IP-ellipsis in Dutch dialects

Abstract

A number of Belgian Dutch dialects feature a previously undiscussed construction of the type “X + that-clause”, where X can be an evaluative adjective or a sentential adverb. The adjective expresses the speaker’s opinion about the following that-clause, while the adverb modifies its modality. Some examples: {Jammer/ Goed} da Kris komt(lit. 'regrettable/good that Kris comes'), or Misschien da Jessica het haar verteld heeft (lit. 'perhaps that Jessica it her told has'). I argue that this construction involves a type of IP-ellipsis whereby a copular verb, the expletive subject 'het' (‘it’) and in some cases the dummy predicate 'zo' (‘so, the case’) have been elided. The underlying structures of the examples above are the following: Het is jammer/goed da Kris komt (lit. 'it is regrettable/good that Kris comes' and Het is misschien zo da Jessica het haar verteld heeft (lit. 'it is perhaps the.case that Jessica it her told has')