Typological Characteristics of the Adverb in English and Ukrainian

Drohobych State Ivan Franko Teacher Training University 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Individual Task

 

 

 

Typological Characteristics of the Adverb in English and Ukrainian

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                   Prepared

                                                                                               by Ivanna Mykhalchak

                EG-52

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Drohobych - 2013

 

INTRODUCTORY

An adverb is a word that changes or qualifies the meaning of a verb, adjective, other adverb, clause, sentence or any other word or phrase, except that it does not include the adjectives and determiners that directly modify nouns. Adverbs are traditionally regarded as one of the parts of speech, although the wide variety of the functions performed by words classed as adverbs means that it is hard to treat them as a single uniform category.

Adverbs typically answer questions such as how?, in what way?, when?, where?, and to what extent?. This function is called the adverbial function, and is realized not just by single words (i.e., adverbs) but by adverbial phrases and adverbial clauses.

Adverbs are words like slowly, now, soon, and suddenly. An adverb usually modifies a verb or a verb phrase. It provides information about the manner, place, time, frequency, certainty, or other circumstances of the activity denoted by the verb or verb phrase.

Examples:

1. She was walking so slowly (slowly is the adverb)

2. The kids are playing together. (Here the adverb together provides information about how the kids are playing.)

Adverbs can also modify adjectives and other adverbs.

1. You are quite right. (Here the adverb quite modifies the adjective right.)

2. She spoke quite loudly. (Here the adverb quite modifies another adverb – loudly.)

In English, adverbs of manner (answering the question how?) are often formed by adding -ly to adjectives. Other languages often have similar methods for deriving adverbs from adjectives (French, for example, uses the suffix -ment), or else use the same form for both adjectives and adverbs.

Where the meaning permits, adverbs may undergo comparison, taking comparative and superlative forms. In English this is usually done by adding more and most before the adverb (more slowly, most slowly), although there are a few adverbs that take inflected forms, such as well, for which better and best are used. In Ukrainian, adverbs are formed by taking the stem of the adjective and adding the ending

-о, if the stem is hard,

-е, if the stem is a soft consonant, and

-є, if the stem is a vowel.

For example, гарний gives гарно.

Adverbs can also be derived from the locative or instrumental singular of a noun, for example, ввечері  (from в plus the locative of вечера), нагорі (from на plus the locative of гора).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Content

 

 

1. Introductory

     II.      The Main Body: 

1. Typological Characteristics of the Adverb
2. Syntactic Functions of Adverbs in English and Ukrainian

III.   Conclusions

IV.    Bibliography

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Typological Characteristics of the Adverb

 

The adverb in English and Ukrainian is an indeclinable notional word expressing the quality or state of an action, the circumstances in which the action proceeds, or a degree of some other quality. Adverbs in English and Ukrainian have some common, as well as some divergent features in their morphological structure and partly in their syntactic functions. Thus, English adverbs are mostly formed with the help of the suffixes -ly (greatly, slowly), -ward/-wards (seaward, eastwards), -ways (sideways), -fold (twofold) and partly with the help of the prefixes -a- (aback, aside; astride) and be- (before, besides).

  Adverbs in Ukrainian may be formed by means of suffixes, eg: -o (гарно, надійно), -е (добре, зле), -а (дарма, лежма), -и (полюдськи, по-французьки), -ому (по-їхньому), -ему (по-моєму, по-своєму) and by means of prefixes and suffixes (combined), eg: no- (no-людськи, по-свинськи), най- (найкраще, найзручніше), щонай-(щонайбільше); якнай- (якнайшвидше).

