ADVERBS AND THE AdvP

Lecture #3: 2012-03-07

REVIEWWhat have we done so far?

We introduced…

…the most evil POS of them all..

ADVERBS!!!

DIGRESSION- academic treatment of ADJs & ADVs

• Columbia University in the City of New York (Columbia University), whose famous alumni include: Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt, Barack Obama, Warren Buffet, Orhan Pamuk and and more that 40 Nobel-prize laureates

• Course in Academic Writing where students are instructed that:

• “Adjectives are the enemy of nouns, and adverbs are the enemy of everything else.”

ADVERBS AS A PART OF SPEECH

• An open-class part of speech, typically dynamic in meaning, in the form of:

• SIMPLE ADVERBS: just, only, near, well, soon…• COMPOUND ADVERBS: somehow, anywhere…• DERIVATIONAL ADVERBS (derived through

suffixation): quickly, sideways, clockwise, northwards…

• THE ADVERB PARADIGM has THREE FORMS: positive (fast), comparative (faster) and superlative (fastest).

THE ADVERB PHRASE

• THE ADVERB PHRASE IS A PHRASE THAT HAS AN ADVERB AS ITS HEAD.

• The AdvP can have the following forms:– AdvP = Adv e.g. carefully– AdvP = Adv Adv e.g. very carefully– AdvP = Adv Adv e.g. carefully enough– AdvP = Adv Adv Cl e.g. so fast [that I couldn’t see it]

fast [enough] [to escape]o AdvP = (Adv) Adv PP e.g. (much) better [than Bill]

SYNTACTIC FUNCTIONS OF ADVERB PHRASES (pg. 99)

SYNTACTIC FUNCTIONS OF ADVERB PHRASES

INDEPENDENT DEPENDENT (PART OF OTHER PHRASES)

ADVERBIAL:He speaks slowly.

MODIFIER:extremely slow (AP)very slowly (AdvP)rather a mess (NP)straight through the wall (PP)over ten victims (determiner)

COMPLEMENT OF PREPOSITION:over heretill thenfrom inside

INDEPENDENT ADVERB PHRASES = ADVERBIALS

ADVERBIALS

INTEGRATED into the CLAUSE STRUCTURE

Primarily NON-LINKING:

Provide speaker’s comment

PERIPHERAL in the CLAUSE STRUCTURE

Primarily LINKING:

connect sentences

DISJUNCTS CONJUNCTS

ADJUNCTS

CLEFT SENTENCES: test for integration into the structure of the sentence

• Ross is behaving naturally. (ADJUNCT)• It is naturally how Ross is behaving.• Naturally, Ross is behaving. (DISJUNCT)• *It is naturally that Ross is behaving.• Consequently Ross is a good guy. (CONJUNCT)• *It is consequently that Ross is a good guy.

In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.

Never in my entire life have I seen such a beauty!

LOCATIVE INVERSION

• LOCATIVE INVERSION is mainly limited to:– Adverbials of place– Verbs such as BE, COME, GO, SIT, LIE, STAND

• LOCATIVE INVERSION is used to put FOCUS on the subject, which is the most important part of the sentence.

ADVERBIAL +VERB +SUBJECTHere comes the taxi!In the town squarestands the market hall.Up went the prices.

NEGATIVE INVERSION• To EMPHASIZE A NEGATIVE, we can place it AT THE

FRONT OF THE CLAUSE. However, this triggers an obligatory change of word order, i.e. inversion:

She at no time mentioned her earlier marriage.→ At no time did she mention her earlier marriage.

He hasn’t once offered to help.→ Not once has he offered to help.

NEGATIVE INVERSION 2 special cases

• SCARCELY, HARDLY & BARELY vs. NO SOONER

Scarcely / hardly + PAST PERFECT, WHEN + SIMPLE PAST

Scarcely had I arrived at the station when the train came in.Scarcely had I searched deep inside my soul, when I found her whom my soul truly loveth.Barely had I started speaking when he interrupted me.Hardly had I entered home, when the bell rang.

No sooner + PAST PERFECT, THAN + SIMPLE PAST

No sooner had I put the phone down than it rang again.No sooner had I left the house than it started raining.

THIS IS WHERE WE STOPPED LAST WEEK

SO, LET’S MOVE ON!

NEGATIVE AND LOCATIVE INVERSION

And now …

… let’s finish (off) adverbs and adjectives!

