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CHAPTERS. THE AD VERB

1. The general characteristic of the class of adverbs.

2. Subclasses of adverbs..

3. The interaction of adverbs with the other parts of speech.

1. Traditionally the adverb is defined as a part of speech which denotes property of property, i.e. the property of an action, of a quality or various circumstances in which an action takes place, such as time, place, condition etc. In most European languages adverbs present a comparatively young part of speech which crystallized into a class of words during the period of their separate existence [DKHpMyHCKnii 1968, 27]. The emergence of adverbs probably reflects the ability of the human mind to perceive and conceptualize property of an action and property of a quality separately from the action/quality and present it verbally as a separate word. Their proximity to the class of verbs finds reflection even in the name of the class: an adverb literally means 'close to the verb' (npHraarojiHe). It is noteworthy that in the present-day English the adverbial characteristic of an action or a quality can be presented not only by a separate word - an adverb but it may also be incorporated into the semantic structure of a verb or an adjective as a part of its meaning, e.g. stare - look fixedly, stammer — speak haltingly, bluish — somewhat blue.

Most adverbs were formed from the 'fragments' of other parts of speech, i.e. they present secondary formations and can be traced back to grammatical forms of nouns and verbs which separated from the paradigm of the 'mother lexeme' and became unchangeable. Because of this origin and also because of the width of the semantic space covered by them the class of adverbs is often describe4 as 'a motley collection', 'a notoriously heterogeneous class', 'a messy part of speech' and some scholars come to a pessimistic conclusion that " real insight into the functioning of adverbs will come only if we venture into the semantic [and pragmatic] swamp" [McConnel-Ginet 1982, 182].

The heterogeneity of the class of adverbs and the obvious difficulty in outlining its boundaries has led some scholars to a tempting decision to pile into the class of adverbs all the words that do not fit into the definition of the other parts of speech. They include into the class of adverbs greetings and farewells, polarity and agreement responses (Yes, no, okay), approval formulas (cheers, hurrah) etc. [Morley 2000, 42]. Other scholars include into the class of the so called adverbials all the means of expressing property and circumstances of an action (e.g. prepositional noun phrases), thus dissolving adverbs proper as a part of speech in a functional set of the so-called adverbials [Nilsen 1972]. On the other hand, because of the semantic proximity of adjectives and adverbs in -ly derived from them (e.g. a slow walk- to walk slowly), A.I. Smirnitsky denies the formations in -ly the status of a separate class of words and considers them

to be special syntactic form of. adjectives when the latter are used in the syntactic positions of adverbial modifiers [cmhphhlpchh 1959, 170-175]. However the morpheme -ly can hardly be treated as a formbuilding suffix. Productive as it is it does not embrace the whole class of adjectives which is a strong argument against its formbuilding nature. Besides, the formations in -ly may differ semantically from the original adjectival lexemes, as the basic adjectival meaning may undergo some semantic changes in the process of adverbial derivation and the resultative adverb may have not a qualitative, but an intensifying or an evaluative meaning (e.g. complete - completely different; fortunate - fortunately (e.g. Fortunately, he escaped). It also proves that we deal not with a syntactic form, but with a new word belonging to a different part of speech. For this reason we share the opinion of M.Y. Blokh who says that formations in -ly should be looked upon as the "standard type of the English adverb as a whole" [Blokh 1983, 229].



The categorial meaning of adverbs is defined as 'property of property' which means that they modify the property of predicative words - verbs and adjectives. These properties embrace a wide range of features: degree of quality named by an adjective, manner, instrument, method, time, place, frequency and other circumstances of action. However these characteristics do not embrace the whole class of adverbs as there are adverbs which do not modify the quality or the action but have a modal, evaluative and relative meaning and are related not to the verb but to the whole sentence. E.g. Curiously, neither of them asked why the boy was crossing the Atlantic instead of staying with some friend who lived a little closer (E. Segal).

2. Adverbs can be classified according to their morphological structure, their semantics and their syntactic positions in the sentence. According to their morphological structure adverbs are subdivided into simple and derived. The subclass of simple adverbs is not numerous and includes deictic adverbs (here, there, now, then), interrogative adverbs (where, when, how, why) and locative adverbs (up, down, away, below etc). As we have already mentioned, many adverbs present the fragments of grammatical forms of nouns that lost the connection with the case paradigm of the nouns and became unchangeable. Such is the origin of the adverbs always, since, once, twice which can be traced back to the old English form of the Genitive case with the inflexion - es. This source of enriching the class of adverbs lost its productivity with the decay of the case system.

