Adverbs

Grammar questions which are not related to any specific text.
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mmorris
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Joined: May 4th, 2018, 4:53 pm

Adverbs

Post by mmorris »

I find not many grammars cover adverbs. Young talks about them modifying verbs, adjectives, or adverbs and that the adverb generally precedes the word it modifies.

My question is, if the adverb is adjacent to and precedes a verb, adjective, or adverb, would the word it precedes always be the word the adverb modifies?

For instance in John 14:3, there is:
ἑτοιμάσω τόπον ὑμῖν, πάλιν ἔρχομαι καὶ παραλήμψομαι

Since πάλιν precedes and is adjacent to ἔρχομαι would it always modify ἔρχομαι in this example? Or could it also modify ἑτοιμάσω? Or does the adverb being adjacent not matter?

Lastly, in the same example could πάλιν modify παραλήμψομαι? I.e., can it pass over a verb, adjective, or adverb and then modify a different verb, adjective, or adverb?
Stirling Bartholomew
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Joined: August 9th, 2012, 4:19 pm

Re: Adverbs

Post by Stirling Bartholomew »

The label Adverb is applied to a diverse collection of uninflected words which are divided into sub-classes when you get to intermediate level study. If your reading Richard E. Young that is an intermediate text book. Adverbs are mobile elements which which often drift toward the front end of a clause. They don't need to be adjacent to any particular word. I suspect certain adverbs are more likely to be adjacent to the verb. In some cases it is more useful to think of the adverb as qualifying the predicate as a whole rather than a particular word.
C. Stirling Bartholomew
Stephen Carlson
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Re: Adverbs

Post by Stephen Carlson »

Sometimes πάλιν can go at the end: Acts 17:32 Ἀκουσόμεθά σου περὶ τούτου, καὶ πάλιν We will hear about this from you one more time.
Stephen C. Carlson, Ph.D.
Melbourne, Australia
Barry Hofstetter
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Re: Adverbs

Post by Barry Hofstetter »

The definition of "adverb" that you have been given is accurate, and has ancient attestation... In general, adverbs will tend to be close to what they modify, often before, but not always. In John 14:3, there is little doubt that it has to modify ἔρχομαι. It follows the usual syntax and makes the best sense in context. However, as pointed out above, adverbs can have different placement for a variety of reasons related to discourse. Higher register authors in particular will get literary on you. Ancient native speakers would have plugged them into the appropriate slots easily even while being completely aware of the "unusual" syntax, just as in English:
Now is the winter of our discontent
Made glorious summer by this sun [or son] of York
We immediately recognize that it is not conversational English, that it is literary (I mean, Shakespeare) but we also understand it. Familiarity with the langauge in general will go a long way to help you with this.
N.E. Barry Hofstetter, M.A., Th.M.
Ph.D. Student U of FL
Instructor of Latin
Jack M. Barrack Hebrew Academy
καὶ σὺ τὸ σὸν ποιήσεις κἀγὼ τὸ ἐμόν. ἆρον τὸ σὸν καὶ ὕπαγε.
mmorris
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Joined: May 4th, 2018, 4:53 pm

Re: Adverbs

Post by mmorris »

Thanks everyone for the information.
mmorris
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Joined: May 4th, 2018, 4:53 pm

Re: Adverbs

Post by mmorris »

One other follow up question.

Can an adverb modify a participle?
Jonathan Robie
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Re: Adverbs

Post by Jonathan Robie »

mmorris wrote: August 5th, 2020, 8:36 am One other follow up question.

Can an adverb modify a participle?
Yes, and it can also modify an infinitive. Here's an example:
Matt.1.19 wrote:Ἰωσὴφ δὲ ὁ ἀνὴρ αὐτῆς, δίκαιος ὢν καὶ μὴ θέλων αὐτὴν δειγματίσαι, ἐβουλήθη λάθρᾳ ἀπολῦσαι αὐτήν.
ἐξίσταντο δὲ πάντες καὶ διηποροῦντο, ἄλλος πρὸς ἄλλον λέγοντες, τί θέλει τοῦτο εἶναι;
http://jonathanrobie.biblicalhumanities.org/
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