ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses a small set of words/phrases that have been claimed to exhibit coordinator-like properties. These elements seem to have at least in common that they can be followed by a nominative noun phrase or a finite clause; this is illustrated in (1) for the element dan ‘than’ found in, e.g., adjectival comparative constructions. This property provides negative arguments for assuming that dan ‘than’ can function as a conjunction-like element; (i) the dan-phrase in (1a) cannot be a prepositional phrase with a nominal °complement, as prepositions normally assign objective (and not nominative) case; (ii) the element dan in (1b) cannot be analyzed as a subordinator as it can be followed by an embedded clause introduced by the subordinator dat ‘that’; cf. Den Besten (1978).
Jan komt vaker dan Marie/zij.
Jan comes more.often than Marie/she
Jan komt vaker dan [dat Marie/zij komt].
Jan comes more.often than that Marie/she comes
‘Jan is coming more often than Marie is coming.’
