Advances in Cognitive Sociolinguistics (Cognitive Linguistic Research)

Benefactive ditransitives in Dutch 213

b. Het gepromoveerde Vada bereidde op de openingsdag van de compe-

titie veldkorfbal kampioen Blauw Wit een daverende verrassing (18-14).

[De Volkskrant 17/09/2001]

‘On the first match day of the korfball competition, newly promoted Vada

sprang a big surprise on current champions Blauw Wit (18-14).’

c. Elke donderdagmiddag bezoekt hij de gracieuze, exotische Soraya, die

het weliswaar in dienst van een bureau voor geld doet, maar hem zoveel

plezier bereidt dat beiden van een uiterst bevredigende transactie kunnen

spreken. [De Volkskrant 10/09/1999]

‘Every Thursday afternoon he visits the elegant, exotic Soraya who,

though she does it for money in the pay of an agency, gives him so much

pleasure that both can speak of a most satisfying transaction.’

Such idiomatic uses account for 19 of the 25 attested ditransitive examples
in the sample of 100 bereiden clauses from the TwNC (cf. footnote 7). The
remaining cases are genuine instances of the benefactive ditransitive, which
denote an act in which something (usually a meal) is prepared for some-
one’s benefit, see (29) for two examples. Quite possibly the entrenchment
of the ditransitive idioms exemplified in (28) has been a factor in the pres-
ervation of the use instantiated by the clauses in (28) in Netherlandic Dutch.

(29) a. Zelfs nu de grandeur is vergaan en de spelers wachten op achterstallig
loon vloeit wijn en worden blikjes kaviaar opengeritst... Real bereidt zijn
Champions League-gasten vanmiddag een prachtige lunch.
[Algemeen Dagblad, 22/11/1995]
‘Even now, with the grandeur gone and players waiting for wage arrears,
the wine is flowing and tins of caviar are opened ... Real prepares its
Champions League visitors a magnificent lunch.’
b. Mevrouw Sinke noemt ook de actie Tafeltje-dek-je, waarbij bejaarden
die zichzelf geen warme maaltijd kunnen bereiden er dagelijks één thuis
krijgen bezorgd. [Algemeen Dagblad, 10/05/1995]
‘Mrs. Sinke also mentions the campaign Tafeltje-dek-je, in which elderly
people who cannot prepare themselves a hot meal, are delivered one at
home on a daily basis.’

Second, and most importantly, the verb bereiden in general and its ditransi-
tive use(s) in particular, belong to a fairly formal register in present-day
Dutch. Haeseryn et al. (1997: 1165) explicitly label the example in (27)
above as characteristic of formal Dutch (in contrast to similar examples
with e.g. inschenken ‘pour’).