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    THE ADVERBIAL MODIFIER

    We must begin by stating that the term "adverbial modifier" cannot be said to be a very happy one, as it is apt to convey erroneous ideas about the essence of this secondary part. The word "adverbial" may give rise to two notions, both of them wrong. For one thing, we may suppose that an adverbial modifier is always expressed by an adverb, which of course is not true: an adverbial modifier may be expressed by different morphological means. Secondly, the term "adverbial" may give rise to the notion that an adverbial modifier always modifies a verb, which is also wrong! an adverbial modifier may modify a part of the sentence expressed by an adjective or by an adverb, as well as by a verb. As the term "adverbial modifier" is firmly established, it would be futile to try and substitute another term in its place. So we will keep the term, bearing in mind what has been said about its meaning. There are several ways of classifying adverbial modifiers: (1) according to their meaning, (2) according to their morphological peculiarities, (3) according to the type of their head word. Of these, the classification according to meaning is not in itself a grammatical classification. For instance, the difference between an adverbial modifier of place and one of time is basically semantic and depends on the lexical meaning of the words functioning as adverbial modifiers. However, this classification may acquire some grammatical significance, especially when we analyse word order in a sentence and one semantic type of adverbial modifier proves to differ in this respect from another. Therefore the classification of adverbial modifiers according to their meaning cannot be ignored by syntactic theory. Classification according to morphological peculiarities, i. e. according to the parts of speech and to phrase patterns, is essential: it has also something to do with word order, and stands in a certain relation to the classification according to meaning. Classification according to the element modified is the syntactic classification proper. It is of course connected in some ways with the classification according to meaning; for instance, an adverbial modifier can modify a part of the sentence expressed by a verb only if the type of meaning of the word (or phrase) acting as modifier is compatible with the meaning of a verb, etc. A complete classification of adverbial modifiers according to their meaning, i. e. a list of all possible meanings they can have, is impossible to achieve, and it would serve no useful purpose. A certain number of meanings can be found quite easily, such as place, time, condition, manner of an action, degree of a property, etc., but whatever list we may compile along these lines, there are bound to be special cases which will not fit in. For instance, in the sentence I saw him at the concert it is hard to tell whether the adverbial modifier at the concert expresses place or time; and the dilemma appears to be futile. Since all this depends on the lexical meanings of words, possibilities here are practically boundless. We must therefore content ourselves with establishing some main categories and abstain from trying to squeeze every single adverbial modifier that may occur in a sentence into a "pigeonhole" prepared for it. As to the classification according to morphological peculiarities, it can probably be made exhaustive, although some of the morphological types are met with very seldom indeed. The most usual morphological type seems to be the adverb. This is testified, among other things, by the fact that the very term for this part of the sentence is derived (in English, and also, for instance, in German) from the term "adverb". In some grammar books the two notions are even mixed up. Occasionally an author speaks of adverbs, where he obviously means adverbial modifiers. 1 Another very frequent morphological type of adverbial modifier is the phrase pattern "preposition + noun" (also the type "preposition + adjective + noun" and other variations of this kind). This type of adverbial modifier is one of those which are sometimes indistinguishable from objects, or rather where the distinction between object and adverbial modifier is neutralised. A noun without a preposition can also in certain circumstances be an adverbial modifier. To distinguish it from an object, we take into account the meanings of the words, namely the meaning of the verb functioning as predicate, and that of the noun in question. It must be admitted, though, that even this criterion will not yield quite definite results, and this means that the decision will be arbitrary, that is, the distinction between the two secondary parts is neutralised here, too. Let us consider, for instance, the function of the noun hour in a sentence like They appointed an hour and in a sentence like They waited an hour. Since the noun is the same in both cases, the distinction, if any, can only be due to the meaning of the verb in its relation to that of the noun. In the first sentence we will take the noun hour as an object — on the analogy of many other nouns, which can also follow this particular verb (e. g. appoint a director), and which can all be made the subject of this verb in a passive construction (e. g. A director has been appointed). In the second sentence, things are different, as the verb wait can only be followed by a very few nouns without a preposition (e. g. Wait a minute), and a passive construction is impossible. This appears to constitute an essential difference between the two. However, we should not overestimate the force of these observations. In the first place, there are cases when a noun following the predicate verb is doubtless an object, and yet a corresponding passive construction does not exist. 