′. Hij liep ergens tegen aan.
he walked somewhere against prt.
b. Hij liep tegen iets hards aan.
he walked against something hard prt.
‘He walked into something hard.’
b′. *Hij liep ergens tegen aan.
he walked somewhere hard against prt.
IV. A remark on alles ‘everything’
At the end of this overview of the use of al, alle + Num and simplex alle as
arguments, we want to draw attention to one form of al which has not figured in the
discussion so far, because it does not occur as a modifier of the noun phrase: the
quantifier alles ‘everything’, which can only be used independently. The examples
in (102) show that, like its English counterpart everything, alles can occur in all
regular argument positions (despite the fact that, historically seen, alles is a
genitival, neuter form of the quantifier al, whence the -es ending).
(102) a. Alles is geprijsd.
all is priced
b. Ik heb alles geprijsd.
I have all priced
c. Ik heb alles een prijskaartje gegeven.
I have all a price.tag given
d. Ik heb aan alles een prijskaartje gegeven.
I have to all a price.tag given
The phrase van alles ‘all kinds of things’ can be also used as a nominal
argument, and it is plausible to assume that this phrase is related to the pseudopartitive
construction van die N ‘such N’, which can likewise be used as a nominal
argument; cf. Section 4.1.1.6.1. The two constructions are at least similar in that
they are both indefinite, which is clear from the fact, illustrated in (103a&a′), that
they may occur as the subject in an expletive er construction. Note that, like alles in
(102a), the phrase van alles triggers singular agreement on the verb. The examples
in (103b-d) finally show that, just like the pseudo-partitive construction, the van
alles phrase occurs in all regular argument positions. This is shown in (103b-d).