  Several prefixes in Ukrainian and some in English (cf. ahead, across, beside, outside, etc.) form adverbs from other parts of speech. Thus, the prefix в-/у- in Ukrainian may form adverbs from nouns in direct and indirect cases or from numerals, eg: в + гору — вгору, в + день — удень/вдень, в + друге — вдруге, в-/у-+ третє — втретє/утретє. A characteristic feature of Ukrainian adverbs is their correlation with indirect case forms of prepositional nouns, for example: 1) adverbs correlating with the genitive case forms of nouns and the prepositions без, від/од, до, з/с, за: безвісти, безперестанку, відразу/одразу, догори, додому, зранку, зрання, скраю, спочатку, etc.; 2) adverbs correlating with the accusative case forms of nouns and the prepositions в/у, на, за, над, під, по, через: вдень/удень, вмить/умить, надвечір, навіки, заміж, надвір, підряд, повік, через силу, etc; 3) adverbs correlating in Ukrainian with nouns in the instrumental case and the lexicalisation of different phrases: водночас, насамперед, напівдорозі, віч-на-віч, всього-на-всього, пліч-о-пліч, день у день, нога в ногу, рік у рік, etc. Consequently, they correspond to the following English compound adverbs and adverbial phrases: day-long, henceforward, upside-down, moreover, therefore, within, by chance, by heart, by turns, one by one, day in day out, etc.

Equally common in both languages is the formation of adverbs by way of reduplication, eg: so-so, willy-nilly, fifty-fifty; ось-ось, ледве-ледве, скоро-скоро,  тихо-тихо, etc.

  A morphologically common group present pronominal adverbs (simple and compound) which are of the same roots as their corresponding pronouns. These adverbs indicate in a relative way time, place, direction or manner in which the action/state proceeds. Some of these English adverbs do not always have their Ukrainian equivalents that are tabulated below (Table).

 

Lexico-Syntactic Classes of Adverbs

 

Language                                                                  Meaning	Time	Place	Direction	Manner
English	now, then, when,           today, soon	here, there, where, nowhere	hence, thence, whence, inside, inwards	hence, now, how, so
Ukrainian	доти,іноді,тоді,коли,скоро,сьогодні	всюди,куди,туди,де,ніде,там,тут	туди,сюди,звідти,вліо,вправо,назад	так,сяк,як відтак,отак,сяк-так

 

  In accordance with their lexico-syntactic meaning, adverbs in the contrasted languages fall under the following three main divisions: 1) qualifying adverbs denoting the quality or state of an action; 2) adverbs expressing the manner in which the action is performed, and 3) adverbs giving a quantitative characteristics of an action/quality. These adverbs modify the verb, the adjective, or the adverb (cf. to pronounce sounds distinctly вимовляти звуки виразно).

 

Qualifying adverbs in both languages may be qualitative (badly, fast, slowly, well — погано, добре,  швидко, повільно) or those denoting manner of action (unawares, upside-down, topsy-turvy, by chance — нехотячи, догори дном, випадково, несвідомо, спроквола).

Qualitative adverbs also include adverbs of degree (denoting the degree of a quantity: almost, entirely, too, rather, enough, almost —  майже, цілком, дуже, досить, досить-таки). These adverbs in English and Ukrainian express the intensity of an action, eg: "She scarcely knew her neighbours yet." (Lawrence) "1 was completely happy". (Galsworthy) or quantity: almost nine, almost two-thirds. Вона майже не знала ще своїх сусідів. Я був цілком щасливий. Десь було біля десяти. Майже дві третіх.

Qualitative adverbs in both contrasted languages may be used in the comparative and superlative degrees. They are formed with the help of synthetic or analytical means. Synthetic means are suffixes -er, -est in English and -ше, -іше, -ній in Ukrainian. Unlike English, however, in Ukrainian prefixes are also used to form the superlative degree of qualitative adverbs (най-, щонай-, якнай-): найшвидше, найцікавіше, якнайшвидше, щонайменше, щонайбільше.

The analytical means include auxiliary words (adverbs, particles): more, most, still more, less, least, still less in English and their equivalent adverbs and particles in Ukrainian, eg: often, oftener/more often, of-tenest/most often, less often, still more/less often, more slowly, less/ least slowly, ясно, ясніше, найясніше, більш/менш ясно, найбільш/ найменш ясно; ясно — ще ясніше/трохи ясніше, набагато ясніше.

The suffix -ій/-чій is used to form the comparative degree of the adverbs хутко — хутчій, мерщій. Eg: А йди хутчій. (Л. Українка). Біжи мерщій додому.

A separate group in both languages constitute suppletive adverbs, whose grading is generally achieved by synthetic means, eg: well, better, best; bad, worse, worst; little, less, least; far, further, furthest, etc. There are fewer of such adverbs in Ukrainian: добре, краще, найкраще; погано, гірше, найгірше; гарно, краще, найкраще.