The most productive means of adverb building in present-day English is affixation. The most productive suffix is -ly which derives adverbs mostly from adjectives (frank -frankly), but also from participles (embarrassed -embarrassedly), nouns (night - nightly) and (rarely) from noun phrases (simple Simon - simple -Simonly). The suffix -ly has a very high productivity and yet the process of deriving adverbs from adjectives with the help of this suffix is

often blocked by various structural and semantic factors. According to statistics, approximately only 13% of all adjectives have adverbial counterparts in -ly [Kjelmer 1984, 6]. Polysyllabic adjectives and participles do not derive adverbs, probably because the English language does not favour very long words. The derivation of adverbs from adjectives is closely related to such a semantic factor as the dynamic quality of adjectives: dynamic adjectives derive adverbs very easily (quick -quickly), and static adverbs do not (tall -*tally). Some static adjectives do derive adverbs but the basic adjectival meaning undergoes a change (e.g. large - largely) , as in: It depends largely on his decision, where largely means not size but degree. For this reason relative adverbs usually do not have adverbial counterparts in -ly, unless their semantics undergoes a modification and they acquire a qualitative meaning. Adverbs are not derived from adjectives formed with the suffix -ly: friendly, kindly etc. In such cases when an adverb cannot be derived for various reasons the adjective is 'adverbialized' with the help of such adverbial nouns as way, manner, fashion and order which functionally carry out the same mission as the suffix -ly, i.e. they enable the adjective to characterize the action. E.g. / can only help you the same old way (F. S. Fitzgerald);' Being in no haste, Indian fashion, he hunted his dinner in the course of the day's travel (J. London); He treated his customers in his usual friendly way (A. Christie); It took almost seven years to bring him in because my dad wanted me to learn how to do it the old-fashioned way (N. Sparks),

The similarity of functional roles of the suffix -ly and the use of adverbial nouns way, manner etc. gives ground to regard noun phrases with these nouns as special analytical forms of adverbs [UlanaMOB 1994, 58-60]. Leaving the problem of the so-called analytical words for further discussion we can safely say that such cases demonstrate a close interaction between two levels of the language: the level of word-building and the level of syntax where syntax often helps to overcome various constraints of word-building. The regular use of these nouns in the 'adverbializing' function may affect their status in the language and they may come to be treated as a special adverbial semi-affix which is reflected in the ability of such noun phrases to be written as one word, e.g. She forgave him for fear of worse, even wrote friendly-fashion of him in a letter to his mother (E. Barrington). Some specialists in word-building include fashion and manner used in such cases into the group of semi-affixes [Marchand 1960, 291-292].

Among other, less productive adverb-building affixes are the suffixes -ward ( shoreward}, -wards (Berlin-wards), -wise(likewisQ, pricewise), the semi-affix -like (lump-like) and the prefix -a (abed, ashore).

The semantic scope of adverbs is very wide and they cover an extremely wide semantic space as they denote both inner and outer characteristics of

property and they can also express various types of relations. According to their semantics adverbs can be subdivided into the following subclasses:

DAdverbs of time. This subclass is numerous and embraces deictic adverbs (now, then), interrogative adverbs (when) and numerous adverbs expressing various temporal meanings: location of action in time (today, tomorrow, recently, lately, tonight), duration of action (awhile, long), frequency and regularity of action (usually, regularly, seldom, rarely, often, frequently, occasionally etc.), sequence of actions ( later, before, beforehand etc.), the speaker's1 temporal evaluation of events (suddenly, at last etc.)

2) Adverbs of space. This subclass includes deictic adverbs denoting location in space and direction (here, there), other adverbs of location and direction (home, homeward, east, west, north, south, somewhere, nowhere, anywhere, outside, inside, away, out, upstairs, downstairs), distance (far, close, near, nearby).

3) Adverbs of manner, comparison, means and instrument. Here belong such adverbs as somehow, anyhow, clockwise and numerous adverbs with the suffixes -ly and -like. E.g. "Would you really have been intimidated?"- she asked sheepishly (N. Sparks). She behaved angel-like (A. Christie). They give a qualitative characteristic of the manner of action. Sometimes these adverbs are semantically related not to the predicate but to the subject of the sentence, characterizing the agent at the moment of action. E.g. ...above, the three doomed &isters stare palely and interestingly into space (Economist, March IB-19, 7PPP).This subclass is most numerous and is being constantly enriched due to the productivity of the suffix -ly. E.g. Her hair lifted tantalizingly in the evening breeze (N. Sparks); We examined the specimen microscopically.

4) Adverbs of degree and measure (very, so, somewhat, too, enough, rather, little, a little, pretty) . This class is also regularly enriched by various formations in -ly:, E.g. She was heart-stoppingly beautiful (D. Steel).

5) Attitudinal adverbs. This subclass includes modal adverbs which express a different degree of the speaker's certainty or doubt about the factual content of the sentence and evaluative adverbs which express the speaker's evaluation of the event presented in the sentence. They are adverbs like actually, possibly, evidently, definitely, virtually, strangely, luckily, seemingly, hopefully etc. E.g. He knew there wasn 't any reason to feel guilty, but the feeling was definitely there... (N. Sparks); Strangely, he said nothing at all about Catherine, over which Theresa could only wonder (Idem).

