Second Language speakers and postnominal adjectival inflection in Dutch. A corpus research of the present-day situation in the Netherlands

In an inconspicuous corner of Dutch grammar, one may find adjectives receiving -s inflection (1). However, this -s, a remnant of the partitive genitive, may also disappear (2). (1) wat zinnig-s ‘something sensible’ (2) iets wit ‘something white’ Earlier research has revealed the precise intra- and extra-linguistic contexts in which this -s omission is taking place (Pijpops Van de Velde 2014). What remains unclear however, is how second language speakers of Dutch handle this peculiar inflection. Do they generalize one variant, as often with prenominal adjectival inflection (Weerman 2003, Blom et al. 2008, Ruette Van de Velde 2013: 468-471, Van de Velde Weerman 2014: 117-119)? Or are they capable of picking up exactly when to place the -s? To answer these questions, we apply the regression-based methodology of Gries Deshors (2014) to first and second language chatters of Dutch. We believe the results not only provide information on second language acquisition of this postnominal inflection, but also shed light on its current and future linguistic status.