COMPARISON OF ADJECTIVES AND ADVERBS

Comparison of ADJs & ADVs• Comparison is a grammatical means which makes it

possible to express the relative DEGREE of a property when compared in relation to a reference value (BASIS OF COMPARISON)

• Comparison of ADJs & ADVs can be analyzed from two different theoretical viewpoints:– Morphological analysis (i.e. the analysis of form)– Semantic analysis (i.e. the analysis of meaning)

• Comparison of ADJs and ADVs is semantically restricted: ONLY GRADABLE ADJs AND ADVs CAN BE COMPARED: √faster vs. *deader

COMPARISON OF ADJs & ADVs: morphological analysis

• Both the ADJECTIVAL PARADIGM and the ADVERB PARADIGM consist of three forms:– THE POSITIVE (ADJ: e.g. big ;ADV: e.g. well)– THE COMPARATIVE(ADJ: e.g. bigger ;ADV: e.g. better)– THE SUPERLATIVE (ADJ: e.g. biggest ;ADV: e.g. best)

• The comparative and superlative forms can be inflected (e.g. bigger) or periphrastic (e.g. more interesting), and the choice between the two is largely determined by the length of the adjective.

COMPARISON OF ADJECTIVES:morphological analysis (1/3)

• INFLECTED FORMS: monosyllabic adjectives– big-bigger-biggest– old-older-oldest– but (some exceptions): unhappy-unhappier…

• BOTH INFLECTED AND PERIPHRASTIC: disyllabic adjectives ending in:– -y: funny, noisy, wealthy, friendly– -ow: narrow, hollow, shallow– -le: gentle, feeble, noble– -er/ure: clever, nature, obscure– other: common, handsome, polite, quite and wicked.

COMPARISON OF ADJECTIVES:morphological analysis (2/3)

• INFLECTED FORMS: changes in spelling FINAL BASE CONSONANTS are DOUBLED when the PRECEDING

VOWEL IS STRESSED AND SPELLED WITH A SINGLE LETTER:– BIG – BIGGER - BIGGEST IN BASES ENDING IN A CONSONANT + Y THE FINAL Y IS

CHANGED TO I:– ANGRY– ANGRIER – ANGRIEST IN BASES ENDING IN MUTE –E OR -EE E IS DROPPED BEFORE

THE INFLECTIONAL SUFFIX:– PURE– PURER (not PUREER)- PUREST (not PUREEST)– FREE– FREER (not FREEER)- FREEST (not FREEEST)

COMPARISON OF ADJECTIVES:morphological analysis (3/3)

• PERIPHRASTIC FORMS: trisyllabic or longer adjectives– interesting, more interesting, most interesting

• IRREGULAR COMPARISON: good, bad, far, old, late, little, well/ill (health)

IS THIS REALLY TRUE?

“Have you ever been interviewed by somebody more old than me?”

JEREMY CLARKSON

COMPARISON OF ADVERBS:morphological analysis

• INFLECTED FORMS: monosyllabic adverbs– Isn’t it possible for them to drive faster?– Who jumped highest in last year’s Olympics?– Exceptions: adverbs that are identical in form with

adjective FOLLOW THE RULES FOR ADJECTIVES: e.g. early – earlier (NOT more early, although it is disyllabic).

• PERIPHRASTIC FORMS: disyllabic and longer adverbs– This book explains things a bit more comprehensively than

the other one.– The new hotel is the more elegantly designed building in

the city.• IRREGULAR COMPARISON: well, badly, far, little, much

THE MEANINGS EXPRESSED THROUGH COMPARISON

Semantic analysis of comparison

Let’s analyze Tom Cruise’s relationships from the point of view of HEIGHT as a gradable property.- Tom Cruise is shorter than Katie Holmes.- Tom Cruise is as tall as Nicole Kidman.- Tom Cruise is taller than Penelope Cruz.

COMPARISON OF ADJs & ADVs:semantic analysis

TYPES OF COMPARISON

Comparison of equivalence

Comparison of non-equivalence

to a higher degree

to a lower degree

comparison of sufficiency

comparison of excess

Comparative – for comparison between 2 persons, items etc.Superlative – for comparison between more than 2 persons, items, etc.Basis of comparison – either overt or implied

Ana is cleverer/more clever than Jane (is).John is the politest of the students.

STRUCTURES USED TO EXPRESS COMPARISON

• Adjective Phrase with complementation:– AP=A+PP John is as tall [PP as Peter].

– AP=A+clause John is as tall [CLAUSE as Peter is].

• Adverb Phrase with complementation:– AdvP=AdvP+PP I can play tennis much better [PP than Joe].

– AdvP=AdvP+cl I play tennis much better [CLAUSE than he ever will].

• Noun Phrases with complementation:– NP=Q+N+PP I have more friends [PP than Bill].

– NP=Q+N+cl I have more friends [CLAUSE than Bill does].• Comparative clauses are complement clauses of ADJs, ADVs and Ns used for

expressing comparison:I love you AdvP [more than you think].He is not AP [as clever as she is].She has NP [more friends than you can imagine].

THE END OF AP & AdvP

So, where are we in the course?

