Taalportaal - the digital language portal

Dutch
Frisian
Saterfrisian
Afrikaans

Show all

5.1.2.1.Proper nouns

quickinfo

The examples in (82) show that proper nouns are normally not preceded by an article in Standard Dutch. Given the fact that proper nouns are normally used to uniquely identify an entity in the domain of discourse (domain D), this is not really surprising. Since the function of an indefinite article is mainly to convey that at least one entity satisfies the description of the NP, its addition is superfluous in the case of a proper noun. And since the function of a definite article is to indicate that the entity referred to can be uniquely identified, its use would lead to redundancy since proper nouns typically have a unique referent. As a consequence, addition of an article to proper nouns like Marie and Rotterdam in (82) would lead to a weird result.

a.		Marie woont	in Rotterdam.
		Marie lives	in Rotterdam

b.		Ik	zag	Marie	gisteren.
		I	saw	Marie	yesterday

c.		Ik	ga	morgen	naar Rotterdam.
		I	go	tomorrow	to Rotterdam

Despite its semantic redundancy, definite articles can co-occur with a proper noun in certain Dutch dialects and in Standard German: cf. German der nom Peter'the Peter'. The fact that a determiner is possible in these cases might be related to the fact that its presence allows case to be morphologically expressed, as is clear from the nominative marking on the German article in the example above. The impossibility of the definite article in Standard Dutch may therefore be related to the absence of morphological case marking in this language. For more discussion on the use of articles with proper nouns, see Alexiadou et al. (2007:183 ff.).
There are several exceptions to the general rule that proper nouns are not preceded by an article, which we will discuss in the following subsections.

I. Articles that are part of the proper noun
II. Modified proper nouns
- A. Restrictive modifiers
- B. Non-restrictive modifiers
III. Type versus token readings
IV. “For instance”
V. Representative of proper noun set
VI. “A certain”
VII. Prototypical/metaphorical reading
VIII. “Effected object”

[+] I. Articles that are part of the proper noun

In some cases a definite article can be construed as an inherent part of the name. Some examples of such proper nouns are given in (83).

het Gooi

a region in the center of the Netherlands

de Noordzee

the sea between Great Britain and the Netherlands

de Westerkerk

a church in Amsterdam

(Jan) de Graaf, (Peter) de Vries, (Marie) de Boer

family names

Examples such as (83) are not purely a lexical matter, since all kinds of subregularities can be found. We will not extensively discuss these here, but simply summarize the main findings from Haeseryn et al. (1997), to which we refer for further details and more examples. The definite article is common with geographical names but not with names of continents, nations, counties and cities, except when the name is a syntactic plural ( de Hebriden'the Hebrides') or when the organization form is part of the name ( de Sovjet Unie'the Soviet Union'). Geographical names with a definite article involve the names of mountains ( de Snowdonsg 'the Snowdon'; de Alpenpl 'the Alps'), woods ( het Zwarte Woud'the Black Forest'), seas, lakes and rivers ( de Noordzee'the North Sea'; het IJsselmeer; de Rijn'the Rhine'), and celestial bodies ( de maan'the moon'; de Melkweg'the Milky Way'). Names of buildings, streets, parks, squares, etc. also take a definite determiner ( de Westerkerk, het Damrak, het Vondelpark). The same thing holds for names of organizations and societies ( de Algemene Vereniging voor Taalwetenschap'the general society for linguistics'), and names of papers and magazines, especially if they contain the “kind” name ( het Algemeen Dagblad'the general daily' versus Lingua). Finally, the names of cultural periods and certain festivities also take the definite article ( de Renaissance'the Renaissance'; het Carnaval'Carnival').

