Nouns and Noun Phrases - University of Macau Library

1104 Syntax of Dutch: nouns and noun phrases
A. Adverbially used noun phrases referring to a time interval
In (140), we give some examples in which the adverbially used noun phrase refers
to a certain time interval. It must be noted that all noun phrases are obligatorily
modified by a quantifier-like element like heel ‘whole’, half ‘half’ and godganse
‘whole blessed’; dropping these modifiers results in unacceptability.
(140) a. Jan bleef de ?? (hele) morgen thuis.
Jan stayed the whole morning home
‘Jan stayed home the whole morning.’
b. Marie zat de *(halve) lezing te gapen.
Marie sat the half lecture to yawn
‘Mary was yawning during large parts of the lecture.’
c. Jan zit de *(godganse) dag te kletsen.
Jan sits the whole blessed day to chatter
‘Jan is chattering during the whole blessed day.’
d. Hij heeft zijn *(hele) leven in Amsterdam gewoond.
he has his whole life in Amsterdam lived
‘He has always lived in Amsterdam.’
B. Adverbially used noun phrases referring to a certain point on the time axis
In (141), we give some examples in which the adverbially used noun phrase refers
to a specific point in time. These noun phrases typically contain a modifier which
clarifies the position of the referent of the noun phrase on the time axis.
(141) a. Marie kwam de volgende ochtend/dag weer thuis.
Marie came the next morning/day again home
‘Marie came home again the next morning.’
b. Marie was de week voor Pasen nog in Frankrijk.
Marie was the day before Easter still in France
‘Marie was the week before Easter still in France.’
c. Ik ben de volgende les weer aanwezig.
I am the next lesson again present
‘I will be present again for the next lesson.’
Unlike in adverbially used noun phrases referring to a time interval, the modifiers in
noun phrases referring to specific point in time can be dropped provided that there
is some other means to take over their function, e.g., by using a demonstrative
pronoun instead of a definite article. Using a demonstrative may also save the
ungrammatical examples in (140a&b), but at the expense of the durative reading: in
an example like Jan bleef die morgen thuis ‘Jan stayed home that morning’, the
adverbial phrase refers to a certain point on time axis, not to a time interval.
(142) a. Marie kwam die/*de ochtend weer thuis.
Marie came that/the morning again home
b. Marie was die/*de week nog in Frankrijk.
Marie was that/the week still in France
c. Ik ben ? die/*de les weer aanwezig.
I am that/the lesson again present