[Corpora-List] cheerfully unaware

Tue Mar 21 16:24:01 UTC 2006

Hi again,

The relationship between 'blissful/-ly' and 'cheerful/-ly' is not as 
close as I had thought.

The Bank of English (450m;2002) corpus shows:
---
2069 examples for 'bliss'; 54 contain 'ignor'
656 examples for 'blissful'; 50 contain 'ignor'
550 examples for 'blissfully'; 52 contain 'ignor'
---
3705 examples for 'cheerful'; but only ONE with 'ignor' in this use:
man was left, most probably, in cheerful ignorance of the poverty of
1601 examples for 'cheerfully'; but only 14 with 'ignor' in this use
---

>>Do these all share one meaning or are there subtle meaning differences?

1. All of them seem to pick up on the cheerful=happy meaning to some extent.

2. The 'innocent/foolish/unknowing' aspect of 'blissful 
ignorance/blissfully ignorant' is only evident in the first of your 
BNC examples:
carried on with the arrangement she was 
making, 
<http://es-otto.unizh.ch/cgi-binbnc2/disp6.pl?lemmaScheme=lancaster&thMode=M545%B7332%AA%AAAafter%B7P0%B7L%B7T%B7H545%AA%AAP45%B7500%B7479%AA%AAP50%B7450%B7437%AA%AAP50%B7400%B7387%AA%AAP50%B7350%B7341&qname=hq000342&ot=after&queryID=mbednarek11%20>cheerfully 
unaware of how great a change in attitude that

3. The others all seem to focus more on 'deliberately 
disregarding/triumphing over' the negative element. In many you could 
substitute 'cheerful and' (so the adverbial form serves to coalesce 
two attributes/epithets) or 'cheerful despite/regardless of/in defiance of':
cheerful despite...

4. Basically, I would say that 'cheerfully' reduces the negative 
weight of many of the other adjectives:
X but cheerful

5. As with all meanings, there is a cline or spectrum, and one could 
distinguish several minor variations or sub-meanings, but I don't 
think it is necessary.

6. I find one example strange because it seems to be contradictory:
reaching the last four.No-one was 
more 
<http://es-otto.unizh.ch/cgi-binbnc2/disp6.pl?lemmaScheme=lancaster&thMode=M545%B7332%AA%AAAafter%B7P0%B7L%B7T%B7H545%AA%AAP45%B7500%B7479%AA%AAP50%B7450%B7437%AA%AAP50%B7400%B7387%AA%AAP50%B7350%B7341&qname=hq000342&ot=after&queryID=mbednarek11%20>cheerfully 
downhearted than their Barbarian captain Kari Tapper,

