Adverbials

1. Adverbials Chapter 11 LongmanStudent Grammar ofSpokenandWrittenEnglish Biber; Conrad; Leech (2009, p. 353-396)

2. Introduction • Adverbials are clauseelementsthat serve three major functions. • Theytellthecircumstancesrelating to theclause, such as whenorwhereanactivitytookplace(circumstanceadverbials). Shegrinnedwidely. • Theyexpress a speaker’s feelings, evaluation, orcommentsonwhattheclause is about(stanceadverbials).In allhonesty, $300 million... • They link theclause (or some partof it) to anotherclause(linkingadverbials). In summary, theapartments are ofhigh standard. • WIDELY VARYING TYPES OF LAND ARE CULTIVATED. (widely – partofthephrase) • Themostnotablepointofadverbials is howvariedthey are. • They serve a varietyoffunctions. • Theyhavemanysemantic roles. concession, reason, location, time, attitude... • Theyhave a wide range ofsyntacticforms. • Theyoccur in variouspositions in clauses. • Multipleadverbialscanoccur in a clause. • Mostadverbials are optional.

3. Overview of adverbials • There are three classes of adverbials: circumstance, stance, and linking. • Circumstance adverbials are by far the most common class. • Adverbials can take many forms: adverbs and adverb phrases, nouns and noun phrases, prepositional phrases, and finite and non-finite clauses. • Prepositional phrases are the most common form overall. • Adverbials can occur in three major positions in clauses: initial, final and medial. • Medial position has several variants. • In conversation and fictional dialog, some adverbials are connected with another speaker’s main clause. • The function of adverbials in their clauses sometimes varies, depending on the scope of circumstance and stance adverbials, or the amount of text connected by linking adverbials.

4. Circumstance adverbials • There are seven major semantic categories of circumstance adverbials: place, time, process, contingency, degree, addition/restriction, and recipient. • Place, time, and process (especially manner) adverbials are most common overall. • Three circumstance adverbials are extremely common in conversation and have important functions in spoken discourse: just, then, and there. • Circumstance adverbials can appear in initial, medial, and final position. • Final position is the most common position for circumstance adverbials in general. • Initial position is commonly used to maintain given/new information structure or when the adverbial has scope over a series of clauses. • Medial position is common for addition/restriction and degree adverbs that have limited scope, and for short adverbials of time.

5. Circumstanceadverbialsthat are clauses • Clausal circumstance adverbials have some special types of meaning in addition to the meanings of non-clausal circumstance adverbials. • For example: Conditional clauses can express open, hypothetical (unreal), and rhetorical conditions. • Additional semantic categories are preference, proportion, and supplement. • Finite clauses are much more common than non-finite clauses. • They also have a number of advantages over non-finite clauses, such as a wider range of meanings and an explicitly stated subject. • Final position is the most common position for both finite and non-finite clauses. • Initial position often serves special functions: especially signaling cohesion or information flow, and framing subsequent discourse. • Subordinators begin the great majority of finite clauses but are rare with non-finite clauses.

6. Stance adverbials • There are three major types of stance (overtly mark a speaker/writer’s attitude to a clause about its content)adverbials: epistemic, attitude, and style. • Epistemic stance adverbials convey meanings such as doubt/certainty, actuality/reality, and imprecision. • Some stance adverbials overlap in their functions with circumstance adverbials, linking adverbials, and discourse markers. • The highest frequency of stance adverbials overall is in conversation. • Single adverbs are the most common form of stance adverbial. • All of the most common stance adverbials are epistemic. • Medial position is the most common position for stance adverbials. • Stance adverbials have important interactional functions in conversation. Epistemicadj (Philosophy) of or relating to knowledge or epistemology

7. Linking adverbials • There are six major semantic categories of linking adverbials: enumeration/addition, summation, apposition, result/inference, contrast/concession, and transition. • The greatest use and greatest diversity of linking adverbials are found in academic prose. • Conversation has the second highest frequency of linking adverbials, due mostly to a few very common items, like so. • Cohesion in news and fiction depends less on explicit linking adverbials and more on chronological order or implicit connections. • Four linking adverbials are extremely common in conversation: so, then, though, anyway. They are important in the unfolding of conversational discourse. • Initial position is the typical position for linking adverbials generally. • Three of the common linking adverbials in conversation tend to appear in final position: then, anyway, though.