1In the second place, a passive construction proves to be possible in some cases when we should rather call the noun in the active construction an adverbial modifier. Something similar is found in the familiar example The bed had not been slept in, which corresponds to a sentence with the verb in the active voice, Nobody had slept in the bed. If we had been given only the latter sentence for analysis, we should probably have said that in the bed was an adverbial modifier of place; the possibility of the corresponding passive construction rather shows that it is an object. But the absence of a corresponding passive construction is hardly final proof of the secondary part being an adverbial modifier. Perhaps we will do best to say that the opposition between object and adverbial modifier tends to be neutralised here, too. A very frequent morphological type of adverbial modifier is the infinitive or an infinitive phrase. This is especially true of the adverbial modifier of purpose, which may be expressed by the infinitive preceded by the particle to or the phrase in order to. However, we cannot say that every infinitive or infinitive phrase acting as a secondary part of the sentence must necessarily be an adverbial modifier of purpose, or indeed an adverbial modifier of any kind. Let us compare the following two sentences: I wanted to read the advertisement, and I stopped to read the advertisement. From a purely structural point of view there would seem to be no difference between the two sentences. It is the meanings of the verbs want and stop which lie at the bottom of the difference. Grammatically speaking, a transformation test is possible which will bring out the difference in function between the two infinitives. In the sentence I stopped to read the advertisement we can insert in order before the particle to, or, in other words, replace the particle to by the phrase in order to: in doing so, we get the sentence I stopped in order to read the advertisement, which is good English and does not differ in meaning from the original sentence. With the sentence I wanted to read the advertisement such a change would not be possible. If we consider this experiment to be a grammatical proof we can say that the difference in the functions of the infinitive in the two sentences is grammatical. If we deny this the conclusion will be that the distinction between the two secondary parts is neutralised here too. There are also cases when the infinitive is an adverbial modifier, but not one of purpose. This is the case, on the one hand, in such sentences as I was glad to see him, where the meaning of the adjec tive glad shows the semantic relations, and, on the other hand, in such sentences as the following: Denis woke up the next morning to find the sun shining, the sky serene. (HUXLEY) It is clear from the lexical meanings of the words woke up and find that the infinitive as adverbial modifier does not indicate the purpose of the action but the circumstances that followed it (Denis woke up and found the sun shining). The infinitive to find is indeed typical of such adverbial modifiers, as has been pointed out by E. Korneyeva. 1 The same is seen in the following example: She balanced perilously there for a few more minutes, then lurched and fell back to awake with a start and grab at the horse .. . (BUECHNER) (the horse mentioned here is a statue). It is evident from the lexical meanings of the verbs fell and awake that the infinitive does not express purpose but ensuing circumstances: it would be impossible for a person to fall in order to awake. So the lexical meanings of words are of first-rate importance for the status of the infinitive: the form of the infinitive does not in itself determine anything beyond that the phrase in question is a secondary part of the sentence. The following sentence is also a clear example of this kind of infinitive modifier: A young man of twenty-two or so, wearing overalls and carrying an empty buckel, pushed open the wide, green doors of the aviary to be greeted by a gust of piercing whistles, trills, chirps and murmurings from the double row of cages that lined two walls of the long, low building. (BUECHNER) The infinitive in question is here passive, but the grammatical category of voice does not in itself give sufficient material to judge of the type of modifier we have here: a passive action might after all be the purpose of an action. It is rather the lexical meanings of the words and "common sense" that make everything clear: it could not be the man's purpose to be greeted by whistles, etc., of birds. Thus the modifier is clearly one of subsequent events. A different kind of relation between an adverbial modifier and its head word is found when the head word is an adjective or adverb preceded by the adverb too: But Magnus's spirit was too robust and buoyant to admit of difficulties for long. (LINKLATER) At first he had been too surprised to feel any definite emotion. (Idem) The actual meaning resulting from the pattern "too + adjective (adverb) + to + infinitive" of course is, that the action denoted by the infinitive does not take place. Roughly speaking, in summing up the relations between the semantic and the morphological types of adverbial modifiers, we may say that some general statements on their relations can be made: for example, an adverbial modifier of place can never be expressed by an infinitive; an infinitive can express either an adverbial modifier of purpose, or one of subsequent events, etc. No straightforward law about correspondences between the two classifications is possible. As to the parts of the sentence which an adverbial modifier may modify, they have been enumerated on p. 213. It follows from this definition that an adverbial modifier cannot modify a part of the sentence expressed by a non-verbal noun; in other words, a secondary part modifying a part expressed by a noun cannot be an adverbial modifier. This may be taken as a guiding principle, though it is purely conventional, being the logical consequence of the definition adopted. But it must also be stated that from a scientific viewpoint it is irrelevant whether we call an adverb or phrase modifying a noun an attribute or an adverbial modifier.

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