Hope this helps
Ramesh

At 01:30 21/03/2006, Monika Bednarek wrote:
>Dear all,
>
>I have a question about the collocation of CHEERFULLY with negative 
>and negated adjectives, such as:
>
>
>carried on with the arrangement she was 
>making, 
><http://es-otto.unizh.ch/cgi-binbnc2/disp6.pl?lemmaScheme=lancaster&thMode=M545%B7332%AA%AAAafter%B7P0%B7L%B7T%B7H545%AA%AAP45%B7500%B7479%AA%AAP50%B7450%B7437%AA%AAP50%B7400%B7387%AA%AAP50%B7350%B7341&qname=hq000342&ot=after&queryID=mbednarek11%20>cheerfully 
>unaware of how great a change in attitude that
>
>and paper, she and Francis and 
>a 
><http://es-otto.unizh.ch/cgi-binbnc2/disp6.pl?lemmaScheme=lancaster&thMode=M545%B7332%AA%AAAafter%B7P0%B7L%B7T%B7H545%AA%AAP45%B7500%B7479%AA%AAP50%B7450%B7437%AA%AAP50%B7400%B7387%AA%AAP50%B7350%B7341&qname=hq000342&ot=after&queryID=mbednarek11%20>cheerfully 
>unreliable string of volunteers threw together every month a
>
>But her guest 
>was 
><http://es-otto.unizh.ch/cgi-binbnc2/disp6.pl?lemmaScheme=lancaster&thMode=M545%B7332%AA%AAAafter%B7P0%B7L%B7T%B7H545%AA%AAP45%B7500%B7479%AA%AAP50%B7450%B7437%AA%AAP50%B7400%B7387%AA%AAP50%B7350%B7341&qname=hq000342&ot=after&queryID=mbednarek11%20>cheerfully 
>unrepentant."I forgot -- I was never
>
>and you can eat the freshest of fish 
>in 
><http://es-otto.unizh.ch/cgi-binbnc2/disp6.pl?lemmaScheme=lancaster&thMode=M545%B7332%AA%AAAafter%B7P0%B7L%B7T%B7H545%AA%AAP45%B7500%B7479%AA%AAP50%B7450%B7437%AA%AAP50%B7400%B7387%AA%AAP50%B7350%B7341&qname=hq000342&ot=after&queryID=mbednarek11%20>cheerfully 
>informal, unlicensed restaurants.Take your own wine
>
>the style, the language are all put 
>in 
><http://es-otto.unizh.ch/cgi-binbnc2/disp6.pl?lemmaScheme=lancaster&thMode=M545%B7332%AA%AAAafter%B7P0%B7L%B7T%B7H545%AA%AAP45%B7500%B7479%AA%AAP50%B7450%B7437%AA%AAP50%B7400%B7387%AA%AAP50%B7350%B7341&qname=hq000342&ot=after&queryID=mbednarek11%20>cheerfully 
>irreverent quotation marks and they are perceived against
>
>The 
><http://es-otto.unizh.ch/cgi-binbnc2/disp6.pl?lemmaScheme=lancaster&thMode=M545%B7332%AA%AAAafter%B7P0%B7L%B7T%B7H545%AA%AAP45%B7500%B7479%AA%AAP50%B7450%B7437%AA%AAP50%B7400%B7387%AA%AAP50%B7350%B7341&qname=hq000342&ot=after&queryID=mbednarek11%20>cheerfully 
>ramshackle atmosphere of the King's Head is an unlikely
>
>I was always completely 
>but 
><http://es-otto.unizh.ch/cgi-binbnc2/disp6.pl?lemmaScheme=lancaster&thMode=M545%B7332%AA%AAAafter%B7P0%B7L%B7T%B7H545%AA%AAP45%B7500%B7479%AA%AAP50%B7450%B7437%AA%AAP50%B7400%B7387%AA%AAP50%B7350%B7341&qname=hq000342&ot=after&queryID=mbednarek11%20>cheerfully 
>rotten, however, and despite various faltering adult
>
>"They were 
>all 
><http://es-otto.unizh.ch/cgi-binbnc2/disp6.pl?lemmaScheme=lancaster&thMode=M545%B7332%AA%AAAafter%B7P0%B7L%B7T%B7H545%AA%AAP45%B7500%B7479%AA%AAP50%B7450%B7437%AA%AAP50%B7400%B7387%AA%AAP50%B7350%B7341&qname=hq000342&ot=after&queryID=mbednarek11%20>cheerfully 
>sick, enticed by the little paper bags, except
>
>chef stands in good stead, his 
>apron 
><http://es-otto.unizh.ch/cgi-binbnc2/disp6.pl?lemmaScheme=lancaster&thMode=M545%B7332%AA%AAAafter%B7P0%B7L%B7T%B7H545%AA%AAP45%B7500%B7479%AA%AAP50%B7450%B7437%AA%AAP50%B7400%B7387%AA%AAP50%B7350%B7341&qname=hq000342&ot=after&queryID=mbednarek11%20>cheerfully 
>stained, a generous plate of souvlaki in hand.
>
>reaching the last four.No-one was 
>more 
><http://es-otto.unizh.ch/cgi-binbnc2/disp6.pl?lemmaScheme=lancaster&thMode=M545%B7332%AA%AAAafter%B7P0%B7L%B7T%B7H545%AA%AAP45%B7500%B7479%AA%AAP50%B7450%B7437%AA%AAP50%B7400%B7387%AA%AAP50%B7350%B7341&qname=hq000342&ot=after&queryID=mbednarek11%20>cheerfully 
>downhearted than their Barbarian captain Kari Tapper,
>
>She was 
>just 
><http://es-otto.unizh.ch/cgi-binbnc2/disp6.pl?lemmaScheme=lancaster&thMode=M545%B7332%AA%AAAafter%B7P0%B7L%B7T%B7H545%AA%AAP45%B7500%B7479%AA%AAP50%B7450%B7437%AA%AAP50%B7400%B7387%AA%AAP50%B7350%B7341&qname=hq000342&ot=after&queryID=mbednarek11%20>cheerfully 
>fat, her obesity partly disguised by the fact that
>
>The ristorante 
>was 
><http://es-otto.unizh.ch/cgi-binbnc2/disp6.pl?lemmaScheme=lancaster&thMode=M545%B7332%AA%AAAafter%B7P0%B7L%B7T%B7H545%AA%AAP45%B7500%B7479%AA%AAP50%B7450%B7437%AA%AAP50%B7400%B7387%AA%AAP50%B7350%B7341&qname=hq000342&ot=after&queryID=mbednarek11%20>cheerfully 
>garish, with red-checked tablecloths, plastic flowers,
>
>been stencilled with designs that were mildly 
>but 
><http://es-otto.unizh.ch/cgi-binbnc2/disp6.pl?lemmaScheme=lancaster&thMode=M545%B7332%AA%AAAafter%B7P0%B7L%B7T%B7H545%AA%AAP45%B7500%B7479%AA%AAP50%B7450%B7437%AA%AAP50%B7400%B7387%AA%AAP50%B7350%B7341&qname=hq000342&ot=after&queryID=mbednarek11%20>cheerfully 
>crazy so that to look at them for long made the eyes
>(from BNC)
>
>Do these all share one meaning or are there subtle meaning 
>differences? And if so, how would you best paraphrase this 
>meaning/these meanings, or (even better) translate them into German? 
>What kind of semantic shift from CHEERFUL ('happy' or 'giving you a 
>feeling of happiness', according to OALD) is going on here?
>
>Thanks very much - Monika Bednarek

Ramesh Krishnamurthy
Lecturer in English Studies
School of Languages and Social Sciences
Aston University, Birmingham B4 7ET, UK
Tel: +44 (0)121-204-3812
Fax: +44 (0)121-204-3766
http://www.aston.ac.uk/lss/staff/krishnamurthyr.jsp 
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