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Grammar and Cognition: Dualistic models of language structure and language processing
Edited by Alexander Haselow and Gunther Kaltenböck
[Human Cognitive Processing 70] 2020
► pp. 191–232

Chapter 6
The semantics, syntax and prosody of adverbs in English

An FDG perspective

| University of Vienna

In the extensive literature on parenthetical (non-propositional, disjunctive) adverbs, it is often assumed that, on the basis of their semantic, syntactic and prosodic properties, a binary distinction can be made between integrated (non-parenthetical) and non-integrated (parenthetical) adverbs. This paper aims to demonstrate that such a dualistic view is oversimplified, since semantic, syntactic and prosodic (non-)integration need not coincide. On the basis of a detailed analysis of the adverbs frankly (as an illocutionary and manner adverb) and cleverly, stupidly etc. (as subject-oriented and manner adverbs), it is argued that the distinctive features of Functional Discourse Grammar make it possible to capture both the differences and the interaction between these three dimensions of (non-)integration in an insightful and consistent manner.

Keywords: parentheticals, truth-conditionality, prosodic integration, English adverbs, levels of analysis, Functional Discourse Grammar
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.The relation between the semantic, syntactic, and prosodic features of “parenthetical” adverbs
  • 3.Criteria and application
    • 3.1Semantic (non-)integration
      • 3.1.1The assent-dissent test
      • 3.1.2The scope (“embedding”) test
    • 3.2Prosodic (non-)integration
    • 3.3Syntactic (non-)integration
      • 3.3.1Subset 1: Syntactic features following from semantic non-integration
      • 3.3.2Subset 2: Syntactic features unrelated to semantic non-integration
      • 3.3.3Subset 3: Syntactic features unrelated to semantic and prosodic non-integration
      • 3.3.4Summary
  • 4.FDG analysis
    • 4.1Introduction to FDG
      • 4.1.1Overall characterization
      • 4.1.2Four levels of analysis
        • 4.1.2.1The Interpersonal and Representational Levels
        • 4.1.2.2The Morphosyntactic and Phonological Levels
    • 4.2A (partial) classification of adverbs in FDG
      • 4.2.1The distinction between interpersonal and representational modifiers
      • 4.2.2Adverbs as separate Propositional Contents at the Representational Level
      • 4.2.3Adverbs as separate Discourse Acts at the Interpersonal Level
    • 4.3Summing up
  • 5.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
  • Corpora
Published online: 12 November 2020
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/hcp.70.06kei
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