Adverbs, PPs and Clausal modifiers4 Adverbs, PPs and Clausal modifiers
To complete this chapter, we will briefly mention modification in the VP. Modifiers
may generally be associated with adjuncts and so the modifiers of the VP can be
assumed to be adjoined somewhere within the VP structure we have introduced above.
There are restrictions however, which partly depend on general conditions and partly
depend on the nature of the modifier itself. We will briefly look at each type of
modifier in turn.
4.1 Adverbs
Adverbs are the classic verbal modifiers. We should be careful, however, to
distinguish between them, as some do not modify within the verbal domain of the
clause, but have a wider domain of operation, modifying clausal elements. Roughly we
can separate VP adverbs from sentential adverbs. Consider the following examples:
(168) a he certainly will find out
b he will quickly find out
The adverb in (168a) modifies the meaning of the whole clause: what is certain is that
he will find out. In contrast, the adverb in (168b) modifies the verb, stating that it will
be done in a certain manner (i.e. quickly). Note the different positions of these two
adverbs: the sentential adverb precedes the modal auxiliary while the VP adverb
follows it and is therefore closer to the VP. Indeed, placing the VP adverb further from
the VP often produces an ungrammaticality:
(169) a he quickly will find out
b she suddenly has realised her mistake
c *the doctor thoroughly may examine the patient
These sentences can be made more acceptable if heavy stress is placed on the finite
element, but with neutral stress they are ungrammatical, indicating that something
special has to happen to get the adverb away from the VP it modifies.
It seems a reasonable conclusion therefore that VP adverbs are adjoined to the VP
itself. But the VP is a fairly complex structure, as we have seen. Where in the VP can
the adverb adjoin? Consider the possible range of positions we can find the adverb in:
(170) a will accurately have been making notes
b will have accurately been making notes
c will have been accurately making notes
d *will have been making accurately notes
e will have been making notes accurately
There looks to be a good deal of freedom in determining the position of the adverb and
thus it appears to be able to adjoin to virtually any part of the VP. The one exception is
that the adverb may not intervene between the verb and its object. However, the
adjacency requirement between the verb and its object is not so straightforward to
account for under the assumptions we have been making. Other accounts of this
restriction have made different assumptions. For example, Radford (1988) assumes
that the object is in the complement position of the verb and that the adjacency