dative + adverb constructions

[Siarhiej Shupa]

Jules Levin <jflevin at ucrac1.ucr.edu> on 04/12/99 10:39:12 PM

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To:   SEELANGS at CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU
cc:    (bcc: Siarhiej Shupa/CZ/RFERL)
Subject:  Re: dative + adverb constructions




At 02:07 PM 4/12/99 -0400, you wrote:
>  Are we missing
>>something here?  Is the concept of adverb different with regard Russian
>>than English?  Or is this "khorosho" a short form predicate adjective?  I'd
>>very much appreciate any thoughts on this off-line.
>
>I think Lithuanian is instructive here, since its syntax can parallel
>Slavic turns in an interesting way.  The Dative construction uses what is
>probably historically a neuter "short form", although the neuter is lost:
>man gera = mne xorosho.  The endings are cognates.  But the true adverb
>remains different in form:  gerai dirba = xorosho rabotaet
> In short, the adjectival forms in Dat impersonal constructions are NOT
>adverbs.
>
>Jules Levin

When I was a student, we were taught that "khorosho" in question is not an
adverb but a special (11th?) part of speech called "kategorija sostojanija".

The Lithuanian parallel is very much to the point.

Siarhiej Shupa,
Prague