Acceptability of sentences in which the Dutch word 'er' holds multiple functions

Barf, Ilse (2021) Acceptability of sentences in which the Dutch word 'er' holds multiple functions. Bachelor's Thesis, Artificial Intelligence.

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Abstract

The Dutch pronoun er can be used in four different ways. It can be translated as 'there', but is often not translated at all. Er is unique in that one occurrence can relate to multiple aspects of the sentence and therefore hold multiple functions and meanings. It has been theorised that er can hold as many as four functions. This experiment was set up to confirm whether native Dutch speakers agree with this or whether there is actually a maximum number of functions er can hold. Participants were asked to evaluate sentences where the er held four or five functions. The same sentences but with only one function for er were also evaluated. The latter ones where judged much more acceptable than the equivalent sentences where er held multiple functions, indicating a limit on the number of functions er can hold. This contradicts the claim that er can hold four functions. Differences between combinations of functions were found as well, suggesting that other factors might have an influence on the acceptability as well.

Item Type:	Thesis (Bachelor's Thesis)
Supervisor name:	Jones, S.M.
Degree programme:	Artificial Intelligence
Thesis type:	Bachelor's Thesis
Language:	English
Date Deposited:	24 Mar 2021 16:30
Last Modified:	24 Mar 2021 16:30
URI:	https://fse.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/24116

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