[+] II. Modified proper nouns

[+] A. Restrictive modifiers

In (84), we see that the geographical proper noun Rotterdam cannot be construed with a definite article when on its own, but must be preceded by a definite article if a restrictive postnominal modifier like van mijn jeugd is added. The semantic effect of adding the modifier is that Rotterdam is no longer construed as uniquely identified; the modifier invokes a reading according to which several different instantiations of Rotterdam can be discerned, which can be located in the past, the present and the future. As a result, the use of the definite article is no longer redundant, and hence (84b) is completely well-formed.

a.		Ik	denk	vaak	aan	(*het)	Rotterdam.
		I	think	often	of	the	Rotterdam

b.		Ik	denk	vaak	aan	*(het)	Rotterdam van mijn jeugd.
		I	think	often	of	the	Rotterdam of my childhood

Under similar conditions, the indefinite article een can be licensed. In example (85a), the indefinite noun phrase refers to an (imaginary) instantiation of Rotterdam that does not have a subway, and again the structure is perfectly acceptable. The acceptability of (86a) perhaps suggests that the indefinite article is optional in this case, but the fact that the negative adverb niet'not' in (86b) can intervene between the proper noun and the PP zonder metro shows that the two do not form a constituent in this case. This conclusion is supported by the topicalization data in (86c&d), which sharply contrast with those in (85c&d)

a.	Ik	kan	me	een Rotterdam zonder metro	niet	voorstellen.
	I	can	refl	a Rotterdam without subway	not	imagine
	'I canʼt picture a Rotterdam without a subway.'

Ik kan me een Rotterdam niet zonder metro voorstellen.

Een Rotterdam zonder metro kan ik me niet voorstellen.

Een Rotterdam kan ik me zonder metro niet voorstellen.

a.		Ik	kan	me	Rotterdam zonder metro	niet	voorstellen.
		I	can	refl	Rotterdam without subway	not	imagine

Ik kan me Rotterdam niet zonder metro voorstellen.

Rotterdam zonder metro kan ik me niet voorstellen.

Rotterdam kan ik me niet zonder metro voorstellen.

A restrictive modifier can also be used if the proper noun fails to uniquely identify the intended referent in domain D. This may happen if domain D contains several entities that are called Jan. The modifier then aids the listener in picking out the intended referent. An example is given in (87b). As is shown in (87c), the modifier van hiernaast may also appear in the absence of the definite article. In this case, the postnominal PP does not function as a restrictive modifier but as a kind of non-restrictive modifier that facilitates the identification of the intended referent of the proper noun by restricting the topic of discourse to the people next door.

a.	*	de Jan
		the Jan

b.		de	Jan	van hiernaast
		the	Jan	of next.door

c.		Jan	van hiernaast
		Jan	of next.door

[+] B. Non-restrictive modifiers

Non-restrictive modifiers may also occur if an article is present, that is, in cases in which reference without the modifier would also be unequivocal. Noun phrases of this kind may be either definite or indefinite. The definite article in (88a) does not, however, imply that there is more than one Peter, one of whom is laughing, but that the property denoted by the adjective lachende'laughing' is applicable to the person referred to as Peter; the implication is that we are dealing with a characteristic property of Peter. The indefinite article in (88b), on the other hand, presents the fact that Peter is laughing as a more incidental property of Peter, and suggests that there must be some particular reason for this. The article-less example in (88c) evokes what may be called a (non-restrictive) “epithet” reading: again, there is no question of there being more than one Peter in the domain of discourse; the extra information, by close association with the person, becomes more or less part of the proper noun.

a.		Voor de deur	stond	de lachende Peter.
		before the door	stood	the laughing Peter

b.		Voor de deur	stond	een lachende Peter.
		before the door	stood	a laughing Peter

c.		Voor de deur	stond	lachende Peter.
		before the door	stood	laughing Peter

Other examples are given in (89) and (90). The definite examples in (89a) and (90a) make statements about Rotterdam and Karl Marx that confirm knowledge previously established. Example (89a) is most natural if it has been mentioned earlier in the discourse that Rotterdam is burning, and (90a) reflects the knowledge of the speaker that Karl Marx had a beard. In the indefinite (b)-examples, by contrast, the modifiers introduce novel, out-of-the-ordinary information about the head noun: Rotterdam had not been mentioned to be in flames before; Karl Marx did not use to wear a beard before.

a.		het	brandende	Rotterdam
		the	burning	Rotterdam

b.		een	brandend	Rotterdam
		a	burning	Rotterdam

a.		de	bebaarde	Karl Marx
		the	bearded	Karl Marx

b.		een	bebaarde	Karl Marx
		a	bearded	Karl Marx

Of course, the (a)-examples need not imply that the hearer shares the speakerʼs knowledge at the time at which these examples are uttered; if not, the listener will be led to conclude that this is an established fact, and that the attributive modifier is used as a kind of epithet. The sheer mention of de beeldschone Helena'the ravishing Helen' in a novel invites the reader to infer that the character in question is extremely beautiful.