6) Adverbs of viewpoint, or respect. They also express the speaker's judgement of the factual contents of the sentence, but a different type of a judgement, a judgement made with respect to something. E.g. Historically and sociologically, there is much to support this instinctive judgement (W. Nash) The meaning of the adverbs historically and sociologically can be best explicated by paraphrasing the sentence: "from the viewpoint of history and

sociology", or" -with respect to history and sociology", which accounts for the name of this subclass. This subclass of adverbs may also be related not to the whole proposition but to one component of a sentence. E.g. She was artistically gifted - She was gifted with respect to art.

7. Relational adverbs. Here belong adverbs like so, therefore, yet, nevertheless, anyway, moreover, however, consequently, finally, also, too which have a very wide range of meanings and due to it they carry out a connecting function and express various relations between the events of reality presented in the sentences. E.g. There is, however, a hopeful element in the problem (B. Russell). Finally, the open-ended of the human cognitive system is brought into full focus. (K. Nelson). Connecting sentences into a coherent whole text these, adverbs reveal the logical connection of our thought and our ability for analytical thinking, and mainly for this reason they have often become the object of interest for numerous philosophical studies of language.. These adverbs are also good indicators of the strength of an argument or a point of view in writing argumentative essays. Therefore much attention is given to them in the process of teaching and learning essay writing as the appropriate use of these adverbs reveals the writer's ability for analytical thinking and a coherent presentation of thought. Quite often the teacher's comment on the essay "Not quite coherent" is mainly the question of how the student has used the means of connecting the paragraphs into one coherent whole. We cannot achieve clear, concise and coherent writing unless we learn to use means of connecting sentences into a coherent text.

As we can see, adverbs cover a wide semantic space and they are characterized by a different degree of proximity to the predicative words: verbs and adjectives. Adverbs of time, space, manner and degree are very close to the adjectives and verbs they modify, they add important qualitative or circumstantial information about action and quality. Some adverbs are so close semantically to the verb that they function as obligatory parts of the sentence and without them the sentence is ungrammatical, e.g. *He behaved (He behaved like a gentleman, wonderfully); *He treated us (He treated us royally). Very often adverbs help to clarify the meaning of the verb (in the case of polysemantic verbs) and its aspective character (in the case of verbs with a double aspective character). E.g. He took her here, there and everywhere(S. Maugham) — the verb take has the meaning of lead, guide, or escort. Don't take it seriously - take has the meaning of react, consider. He blushed immediately {blush expresses a single action). He blushed easily (blush expresses a repeated action which serves as a person's characteristic). Adverbs of time and space give esse'ntial circumstantial characteristic of the action and they provide an important temporal or spatial setting for the event. E.g. Last week in the forest I became a witness of a strange phenomenon. Quite often they serve as the communicative centre, or. the rheme. E.g. I rose early that morning. He does not

live here any longer. Never will I go there again. Attitudinal adverbs are not related to the predicate but to the whole sentence and express the speaker's epistemic or evaluational characteristic of the event presented in the sentence. Relational adverbs fulfil more of an organizing function and arrange clauses/sentences within a whole text thus revealing the logical arrangement of our thoughts in the process of communication. These adverbs play an important role in creating the text cohesion.

As we can see from the range of their functions adverbs participate in the expression of all the three basic metafunctions assigned to language. These metafunctions are: ideational, or semantic, interpersonal and textual, or organizational (for more detail see: [Halliday 1985, Introduction]. In fact these three metafunctions assigned to language are correlated to the three main aspects of language, pointed out by Ch. Morris and Y.S. Stepanov and discussed at the beginning of this book: semantics, pragmatics, and syntactics. Adverbs of time, space, degree, manner, comparison, means, and instrument and viewpoint participate in the expression of semantic function; attitudinal adverbs carry out the interpersonal function, and relational adverbs specialize in the expression of textual function, organizing sentences into a coherent text.

The borderline between different subclasses of adverbs is very fuzzy . One and the same adverb can fulfil different functions, which becomes clear only in the context. E.g. We examined the room thoroughly (manner,) - We thoroughly disapprove of your choice (degree,). She behaved very strangely (manner) - Strangely, he did not feel upset (evaluation/

There are also the so called semantic blends, i.e. an adverb can realize two meanings at a time. E.g. He struggled furiously (manner and degree).