A particular (allomorphic for English) feature of many Ukrainian qualitative adverbs is their ability to take diminutive suffixes (-еньк-, -есеньк-, -юсіньк-, -очк-, -ечк-) and become diminutive: гарно — гарненько — гарнесенько — гарнюсінько — гарнюньо; тоненько — тонюсінько; трохи — трішечки; рядочком, шнурочком, etc.

Note. Ukrainian adverbs are often characterised by a shifting stress that differs from that in the word the adverb is derived from. Cf. важний - валено, глибокий - глибоко, тонкий - тоненько, важкий -важко, смішний — смішно. But: завзятий — завзято, пихатий -пихато, день - вдень, etc.

Qualitative adverbs in both languages include large groups of adverbs of manner, quantity or degree, which have corresponding equivalents in Ukrainian, eg: aloud, how, aloof, upside down, by heart, in turn, one by one, almost, enough, entirely, rather, sufficiently, very — вголос, напам'ять, скоса, спросоння, догори дном, дуже, також, багато, більше, менше, ледве, надто, майже, etc. These adverbs express the degree of a quality of an adjective or adverb, or the intensity of an action expressed by a verb. Cf. less timid, very foggy, rather well; to read aloud, to read in turn менш боязкий, дуже туманна, читати вголос/по черзі, вчити напам'ять, добре знати.

The second large common group present adverbs denoting circumstances. They are :

1) adverbs of time: now, always, then, today, tomorrow, just, so far, sooner or later - зараз, тоді, завжди, сьогодні, взавтра, щойно, рано чи пізно. Here also belongs the negative adverb never that has other similar negative derivatives within adverbs of place (nowhere ніде) and adverbs of direction (nowhence нізвідки, nowhere/ nowhither нікуди); 2) adverbs of frequency/repetition of an action: always, daily, frequently, twice, usually - завжди, щоденно, часто, двічі, звичайно; 3) adverbs and adverbial phrases of place or direction of an action: here, there, inside, inwards, outside, somewhere, nowhere, to and fro, etc. тут, там, надворі, десь, ніде, туди й сюди, etc.; 4) a small group of adverbs in both contrasted languages is presented by those expressing cause and purpose. Eg.: rashly згарячу (Марків партнер палахнув ізгарячу в його з обріза. С. Васильченко); headlong спрожогу/прожогом: Петро спрожогу вибіг. (П. Мирний) Very few adverbs express also purpose, as for instance: purposely/intentionally, deliberately навмисне. Дерева, здавалось, навмисно заступають дорогу. (О. Донченко); ostentationally напоказ: Дами охали та пищали, кривлячи вуста та виставляючи напоказ які-то вони чулі та м'якого серця. (І. Франко).

An isomorphic feature is the existence in both languages of a large group of pronominal adverbs some of which are not available in English. Among these are: 1) interrogative and relative adverbs: where, when, why, how - де, куди, коли, звідки, чому, як, поки, доки; 2) demonstrative adverbs: there, here, then, so — там, тут, сюди, туди, тоді, так; 3) complementing adverbs: always, everywhere, sometimes, otherwise — завжди, всюди, інколи, по-всякому, по-іншому; 4) negative adverbs (more numerous in Ukrainian): nowhere, never - ніде, нізвідки, нікуди, ніяк, нізащо; 5) indefinite adverbs which are more numerous in Ukrainian as well: ever, somehow, somewhere, erewhile - десь, де-небудь, колись, коли-небудь, кудись, чомусь, казна-звідки, казна-коли, хтозна-де, казна-куди, etc.

Note. Completely allomorphic for English is the group of the so-called "personal pronouns" adverbs available only in Ukrainian. They are as follows: по-моєму, по-твоєму, по-нашому, по-вашому, по-наськи and the reflexive adverb по-своєму. Their lexical equivalents in English are adverbial phrases like "in my opinion/ in my judgement, in your opinion, etc."

Also not available in English are some adverbs of comparison and likening (означально-уподіблювальні) as соколом, стрілою, зозулею, по-батьківському, no-новому, no-осінньому, etc. These and other adverbs of the kind have in English for their equivalents adverbial phrases like in a fatherly way (по-батьковськи), like a falcon (соколом), in a new fashion (по-новому), etc.