[+] III. Type versus token readings

Compare the examples in (90) with those in (91). The difference in acceptability is due to the fact that the adjective geboren'born' in (91) expresses an individual-level property of the species (here: homo sapiens) to which the referent of the proper noun belongs, which results in a tautology in the case of the definite determiner, and in nonsense in the case of the indefinite article. At least, this holds on the token reading of the proper noun, that is, where the name is used with reference to the actual individual bearing that name.

a.	$	de	geboren	Karl Marx	token
		the	born	Karl Marx

b.	$	een	geboren	Karl Marx	token
		a	born	Karl Marx

On a type reading of the proper noun, however, these examples are acceptable. On this reading Karl Marx is not representing the actual individual bearing this name but a set of properties assumed to be embodied by this individual (e.g., being an intellectual with particular leadership capacities). On this reading, the examples in (92) may be equivalent to the ones in (93), in which the common noun volksleider'demagogue' replaces Karl Marx.

a.	(?)	de	geboren	Karl Marx	type
		the	born	Karl Marx

b.		een	geboren	Karl Marx	type
		a	born	Karl Marx

a.		de	geboren	volksleider
		the	born	people.leader

b.		een	geboren	volksleider
		a	born	people.leader

The type reading forced upon the proper nouns in (92) also shows up in another context in which proper nouns are combined with the indefinite article een. In (94) een Kluivert denotes the set of salient properties embodied by the individual named Kluivert (a famous Dutch soccer player), not the individual himself. With the indefinite article left out, the meaning changes from the type reading to the token reading, that is, We hebben Kluivert in de ploeg means that the person named Kluivert is playing on our team. The type reading can be enhanced by adding the attributive adjective echt'true' or typisch'typical' to the indefinite noun phrase; in this case dropping the indefinite article does not lead to a token reading but results in ungrammaticality. In passing, note that example (94a) with the indefinite article is also acceptable under the “representative of proper noun set” reading to be discussed in Subsection V below.

a.	We	hebben	#(een)	Kluivert in de ploeg.	type
	we	have	a	Kluivert in the team
	'We have a player like Kluivert on our team.'

b.		We hebben	*(een)	echte	Kluivert in de ploeg.	type
		we have	a	true	Kluivert in the team

In the examples in (94) the indefinite article can be replaced by the negative article geen, as in (95a). Note, however, that in some contexts the phrase geen Kluivert can actually designate the specific individual whose name is Kluivert; example (95b) is a case in point.

a.		We	hebben	geen	(echte)	Kluivert	in de ploeg.
		we	have	no	real	Kluivert	in the team

b.	Ik	zat	al een uur	te kijken,	maar	al wie ik zag,	geen Kluivert.
	I	sat	already an hour	to watch	but	all who I saw	no Kluivert
	'Iʼd been watching for an hour already, but Kluivert I didnʼt see.'

The type reading of proper nouns preceded by the indefinite article is shown in a somewhat different way by example (96c). Names of languages cannot normally be construed with an article, either definite or indefinite. But if the noun is postmodified, both the definite and the indefinite article are possible. The difference between (96b) and (96c) is on a par with that found in (84b) and (85a). The semantic contributions of the definite and the indefinite article are, respectively, “the type of” and “a type of”. Note that it is not possible to replace the articles in (96b&c) by their (in)definite counterparts; the reason for this is not clear.

a.		Hij	spreekt	Nederlands.
		he	speaks	Dutch

b.	Hij	spreekt	het/*een Nederlands	van een aristocraat.
	he	speaks	the/a Dutch	of an aristocrat
	'He speaks the type of Dutch spoken by an aristocrat.'

c.	Hij	spreekt	een/*het Nederlands	dat niemand kan verstaan.
	he	speaks	a/the Dutch	that nobody can understand
	'He speaks a type of Dutch that nobody understands.'