Arranging the class of adverbs on the prototypical principle we should place adverbs of time, space, manner (comparison, means and instrument) and adverbs of degree into the centre of the class as they denote property of property,' function as parts of the sentence (adverbial modifiers) and manner adverbs have morphological property of adverbs (degrees of comparison). Viewpoint adverbs constitute the close periphery: they do not have their own syntactic function in the sentence (as they belong not to the dictum, but to the modus) and yet they are semantically different from function words. Attitudinal and relational adverbs make up the further periphery of the adverbial class which is very close to two functional parts of speech: modal words and conjunctions respectively.

The syntactic functions and the position of adverbs in the sentence is conditioned by the peculiarities of their semantics and their functional role. In general the positions of adverbs in the sentence are less fixed than those of the other cardinal parts of speech. The most fixed position is assigned to adverbs of degree which are usually placed before the adjective or another adverb they modify (with the Exception of enough which always comes in postposition to

the adjective or another adverb). E.g. She was very upset and almost hysterical (E. Hemingway). Modifying a verb, adverbs of degree may take a position before or after it. E.g. / thoroughly disapprove of it. I disapprove of it thoroughly. Quite often the position of adverbs of time and space is determined by the needs of the actual division. In non-emphatic speech/writing they precede the predicate if they are thematic and follow the predicate when they are rhematic. E.g. Now she was silent again (A. Christie) -1 want a cat now (E. Hemingway). Adverbs of manner usually follow the verb in the sentence. E.g. Meanwhile the officer on-horseback was approaching slowly and proudly (D.H. Lawrence). In emphatic speech they are often fronted and may be detached. E.g. Slowly, economically, he got dressed and forced himself to walk (D.H. Lawrence).

Evaluative and viewpoint adverbs are usually placed at the beginning of the sentence. They may and may not be separated from the rest of the sentence by a comma. E.g. Strangely, he wasn 't able to do it this time (N. Sparks). The chair fell over me because I walked into it. Logically this was proof that it had felt me knock it (D. Williams). Modal adverbs and relational are most mobile, they can occupy different positions in the sentence and therefore referred to as 'hopping1 adverbs', and, like viewpoint adverbs, they may and may not be separated by commas. E.g. However, the primary function of language is integrative (K. Nelson). It obviously felt I was there (D. Williams).

3. The interaction of adverbs with the other classes of words is manifested in many ways. Historically, as we have already pointed out adverbs were formed from 'fragments of other parts of speech': case forms of nouns and noun phrases, grammatical forms of the verb. At present the class of adverbs interacts functionally with" the other notional and functional parts of speech. Various adverbial meanings are regularly expressed by prepositional and non-prepositional noun phrases: at present, in the past, day and night, from morning till night, in the distance, at home, and also by numerous idiomatic expressions with adverbial meanings: next door, lock, stock and barrel, to look daggers, to speak volumes, full length, full tilt etc.

Cases of adverbs transposition into the sphere of other parts of speech are not numerous and reveal the linguistic creativity of a writer. Adverbs of time and space are occasionally transposed into the syntactic positions of nouns. E.g. "Where are you, darling?" "Absolutely anywhere - in an alumunium and glass phone booth in a drab little American anywhere, with American nickels, dimes and quarters scattered on the little grey shelf before me" (K. Vonnegui). Adverbs of time now and then may be occasionally used in attributive positions.

E.g. But, standing there in the now crowded car, he had to face the fact that twice in one day he had forgotten something (I. Shaw). The use of the adverb now in the sentence has an effect similar to that of the Dramatic Present, it brings the narration closer to the reader thus achieving mental

synchronization of the action and its perception by the reader. As for the subclasses of modal and relational adverbs, they, as we have already pointed out, are functionally close to modal words and conjunctions.

The description of the class of adverbs would be incomplete without mentioning the problem of the postpositive elements which are often added to verbs either to impart a terminative meaning to them (to eat - to eat up, to drink — to drink up) or to change their lexical meaning (to bring — to bring up, to make — to make up etc.). The question of the grammatical status of these units has been' under debate for many years. Some scholars refer them to adverbs (A.I.Smirnitsky), others - to function words similar to prepositions (N.N. Amosova), still others - to a special class of language units intermediate between words and morphemes (B.A.Ilyish), and still others - as special particles that change the meaning of a verbal lexeme (E.E.Golubeva). Despite the variety of opinions, the majority of scholars are unanimous in stressing their functional status. It seems that there may be two ways of treating this problem. We can either consider the phenomenon in terms of categorial polysemy and state that space adverbs like up, down etc. can be used in the primary syntactic functions as adverbial modifiers and in the secondary function - as functional words. Or we may treat such cases in terms of homonymy. In either case the existence of these units is another confirmation of the fact that polysemy and homonymy are the most characteristic features of the grammatical structure of English and the borderline between them is often hard to draw, especially in the case of words with no morphological markers.

 

PART 3. SYNTAX

At the beginning was the word. By the time the second word was added to it, there was trouble. For with it came syntax, the thing that tripped up so

many people.

J. Simon. Paradigms Lost


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