 

Syntactic Functions of Adverbs in English and Ukrainian

 

Adverbs in English and Ukrainian perform three main functions in the sentence serving as 1) Identifying complements (cf. very tall, rather better today, дуже високий, значно краще сьогодні); 2) As attributive adjuncts (quite a man, the voice inside, майже озеро, внутрішній голос, голос ізнадвору); 3) As different adverbial complements: of place (to live here/there, everywhere мешкати тут/там, скрізь)', of time (to arrive today/soon приїжджати сьогодні/невдовзі); of cause and purpose (Why do you think so? Чому ти так гадаєш?).

Note. Pertaining to Ukrainian (allomorphic for English) is the use of adverbials in the function of a simple nominal predicate. Eg: Сонце вгорі. Стежка справа. Городи скрізь. І ні душі ніде.

According to their lexical meaning, adverbs in both contrasted languages can perform the following common functions in the sentence:

 1. The adverbial modifier of manner or quality:

"He began to work very deliberately and carefully". (London) 

 Він став працювати  дуже обдумливо й уважно.

 2. The adverbial modifier of time:

"Your advice has helped me today". (Meredith) 

 Твоя порада допомогла  мені вже сьогодні. Увечері посумую,  а вранці заплачу. (Т. Шевченко)

3. The adverbial modifier of place and direction:

"Tell them I'll be right there". A frantic policeman rode alongside. (F.C. Fitzgerald) 

"Скажи їм, що я  буду там". -Якийсь несамовитий  полісмен їхав поруч.

 4. The adverbial modifier of degree and quality:

"Almost instantly we were shut up in a fog". (Mark Twain) 

 Нас майже вмить  окутало туманом. Ледве чутно повіяв вітер.

5. The attribute:

"The light outside had chilled...". (Galsworthy), "...he could see them talking together in the little court below". (Ibid.) 

 Світло надворі охололо... він бачив, що вони розмовляли у куценькому подвір'ячку внизу.

 6. As the above-mentioned already function of the predicative (in English) and simple nominal predicate in Ukrainian:

"The sun was up". (Stevenson) 

Я ж іще при здоров'ї. (Гуцало)

7. The adverbial modifier of cause and purpose:

'Why do you say that?". (Maugham) 'Why don't you like those cousins, Father". (Galsworthy) 

Чому ти це кажеш? Пилипко  боявся, щоб згарячу не наткнутися на що-небудь... (Панас Мирний)

Isomorphic is also the expression of different adverbial meanings in both languages through adverbial (often prepositional) phrases. For example, time: I haven't made use of it all summer. (P.C. Fitzgerald). "You'll hear about it this morning." (Ibid.) Я не користувався (машиною) всеньке це літо. "Ти почуєш про це ще сьогодні вранці"; place: "That's the one from Montenegro." (Ibid.) "Ось ще один (орден) із Чорногорії." Attending circumstances: He saw me looking with admiration at his car. (Ibid.) Він помітив, що я дивлюся із захопленням на його автомашину.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CONCLUSIONS

The categorical meaning of the adverb is secondary property which implies qualitative, quantitative, or circumstantial characteristics of actions, states or qualities. In accordance with their categorial meaning, adverbs are characterised by combinability with verbs, adjectives and words of adverbial nature. The functions of adverbs in these combinations consist in expressing different adverbial modifiers. Adverbs can also refer to whole situations.

The only pattern of morphological change for adverbs is the same as for adjectives, the degrees of comparison. With regard to the category of the degrees of comparison adverbs (like adjectives) fall into comparables and non-comparables. The number of non-comparables is much greater among adverbs than among adjectives. Only adverbs of manner and certain adverbs of time and place can form degrees of comparison.

In accord with their word-building structure adverbs may be simple, derived, compound and composite. Simple adverbs are rather few, and nearly all of them display functional semantics, mostly of pronominal character. The typical adverbial affixes in affixal derivation are, first and foremost, the basic and only productive adverbial suffix –ly and then a couple of others of limited distribution.

Adverbs may perform different functions, modifying different types of words, phrases, sentences. Adverbs may function as adverbial modifiers of manner, place, time, degree to a finite or non-finite form of the verb.