UCh._2016._Spring_16._Applied_Grammar_2._ADVERBIALS._18_October_2016.doc

notes

1. Linguistics Department Name: ________________________________
Applied Grammar 2 Adverbials
DESCRIPTION & RECOGNITION 18 October, 2016 Part 1
1. Introduction
The adverbial element (A) in clause and sentence structure has a wide range of roles. From
the point of view of their syntactic functions, A's fall into four main categories: adjuncts
(circumstance A's), subjuncts (degree, viewpoint, focus A's), disjuncts (attitude A's), and
conjuncts (connective A's). Adjuncts and subjuncts are 'integrated' into the sentence or
clause, while disjuncts and conjuncts are 'peripheral' to the sentence or clause. Integrated A’s
belong in the field of sentential grammar: peripheral A’s correspond to suprasentential (text)
grammar.
This can be summarized in the following chart:
Adjuncts (circumstance)
Integrated
Subjuncts (degree, viewpoint, focusing)
Adverbials
Disjuncts (attitude)
Peripheral
Conjuncts (connection)
1.1. Adjuncts operate at the same level as the other functional elements in a sentence.
S P A- Adjunct A- Adjunct
e.g. (I) (went) (to the cinema) (yesterday).
NP VP PP NP/AvP

2. Subjuncts operate inside one of the functional elements in a sentence or clause, i.e. at a lower
level than the other functional elements in a sentence.
S P Cs
A- Subjunct
e.g. (She) (was) ((incredibly) beautiful).
AvP
NP VP AjP
S P Od
A-Subjunct
e.g. ((Even) a child) (can do) (this).
AvP
NP VP NP
Disjuncts mediate between the speaker and the sentence he/she utters, i.e. they reflect the
speaker's attitude in relation to the statement made in the sentence.
A- Disjunct S P A- Adjunct
e.g. (Fortunately,) (nobody) (died) (in the accident).
AvP NP VP PP
Conjuncts operate across grammatical units, i.e., they connect clauses, sentences, and even
larger units. Consequently, they belong in the field of suprasentential (text) grammar rather than
that of sentential grammar.
A- Conjunct
e.g. I had studied very hard; (therefore,) I didn't find the test particularly difficult.
A- Conjunct
[As explained in the previous chapter,] we shall now go on to discuss the applications
AvCl of the theory under study.
1.2. From the structural point of view, A's of any kind can have a variety of different forms. Thus,
adjuncts, subjuncts, disjuncts, and conjuncts can all, theoretically, belong in such form classes as
NP, PP, AvP, and AvCl. In actual practice, however, certain structures seem to lend themselves
more readily to the formal realization of only certain types of A.
e.g.
Adjunct
I saw her (last Monday).
NP

3. Subjunct
I'm (awfully) sorry.
AvP
Disjunct
(To my horror,) Mary married that dishonest man.
PP
Conjunct
[As explained earlier in this same chapter,] recent research has provided more evidence
AvCl in relation to this
phenomenon.
2. Recognition Exercises.
The objective of these exercises is facilitating a) the identification of the A’s in a Se, b) the
specification of the syntactic function each A performs in the Se (Adjunct, Subjunct, Disjunct,
or Conjunct), and c) the description of the form of each A (PP, AvP, NP, or AvCl).
REMEMBER:
a) A PP is a grammatical unit constituted by a p (preposition) + a NP (Noun
Phrase)
 by taxi / on the floor / in front of the house / in connection with this problem
b) An AvP nearly always ends with the derivational morpheme ‘ – ly’, or belongs
to a paradigm many of whose members end in ‘-ly’
 nicely / quickly / usually ( generally, often, seldom)
c) A NP is a grammatical unit constituted by a N (a name, a denomination of an
animate or an inanimate), which is the Head (H) of the NP with or without Modifiers
(preM  pre-modifier and / or postM  postmodifier)
 preM H postM
nice day
the serious students who always study before a test

4. d) An AvCl is a grammatical unit introduced by a cj (conjunction): 'because, as,
although, if, when, so that, as if, etc.'), which has a P (Predicator), but is not
syntactically autonomous (grammatically independent).

A - Adjunct
You will only succeed [if you try hard].
cj
AvCl
2.1. Examples
Below, you will find a set of examples of the function-form relationships for A’s.
Like this:
4 functions & 4 forms  theoretically, 16 realizations (about 16 examples) altogether.
2.1.1. Adjuncts

Adjunct
a) AvP: She sings (beautifully).
AvP
Adjunct
b) PP: They live (in a very nice little house).
PP
Adjunct
c) NP: I did it (my way)
NP
Adjunct
d) AvCl: They were happy [because they were very much in love].
AvCl

5. 2.1.2. Subjuncts
Cs
Subjunct
a) AvP: Alice seems to be (an incredibly generous person).
AvP
Od
Subjunct
b) PP: The new hotel gives (round-the-clock efficient service).
PP

S
Subjunct
c) NP: (A black death aggressive epidemic) has set in on some small Pacific Islands.
NP
Cs
Subjunct
d) AvCl: My youngest daughter is (you can’t imagine how cute).
AvCl
2.1.3. Disjuncts
Disjunct
a) AvP: (Understandably,) the best students got the best marks at the end of term.
AvP
Disjunct
b) PP: (Much to my regret,) my son didn’t get the fantastic job he was applying for.
PP
Disjunct
c) NP: Jesus, won't he ever leave us alone?
NP

6. Disjunct
d) AvCl: [As everybody here knows,] the relationships between England and the
AvCl other nations in the UK have not always been very good.
2.1.4. Conjuncts
Conjunct
a) AvP: Jim had cheated in the course of the test; moreover, he had a reputation for having
done so before. AvP

Conjunct
b) PP: Alice was a very predictable girl; her sister, on the other hand, was quite amazing
PP
c) NP: _________?
Conjunct
d) AvCl: [As the Prime Minister had explained in his latest speech,] his government saw no
AvCl
benefit in Scotland choosing independence.