CLASS #1: AP

CLASS #2: AP/AdvP

CLASS #3: AdvP, PP

CLASS #4: PP

CLASS #5: ADVERBIALS

CLASS #6: ADVERBIALS

CLASS #7: MIDTERM OVERVIEW AND SIMPLE SENTENCE INTRO

MIDTERM TEST

CLASS #8: SIMPLE SENTENCE

CLASS #9: SIMPLE SENTENCE

CLASS #10: COMPLEX SENTENCE

CLASS #11: COMPLEX SENTENCE

CLASS #12: COMPLEX SENTENCE , WRAP-UP & ORAL EXAM HINTS

And now…

… believe it or not…

… something really new…

Prepositions &

The Prepositional Phrase

PREPOSTIONS & PPs v.s. other POSs & XPsOther POSs and XPs:• Mary is playing

interesting games. [NP]• Mary is playing games.

[NP]

Prepositions and PPs:• Mary is playing in the

garden. [PP: ADVERBIAL] • *Mary is playing in. [PP].• The girl in the garden is

playing tennis [PP: complement of NP]

• *The girl in is playing tennis. [PP]

ENDOCENTRIC PHRASE – THE HEAD DETERMINES THE INTERPRETATION

/MEANING OF THE PHRASE (MEANING OF THE HEAD = MEANING OF THE PHRASE)

AND THE HEAD OF THE PHRASE DOES NOT REQUIRE ANY COMPLEMENTATION.

EXOCENTRIC PHRASE – THE HEAD DOES NOT HAVE THE SAME MEANING AS THE

WHOLE PHRASE AND THE HEAD REQUIRES OBLIGATORY COMPLEMENTATION.

SO WHAT ARE PREPOSITIONS REALLY LIKE?

PREPOSITIONS ARE LIKE PARASITES: THEY HAVE TO ATTACH TO SOMETHING IN

ORDER TO ‘SURVIVE’.PREPOSITIONS ATTACH TO THEIR

COMPLEMENTS (NP, ADVP), AS TICKS ATTACH TO CATS.

PREPOSTION-LIKE WORDS – problems with multiple membership

PREPOSITION-LIKE WORDs:• We left before the last

act.• That happened before

he read the report.• I had only seen her once

before.

NOUNS, VERBS, ADJECTIVES:• We know the last act.

• I know he read the report.

• I know.

Head of PP

CONJUNCTION introducing a clause

Head of AdvP

Head of VP

Head of VP

Head of VP

THE TYPE OF COMPLEMENT DETERMINES THE INTERPRETATION OF THE WORD.

THE TYPE OF COMPLEMENT DOES NOT DETERMINE THE INTERPRETATION OF THE

WORD.

DIGRESSION: multiple membership

WHAT IS THE MOST VERSATILE WORD IN ENGLISH?

A word or two about LIKE:

• LIKE can be a NOUN:– We all have our own likes and dislikes when it comes to

food.– Soldiers, policemen, and the like were all called in to

help with the emergency.• LIKE can be a PREPOSITION:– Her hair is dark brown like mine.– What's their house like inside?

• LIKE can be a VERB:– I like your jacket.

LIKE – parts of speech

• LIKE can be an ADVERB:– The water was, like, really cold. – I asked Dave if he wanted to go, and he's like, no way!

• LIKE can be a CONJUNCTION:– No one else can score goals like he can!– Don't talk to me like you talk to a child.

• LIKE can be an ADJECTIVE:– The second dispute was sorted out in a like manner.– They get on well together because they are of like

mind.– Try to buy two fish of like size.

LIKE – parts of speech

END OF DIGRESSION:BACK TO PREPOSITIONS

• STATUS: Prepositions are a CLOSED CLASS OF ELEMENTS• FUNCTION: to connect two units in a sentence and

specify a relationship between them• FORM: simple and complex– SIMPLE: consist of ONE WORD: at, in, on, with…– COMPLEX: consist of TWO OR MORE WORDS: into, out of, in

front of, on top of, in terms of, as a result of, owing to, due to, devoid of…

• Prepositions are heads of PREPOSITIONAL PHRASES (i.e. a prepositional phrase is phrase which has a preposition as its head)

CHARACTERISTICS OF PREPOSITIONS

The PP typically consists of a prepositional head followed by an NP as its complement:PP=P+NP e.g. [PPin [NPa village] ]

however, the complement of the preposition is not always an NP, the prepositional complements can also be a FINITE WH-CLAUSE, NON-FINITE -ING CLAUSE or an ADVERB:

PP=P+Clause e.g. [PPfrom [Clausewhat you wrote] ]

PP=P+Clause e.g. [PPat [Clausereading her novel] ]

PP=P+Adv e.g. [PPfor [Advever] ]

THE PP – its form

• Optionally, PPs can be premodified by adverbs: PP= Adv + P + complement

[straight Adv through HEAD [NPthe wall ] ]

[ right Adv over HEAD [AdvP there ] ]

[ exactly Adv from HEAD [Clausewhat you were saying ] ]

THE PP – its form (continued…)

• Normally, prepositions precede their complements. However, sometimes the simple preposition is STRANDED/DEFERRED from its prepositional NP complement.

