Manual


One verb category in English may correspond to two or more different verb categories in German and Dutch, depending on clause type (main vs. subordinate), and also depending on other aspects of argument order – for example, in main clauses, it is often the subject that appears before the verb, but not always.

We do not aim to capture multiple argument orders with the same category, nor do we aim to make verbs combine with their arguments in any particular order (e.g., by obliqueness). We just write verb categories so that they first combine with their right-hand arguments (from left to right) and then with their left-hand arguments (from right to left):

dass
S[em]/S[dcl]
ich
NP
den
NP/N
Hund
N
sehe
(S[dcl]\NP)\NP
dass
S[em]/S[dcl]
den
NP/N
Hund
N
ich
NP
sehe
(S[dcl]\NP)\NP
Ich
NP
sehe
(S[dcl]\NP)/NP
den
NP/N
Hund
N
Den
NP/N
Hund
N
sehe
(S[dcl]\NP)/NP
ich
NP
"
S[dcl]/S[dcl]
I
NP
know
S[dcl]\NP
"
S[dcl]\S[dcl]
said
(S[dcl]\S[dcl])/NP
Mary
N

Extracted arguments are assumed to have their canonical position at the right periphery:

Wat
S[wq]/(S[q]/NP)
dacht
(S[q]/S[em])/NP
je
NP
S[q]/S[em]
> 0
dat
S[em]/S[dcl]
ik
NP
S[dcl]/(S[dcl]\NP)
T >
zei
(S[dcl]\NP)/NP
S[dcl]/NP
> 1
S[em]/NP
> 1
S[q]/NP
> 1
S[wq]
> 0
?
S[wq]\S[wq]
S[wq]
< 0