[+] IV. “For instance”

The indefinite article een, when combined with a proper noun, can have various other semantic effects. The first is what we may somewhat redundantly call a specific interpretation of the een + proper-noun combination, instantiated by examples such as (97). In examples of this type, the indefinite article may be readily omitted without meaning being affected, which is not surprising given that the proper noun itself already designates a specific individual in the universe of discourse.

a.		Hebben	we überhaupt	goede kandidaten	voor deze baan?	speaker A
		have	we at all	good candidates	for this job

b.	Nou,	ik	noem	bijvoorbeeld	(een)	Jansen of	(een)	Pieterse.	speaker B
	well	I	mention	for example	a	Jansen or	a	Pieterse
	'Well, Jansen or Pieterse for instance.'

[+] V. Representative of proper noun set

Consider the Dutch indefinite article in combination with the family name Jansen illustrated in (98). Here, Jansen refers to the set of members of the family named Jansen, and the use of een picks out one particular member from among this set. In this particular context, the semantics of een is similar to its +specific meaning found when een is construed with common nouns.

a.	Ken	jij	de familie Jansen?	speaker A
	know	you	the family Jansen
	'Do you know the Jansen family?'

b.	Ja,	ik	heb	nog	met	#(een)	Jansen	op school	gezeten.	speaker B
	yes	I	have	prt	with	a	Jansen	on school	sat
	'Yes, I went to school together with a (member of the) Jansen (family).'

Surnames can also be used in the plural to refer to more members of a family; example (99a), for instance, can be used to refer to a representative set of a family, e.g., a married couple and their children. Example (99b) gives an example where the noun phrase is used for all members of the family.

a.	De Jansens	komen	vanavond	eten.
	the Jansens	come	tonight	eat
	'The Jansens are coming to dinner tonight.'

b.		De Oranjes	zijn	een oude familie.
		the Oranjes	are	an old family

[+] VI. “A certain”

The sentence uttered by speaker B in (98) is unambiguous in the context given; but out of context, it allows an alternative reading in which the semantic contribution of een is that of English a certain, as in (100a). On this reading, the indefinite article is optionally followed by the adjective zekere'certain'. The implication of using this construction is that the speaker does not know the person in question: for him or her, the name is merely a description distinguishing the referent from people with other surnames; the name does not, however, enable the speaker to (uniquely) identify this referent. Moreover, the implication is that the addressee may not know the person either. In this use, the indefinite article may also appear in a schwa-inflected form, spelled as ene and pronounced with the full vowel of the numeral één: [e:nə]. If ene is used, zekere cannot be inserted, as is shown in (100b). Use of ene has a pejorative flavor: not only does the speaker not know the person in question, but in addition the impression given is that this person is unimportant, that is, not worth knowing.

100

a.		Er	staat	een	(zekere)	Jansen	op je	te wachten.
		there	stands	a	certain	Jansen	on you	to wait

b.	Er	staat	ene	(*zekere)	Jansen	op je	te wachten.
	there	stands	a	certain	Jansen	on you	to wait
	'There is a certain (person called) Jansen waiting for you.'

This use of een/ene in combination with proper nouns may be thought of as the opposite of the emphatic use of the definite article in examples of the type in (101). What the emphatic definite article expresses in Bʼs response is that the person in question is not just any mortal by the name of Eunice Burns, but that she is the unmistakable, well-known, famous, etc. Eunice Burns. More discussion of emphatic definite articles is found in Section 5.1.4.2, sub II.

101

a.		Er	staat	ene	Eunice Burns	voor de deur.	speaker A
		there	stands	a	Eunice Burns	in.front.of the door

b.		Niet	ene	Eunice Burns,	dé Eunice Burns.	speaker B
		not	a	Eunice Burns	the Eunice Burns

[+] VII. Prototypical/metaphorical reading

With family names, the use of the attributive adjective echt/typisch results in a reading of “prototypical member of the family”. Example (102), for instance, expresses that Philip IV has all the prototypical characteristics (in character or appearance) assumed to be common to the individual members of the house of Habsburg.

102

		Philips de vierde	is een echte Habsburger.
		Philip IV	is a true Habsburgian
		'Philip IV is prototypical member of the house of Habsburg.'

