Definition
Here are two senses for adverb:
- An adverb, narrowly defined, is a word belonging to a class of words which modify verbs for such categories as:
- time
- manner
- place
- direction
- An adverb, broadly defined, is a word belonging to a class of words which modify any constituent class of words other than nouns, such as:
- verbs
- adjectives
- adverbs
- phrases
- clauses
- sentences
Under this definition, the possible type of modification depends on the class of the constituent being modified.
Discussion
The general class adverb is a mixture of very different kinds of words, which cover a wide range of semantic concepts and whose syntactic distribution is disparate. The definition of the lexical category adverb is language-specific, based on syntactic distribution.
Many words traditionally called adverbs in English, such as degree words (very, awfully) and negatives (not), are set up as distinct word-classes in linguistic studies.
Examples
(English)
- He went fast.
- She slowly shut the door.
- Nearly in a rage, he left.
Kinds
More specific concepts within adverb (linguistics).
Sources 4
- Crystal 1980, 17
- Hartmann and Stork 1972, 6
- Schachter 1985, 20
- Mish 1991, 59