Adverbials

[Wolfgang Schulze]

The correlation of adverbs and accusative case observable in so many
languages (we should not forget the Arabic adverbs in this context)
cannot - according to my mind - be separated from the basic strategies
of a given language with respect to accusativity (that is, with respect
to the _Operating System_ in my terms). Hence, the whole question
addresses the way how peripheric elements related to space, time, and
modality (space < time < modality in my hierachy) can occupy the
(hyper-)role of a pseudo- or real _patient_ in accusative systems.
The same question could be raised for ergative strategies: Here, we
would expect a correlation of ergative case and adverbs (especially in
those systems that show an ergative-instrumental syncretism). I know
from many adverbs in East Cauacsian being derived from nouns via the
ergative case, but in this case the above mentioned hierarchy (S<T<M) is
much more seldom affected than aspects of agentivity (AG<INSTR) encoded
by the adverb. Analogically to ACC-ADV correlation, ERG-ADV correlations
seem not to satisfy the (agentive) valence of a given verb (at least in
some East Caucasian languages) though they may be reananlysed as the
(hpyer-)role _agent_ on a metaphorical level.

I wonder whether a tentative typology like

{S=A;0}-structures 	>	ACC-ADV correlation (S<T<M)
{S=0;A}-structures	>	ERG-ADV coorelation (AG<INSTR)

can be substantiated from the data of other languages.....

Wolfgang


--
Prof. Dr. Wolfgang SCHULZE
Institut für Allgemeine und Indogermanische
Sprachwissenschaft * Universität München
Geschwister-Scholl-Platz 1 * D-80539 München
Tel.: +89-2180 2486
http://www.lrz-muenchen.de/~wschulze/