This use of proper nouns comes fairly close to the case where a proper noun is not used to refer to the (set of) entities normally referred to by means of a particular name, but is, instead, used metaphorically to refer to some property normally associated with this entity. Thus in the examples in (103), the names of well-known persons or figures with a remarkable feature or talent are used to ascribe these features or talents to some other person. In these cases the proper noun appears in predicative position and is often accompanied by some form of evaluation.

103

a.	Hij	is een echte Nero.
	he	is a real Nero
	'Heʼs a bad person.'

b.	Hij	is	bepaald	geen Bouwmeester.
	he	is	certainly	no Bouwmeester
	'He isnʼt exactly a great actor.'

c.	Ze	beschouwen	hem	als de Nederlandse Pavarotti.
	they	regard	him	as the Dutch Pavarotti
	'They consider him a great tenor.'

[+] VIII. “Effected object”

One case in which articles are combined with (personal) proper nouns is instantiated by the examples in (104). Here the proper noun acts as a stand-in for a noun denoting an object created by the bearer of the name in question; een Van Gogh refers to a painting by Van Gogh, a so-called “effected object” (whence the label).

104

a.		De Van Gogh bij ons aan de muur	is niet echt.
		the Van Gogh with us on the wall	is not real

b.		We	hebben	een Van Gogh	aan de muur.
		we	have	a Van Gogh	on the wall

One may wonder whether examples of this type involve direct construal of definite articles with a proper noun. An alternative approach would be to say that what the article is actually being construed with is an elliptic (common) noun denoting the work painted by Van Gogh. In that case, the structure of the relevant noun phrases in (104) will be as indicated in (105a). A potential problem for such an approach is, however, that in the case of definite reference, the “elliptical” construction requires the use of the non-neuter form of the definite article, whereas the overtly expressed head may be either the non-neuter tekening'drawing' or the neuter noun schilderij'painting'. The (a)-example and the two (b)-examples differ also in that the preposition van is obligatory in the latter but impossible in the former.

105

een/de [∅ [Van Gogh]]

b.		een/de	tekening van	Van Gogh
		a/the[-neuter]	drawing of	Van Gogh

b'.		een/het	schilderij	van Van Gogh
		a/the[+neuter]	painting	of Van Gogh

This suggests that the analysis in (105a) is not feasible, and that we have to assume that the proper noun is directly construed with the determiner, that is, acts like a regular common noun. This also accounts for the fact illustrated in (106) that these proper nouns allow a plural form.

106

Zij	hadden	daar	minstens	drie Van Goghs	in de kelder	staan.
they	had	there	at.least	three Van Goghs	in the cellar	stand
'They had at least three Van Goghs standing in the cellar.'

Additional evidence for direct construal of the proper noun and the determiner can be found in Flemish Dutch, which unlike Standard Dutch has different articles for feminine and masculine nouns. The examples in (107) only accept the masculine articles, regardless of the gender of both the “implicit” noun and the creator. In (107a), the masculine articles den/nen (definite/indefinite) are used, despite the fact that the allegedly “implicit” noun schilderye'painting', is feminine. Example (107b) illustrates even more clearly that the choice of the article is independent of the gender of either the understood noun or the biological sex of the creator: the Flemish word for sculpture, beeld, is neuter, while the creator in question is female: the article, on the other hand, must be masculine (Liliane Haegeman p.c.).

107

a.		den/nen	Matisse	a painting
		the/a	Matisse

b.		den/nen	Dhaese	a sculpture
		the/a	Dhaese

References:

Alexiadou, Artemis, Haegeman, Liliane & Stavrou, Melita2007Noun phrases in the generative perspectiveBerlin/New YorkMouton de Gruyter
Haeseryn, Walter, Romijn, Kirsten, Geerts, Guido, Rooij, Jaap de & Toorn, Maarten C. van den1997Algemene Nederlandse spraakkunstGroningenNijhoff

⇑ Back to top

About this article

Author(s): Hans Broekhuis, Marcel den Dikken

Category: Dutch Syntax

Publication date: 22 November 2023

Keywords: AttributiveModificationNounProper NounProper Noun preceded by an articleene

report errorprintcite

Jump to:

introduction
references
related articles