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12) Semantic Categories of Adverbs

This document identifies and describes seven main categories of adverbs: place, time, manner, degree, additive/restrictive, stance, and linking. Adverbs can express location, frequency, duration, intensity, certainty, attitude, and connect parts of discourse. They provide details about how actions are performed, levels of certainty, and a speaker's manner. Context is important for determining their precise meaning.

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2K views3 pages

12) Semantic Categories of Adverbs

This document identifies and describes seven main categories of adverbs: place, time, manner, degree, additive/restrictive, stance, and linking. Adverbs can express location, frequency, duration, intensity, certainty, attitude, and connect parts of discourse. They provide details about how actions are performed, levels of certainty, and a speaker's manner. Context is important for determining their precise meaning.

Uploaded by

marcela noemi
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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GRAMMAR I

SEMANTIC CATEGORIES OF ADVERBS

Adverbs cover a wide range of semantic categories. Here we identify seven main
categories: place, time, manner, degree, additive/restrictive, stance and linking adverbs. Many
of these have multiple meanings that vary with context of use. Sometimes they have a literal
meaning and sometimes the meaning is more metaphorical i.e. perfectly: perfectly arranged,
perfectly fits, perfectly painted all mean ‘in a perfect manner’ but perfectly normal, perfectly safe,
perfectly true have a meaning of ‘completely’.
Still for example, can be an adverb of time or a linking adverb:

Is the man still in prison?


He has changed a bit, still I don’t like him.

Place adverbs: express distance, direction or position.

He likes being there.


She traveled far.
He leaned forward and slipped off the chair.

Time adverbs: they express position in time, frequency, duration and relationship. Their
meaning can vary according to the context.

She doesn’t travel very far now. (time position)


She always cooks big meals in the evenings. (time frequency)
Her memory will remain with us always. (time duration)
It was already broken when she picked it up. (time relationship)

Manner adverbs: express information about how an action is performed. They generally
have an –ly suffix (but some have the same form as the adjective) and are used as adverbials but
they can also be used as modifiers, providing a description that is integrated into the noun phrase.
They can be analyzed as compound adjectives, especially if they are hyphenated: newly-restored,
highly-sensitive, badly-mannered, tightly-fitting.

Automatically he closed his eyes and recovered quickly. adverbial


She works fast and behaves well. adverbial

The quietly flowing stream was strewn with red and gold leaves. modifier
The living room had several vases with carefully arranged flowers. modifier
The hard working men were given an extra bonus. modifier

Degree adverbs: there are adverbs that increase intensity, they are amplifiers or
intensifiers. Some of these modify gradable adjectives and indicate degrees on a scale i.e. more,
very, so, extremely.

The children are very good.


It was so expensive that we couldn’t afford it.
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He was extremely gullible so everyone made fun of him.

Other amplifiers indicate an endpoint on a scale. These include totally, absolutely,


completely and quite ( in the sense of ‘completely’)

His father was completely irrational about the subject.


These pictures are totally different from the other ones.
James was quite unemotional about the whole situation.

How is used as an intensifier in exclamatory sentences:

How cruel! How lovely!

Some manner adverbs can lose their literal meaning when used as amplifiers, especially in
conversation:

It was really an awfully safe place. His behaviour was perfectly awful.
He was dead serious when he was talking.

Degree adverbs which decrease the effect of the modified item are called downtoners or
diminishers. They indicate a degree on a scale and are used with gradable adjectives. They
include less, slightly, somewhat, rather and quite (in the sense ‘to some extent’) almost, nearly,
pretty, far from. They generally indicate that the modified item is not being used precisely.

All the people looked somewhat untidy.


She looked rather bewildered by the end of the meeting.
The man was slightly drunk, nevertheless he drove carefully.
The evening was quite cold and I hadn’t taken a coat.
The bottle on the table was almost empty.
The children were far from sleepy, even though it was late.

Informal degree adverbs are used a lot in conversation including totally, really, absolutely
and bloody and damn which are taboo words and can sometimes be offensive. In academic texts
the adverbs are more formal such as: highly, entirely, fully, extremely.

Additive / restrictive adverbs: these indicate that one thing is being added to another.
They single out one particular part of the clause as being ‘additional’ to something else. However
context is often essential to determine the intended comparison.

My dad was a great guy, too. Could mean that my dad had other conditions
apart from being a great guy or that someone else was also a great guy.

Only focuses attention on a certain element of the clause. Restrictive adverbs serve to
emphasize the importance of one part of the proposition, restricting the truth of the proposition
either primarily or exclusively to that part.

Marge especially, never told the truth.


Only those who had a special invitation, were allowed in.

Stance adverbs: (expressions of attitude or feelings) these adverbs can be used to express
three kinds of stance: epistemic, attitude and style.

 Epistemic stance adverbs: express a variety of meanings:


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a. showing levels of certainty or doubt.

It’s OK, I’ll probably be able to do it without your help.

b. commenting on the reality or actuality of a proposition

Actually I don’t really like vegetables.

c. showing that a proposition is based on some evidence, without specifying the source.

Supposedly they were arriving well after midnight.

d. showing limitations on a proposition

Typically, he was on his worst behaviour at the meeting.

e. conveying imprecision – these adverbs are also called hedges and they are also
common with numbers, measurements and quantities.

It was kind of strange.


He was sort of disappointed that she hadn’t come.
It was like a little blue piece of fur.
There were about 500 people at the gathering.
It cost like thirty thousand pounds

 Attitude stance adverbs: these adverbs convey a speaker’s or writer’s emotional attitude
towards a proposition.

Surprisingly, he arrived on time.


We couldn’t buy the house, unfortunately.

 Style stance adverbs: these adverbs tell us something about a speaker’s manner of
speaking, for example is the speaker using language sincerely, frankly, honestly, simply or
technically?

I didn’t do it ! Honestly I tell you I didn’t!


Frankly, I didn’t know what to do at the time.
Technically, it could be so, but I don’t really believe it.

Linking adverbs: these make connections between sections of discourse and they show
how the meaning of one section of the text is related to another i.e. so, then, though, even though,
anyway, however, therefore, for example, first, finally, furthermore, thus, nevertheless, rather, yet,
on the other hand, etc.

He didn’t come, even though I told him it was important.


They took him to hospital right away, however, he didn’t recover consciousness.
He arrived late, furthermore he hadn’t written the letter.

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