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Adjectival and Adverbial Relations; Their Influence upon the Government of the Verb.

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 February 2021

Sylvester Primer*
Affiliation:
Professor of Modern Languages in the College of Charleston, Charleston, S. C.

Extract

In an article on the Factitive in German, read at the last Convention of the Modern Language Association, I touched upon the adverbial case, but could not, for want of space, give that attention to it which the subject deserves. It is now my purpose to treat more at length the adverbial relations and their influence upon the government of the verb. But since the boundary between the functions of the adverb and the adjective is somewhat vague, so much so that it is often difficult to decide whether the adverb or the adjective would be more appropriate in a particular case, it will first of all be necessary to settle the real functions of the two words; to discover, if possible, the distinction between an adverbial and an adjectival modification of the idea expressed, whether that idea be verbal or substantival, or (thirdly) the compound idea formed by the union of the verb and substantive. In my former article I stated that the adverb expresses some of the vaguer relations of the factitive, but did not intend by that to deny its capability of expressing accurately the factitive relations. “A predicating judgment,” says Becker, “always forms the basis of the logical factitive; it is therefore most perfectly expressed by the adjectives, but since da, wie, so are often used predicatively this same relation is also expressed by these.” I also showed in my treatment of the factitive that a modifier often performs a double function in serving both as an attribute or modifier of the passive object, and at the same time qualifying the verbal idea. In expressions like Sccrates venenum laetus haurit, invitus dedi, nemo saltat sobrius, tardus venit, in which the English imperatively demands the adverb, the Latin as imperatively the adjective, a careful analysis will show that the modification is neither adjectival nor adverbial, but stands on the boundary between the two.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Modern Language Association of America, 1885

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