Exclamative relatives in vocative noun phrases

Abstract

Abstract This article examines the grammatical properties of the Dutch construction Kluns dat/die je bent! Specifically, it addresses the question of how exclamation is formally encoded in this construction. In line with Bennis (1998), it is proposed that exclamative force follows from an interaction between lexical properties of function words, on the one hand, and configurational structure (syntax), on the other hand. It is proposed that the dat/die-clause is a relative clause which is part of a larger vocative noun phrase containing a silent or overt 2nd person pronoun (the addressee). It is shown that the relative clause, and not the antecedent, is the locus of exclamation. The small word daar/d’r, which optionally appears in the relative clause, is analyzed as a surface manifestation (spell-out) of the LOCATION-feature (the distal property) that is associated with the relative (= distal) pronoun and the second person pronoun.