• There are two types of preposition stranding:– OBLIGATORY STRANDING– OPTIONAL STRANDING (stylistic reasons)

THE PP – its form (continued…)

THE PP – its function

FUNCTIONS OF THE PP

INDEPENDENT i.e. it’s a sentence element

DEPENDENT / PARTS OF OTHER PHRASES

PARTICLES OF PHRASAL VERBS

THE PP – its function: independent

PP has an independent function in the sentence

ADVERBIAL

Cs / Co

SUBJECT (rarely)

ADJUNCT:He lives in a village.CONJUNCT:In a nutshell, she’s OK.DISJUNCT:To my surprise , she’s OK.

Cs (subject complement):The play is by Webster.The fence is of wood.

Co (object complement):I consider them at great risk.

SUBJECT:In love is how I want to feel.In my house is where I want to be.

THE PP – its function: dependent

PP is a part of another phrase

PART OF NP

PART OF AP

[ the girl with the funny red hat ]

[ the man in the raincoat ]

[ the book on the table ]

[ grateful for your help]

[ suitable for the job ]

[ complex beyond our expectations]

They can also be parts of AdvP:

He drives faster [PP than John].

• Compare:

She looked after the children.

She came after the children.

Phrasal verbs are combinations of verbs followed by particles (preposition particles and adverb particles) which change the initial meaning of the verb.

THE PP – its function: prepositional particles of phrasal verbs

VP

PP

• The best test to see if a particle is a preposition particle or an adverb particle is to substitute the object NP with a pronoun.

• Compare:He looked after the children.He looked them after. He looked after them.

He looked up the word.He looked it up. He looked up it.

THE PP – its function: prepositional particles of phrasal verbs

PRONOUN HAS TO FOLLOW THE PARTICLE =

IT’S A PREPOSITION PARTICLE

PRONOUN HAS TO PRECEDE THE PARTICLE =

IT’S AN ADVERB PARTICLE

THEY ARE TEARING UP THE STREET.

They are tearing it up.ADVERB PARTICLE

?They are tearing up it.PREPOSITIONAL PARTICLE

Sometimes the preposition particle doesn’t change the meaning, but changes the verb class:

They agreed. = intransitive verb

They agreed to the plan.The plan was agreed to.Prepositional phrasal verbs cannot be used as

freely in the passive voice as in the active:The result was eventually arrived at. (figurative)The stadium was eventually arrived at.

THE PP – its function: prepositional particles of phrasal verbs

transitive verb

NOW…

The most complex theoretical section on prepositions!

SEMANTIC CLASSIFICATION OF PREPOSITIONS

IT’S ALL ABOUT MEANING!

BASIC PREPOSITIONAL MEANINGS

PREPOSITIONAL MEANINGS

SPACE

TIME

PROCESSCONTINGENCY

OTHER MEANINGS

WHO IS AT THE BANK?

The robbers are IN the bank. The man is AT the bank.

WHICH HORSE IS IN THE FIELD?

The horse is IN the field. The horse is ON the field.

• The student is ON the Faculty of Philosophy.• The student is IN the Faculty of Philosophy.• The student is AT the Faculty of Philosophy.

Where is the student?

DIGRESSION: Steven Pinker• One of the three greatest linguists in the world

(although he is actually a psycholinguist):

• The student is AT the Faculty of Philosophy.Where is the student?

CHOOSING THE RIGHT PREPOSITIONAL MEANING

• Intuitive for native speakers.• One of the biggest problems in achieving

native-like proficiency for non-native speakers.• Therefore, we will devote a lot of time to the

meanings of prepositions.• If you want to find out more, there are many

great books on prepositions.• I would, however, suggest these ones:

The Ins and Outs of prepositions: A Guidebook for ESL Students

• Jean Yates• Paperback: 272 pages • Publisher: Barron's

Educational Series (July 1999)

• Language: English • ISBN-10: 0764107577 • ISBN-13: 978-0764107573 • Price: $8.41

English Prepositions Explained: Revised edition • Seth Lindstromberg• Paperback: 286 pages • Publisher: John Benjamins

Publishing Company; 2 edition (August 11, 2010)

• Language: English • ISBN-10: 9027211744 • ISBN-13: 978-9027211743 • Price: $35.39

BASIC PREPOSITIONAL MEANINGS

PREPOSITIONAL MEANINGS

SPACE

TIME

PROCESSCONTINGENCY

OTHER MEANINGS

THE END

OF PREPOSITIONS

THE END

THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME!CU NEXT WEEK!