[Lingtyp] questions about adverbs

[fleischhauer at phil-fak.uni-duesseldorf.de]

Dear Aminata,

I analyze expressions similar to those you mentioned from Wolof as  
intensifiers/degree adverbs  
(https://www.academia.edu/25454456/Degree_Gradation_of_Verbs). Why do  
you think that the Wolof intensifiers do not intensify the verb? You  
might have a look at my thesis (link below), there I present an  
analyse of verb gradation/intensification that might be helpful for  
the analysis of your data.

It is not uncommon that that certain intensifiers/degree adverbs are  
restricted to specific verbs. Some German verbs, for example, take the  
degree adverb 'sehr' (very):  'Der Hund stinkt sehr' (The dog really  
stinks, lit. The dog stinks very). Others do not license 'sehr' but  
require others intensifiers like 'viel': 'Das Buch kostet viel' (The  
book costs a lot, lit. The book costs much). English is also a good  
example of a language showing lexical variation with respect to the  
choice of intensifiers/degree adverbs. Of course, the restrictions you  
mention seem to be much stricter than those we observe in German or  
English.

Best,
Jens



Zitat von Majigeen Aminata <aminatamajigeen at yahoo.com>:

> 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 


-- 
Dr. Jens Helfer-Fleischhauer
Vertretungsprofessur für Linguistik
Heinrich-Heine Universität Düsseldorf
Institut für Sprache und Information
Abteilung für Allgemeine Sprachwissenschaft
Universitätsstraße 1
Gebäude 24.53.00.89
40225 Düsseldorf, Germany
e-mail: fleischhauer at phil.uni-duesseldorf.de
https://www.phil-fak.uni-duesseldorf.de/asw/personal/jens-fleischhauer/
tel.: +49-211-81-10717; fax: +49-211-81-11325