7. Linguistics Department Name: ________________________________
Applied Grammar 2 Adverbials
DESCRIPTION & RECOGNITION 18 October, 2016 Part 2
3. Grammatical tests for recognition
3.1. As different from analysis which is ‘passive observation’ of a grammatical unit, a
grammatical test is ‘active investigation’ of a unit of this kind. A grammatical test is used for
the purposes of uncovering the intricacies of a grammatical unit when analysis alone seems to
be insufficient.
Here is a list of such tests:
a) Movement  placing a segment of a unit in a different position in the same unit
b) Reduction  leaving out additional elements from a unit without altering its structure
c) Expansion  the opposite of reduction
d) Subtraction  leaving out an obligatory element from a grammatical unit
e) Transformation  replacing a segment in a grammatical unit with a different
one that performs the same function.
(See G. Leech et al. 2006. English Grammar for Today. Chapter 3. Section 3.4.)

3.2. Application of grammatical tests in identification and classification of Adverbials.
3.2.1. a) The grammatical test of Transformation can be used in the identification and
classification of Adjuncts. Transformation in this case is applied by asking questios that
can be answered with a segment of the Se. These questions must inquire

8. about the circumstances referred to in the Se. Here is a list of possible notions
(general concepts  circumstances) that can be expressed by Adjuncts and their
respective question words. Some of these questios are normal questions that speakers
ask in neutral use; others, suggested in brackets here, are more formal and infrequent.
Time  when, how long, how often
Place  where
Manner  how
Cause  why
Purpose  what for
Antithesis  (in spite of what)
Condition  (on what condition)
Consequence  (to what extent / how + Aj-Av)

b) Movement, within certain limits, can also be used for the purposes of
Adjunct recognition.
Exercises
a) Identify and classify the Adjuncts in the Se’s below.
a.1. Because of their profession, Jack and Jill lived in different places for a long time.
____________________________________________________________________
a.2. Although I love you very much, we will have to put off the wedding until the end of the year.

____________________________________________________________________
a.3. He always does the most difficult jobs without any special effort.
____________________________________________________________________
a.4. You can easily find Coca Cola wherever you go.
____________________________________________________________________
b) Move the Adjuncts in the Se´s below to another suitable position in the Se.
b.1. The students did their work easily in their own classroom at the end of the day.

9. ___________________________________________________________________
b.2. The Joneses went to the cinema together last weekend.
__________________________________________________________________
b.3. I will lend you the money only if you promise to pay me back really soon.
__________________________________________________________________

3.2.2. The grammatical test of Substitution can be used to identify Subjuncts.
In this case, the uncertain Adverbial can be replaced with ‘very’ (+), ‘rather’(-),
or similar Subjuncts.
Exercises
In the following Se’s, replace the corresponding Adverbial with ‘very’ or ‘rather’.
1. Luckily, the young actress performance was remarkably good.
2. To everybody’s surprise, the local candidate was extremely intelligent.
3. Please, forgive me. I’m terribly sorry.
4. The work was incredibly hard. We are dead tired.
3.2.3. Disjuncts can be particularly mobile as they represent the speaker’s / writer’s
attitude or evaluation of the statement made in the Se. However, for this same reason,
the initial position in the Se seems to be particularly suitable for an Adverbial acting
as a Disjunct.
Exercises
In the following sentences, move the Disjuncts in them to the initial position in the Se.
1. The new cashier has always done his work honestly, frankly.

10. 2. The new restaurant near my office sells really good food.
3. That terrible accident, fortunately, caused no casualties.
4. Jim, as expected, is in love with Mary, desperately.
5. The formal test, as everybody should know, has been put off until further notice
3.2.4. Conjuncts
A Conjunct operates across two linguistic units. It is then used before the second unit and is
movable; that is, within certain limits, it can be used at the beginning, in the middle, or at end of
this second unit. The concept of Conjunct could be extended, and state that a Conjunct can join
together linguistic units, even if they are not adjacent in the text.
Exercises
In the following pairs of statements, join the two Cl’s together by using suitable Conjuncts
from the list given. Rewrite the new units you have constructed by moving your Conjuncts
to a different position in the second Cl.
Suggested Conjuncts: however, nevertheless, therefore, consequently, in fact, actually,
firstly, then, on top of that, what’s more, that is to say, in other
words, to begin with, subsequently
1. He had the best qualifications; ______________, he got the job.
2. ____________, she sent in her application form; _____________, she had an
interview with the psychologist.
3. It was a very good film; ______________, it is the best one I’ve ever seen.
4. They were very much in love; ________________, they could never get married,
5. He simply left his family; ______________, he never even wrote to them.