[Lingtyp] questions about adverbs

["Ekkehard König"]

Dear Aminata,

I have never seen adverbs of this kind before. Incidentally, I think the
term "degree adverb" would be a good designation. In English and European
languages upgrading expressions of this kind are usually called
'BOOSTERS'.

Even though very different, your data remind me of the formation of
adjectival compounds in Germanic languages (ice-cold, crystal clear,
pitch-black, etc.). These are certainly based on comparisons, but spelling
out the comparison might no longer make sense. I haven given you some
English examples, but the phenomenon is much more wide-spread in German.
Here are a few examples, with literal translations into English:
bärenstark 'bear-strong', hundemüde 'dog-tired', brühwarm 'broth-warm',
sauschlecht 'sow-bad', stockdunkel 'stickdark', etc. What is similar to
your cases is that each adjective takes a different noun as booster, even
though some may come to be used for several adjectives.
(cf. Koenig, E. (2017) "The comparative basis of identification". In: M.
Napoli & M. Ravetto (eds.) Exploring Intensification. Amsterdam:
Benjamins.)

So, here is a potentially related phenomenon, though not exactly what you
are looking for.

Very best,

Ekkehard





> Dear all,
> I am currently workingon what are called “adverbs” (see words un bold) in
> wolof literature. Wolof, spoken in Senegal (WestAfrica) has specific words
> that only work with some colors: white, black, red and eachword-adverb
> match only with its color, they are not commutable.
>
> weextàll:extremely white (it can't be whiter)
>
> ñuulkukk:extremely black (it can't be more black)
>
> xonqcoyy:extremely red (it can't be more red)
>
> Others words adverbs go with state verbs and are specific to them as well.
> They are not commutable.
>
>
> baax lool: extremely nice (it can't be nicer)
>
> bees tàq:really new (nobody has ever used it)
>
> dëgër këcc:extremely hard (it can't be harder)
>
> diis gann:really heavy (very difficult to carry)
>
> fatt taraj:extremely blocked (it can't be more blocked)
>
> fess dell:extremely full (it can't be fuller)
>
> forox toll:really acidic (it can't be more acidic)
>
> gàtt ndugur:really short (he can't be shorter)
>
> jeex tàkk:completely finished, ...
>
>
> In Wolof they are called intensifiers but this term does not convince me
> because it can be confusing. They do not intensify the verbs. These words
> mean that the state or action of the verb is at its end of completude.I
> would like to knowif there are languages ​​that work like that and what is
> the terminology usedfor this kind of construction. Can someone also
> recommend me new documentationon the definition of the concepts of verbs,
> adverbs, adjectives… in Africanlanguages?
>
> Thanks and regards.
>
> Aminata 
>
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