Adverbial complement
Encyclopedia
An adverbial complement is an adverbial
that is obligatorily subcategorized for by a verb, such that if removed, it will yield an ungrammatical sentence:
Adverbial complements of caused motion verb
s like put are adverbial complements.
describes adverbial complements as part of the verb
s' subcategorization frame
, which is why they are obligatory arguments. In this theory, adverbial complements are stored in the lexicon
as part of the grammatical competence relating to the verb.
An alternative description, along the lines of construction grammar
is that they are parts of certain argument structure constructions - in this case the caused motion construction - which are specifically compatible with the semantics of the verb. Here, adverbial complements are stored in the grammar as part of the caused motion construction which is a sign in its own right.
Another construction
-based theory combines the two arguing that certain senses of verbs co-occur so frequently with certain argument structure constructions, that the argument structures are also stored as part of the grammatical competence relating to the verb. These small argument structure constructions are called mini-constructions. So, in the case of put, in accordance with this theory, adverbial complements are both part of the argument structure construction and stored as information regarding the verb itself.
Adverbial
In grammar an adverbial is a word or a group of words that modifies or tells us something about the sentence or the verb. The word adverbial is also used as an adjective, meaning 'having the same function as an adverb'...
that is obligatorily subcategorized for by a verb, such that if removed, it will yield an ungrammatical sentence:
- She put the cheese back
* She put the cheese
Adverbial complements of caused motion verb
Verb
A verb, from the Latin verbum meaning word, is a word that in syntax conveys an action , or a state of being . In the usual description of English, the basic form, with or without the particle to, is the infinitive...
s like put are adverbial complements.
Theoretical approaches
Head-Driven Phrase Structure GrammarHead-driven phrase structure grammar
Head-driven phrase structure grammar is a highly lexicalized, non-derivational generative grammar theory developed by Carl Pollard and Ivan Sag. It is the immediate successor to generalized phrase structure grammar. HPSG draws from other fields such as computer science and uses Ferdinand de...
describes adverbial complements as part of the verb
Verb
A verb, from the Latin verbum meaning word, is a word that in syntax conveys an action , or a state of being . In the usual description of English, the basic form, with or without the particle to, is the infinitive...
s' subcategorization frame
Subcategorization frame
In syntax, a subject within linguistics, the subcategorization frame of a word is defined to be the number and types of syntactic arguments that it co-occurs with...
, which is why they are obligatory arguments. In this theory, adverbial complements are stored in the lexicon
Lexicon
In linguistics, the lexicon of a language is its vocabulary, including its words and expressions. A lexicon is also a synonym of the word thesaurus. More formally, it is a language's inventory of lexemes. Coined in English 1603, the word "lexicon" derives from the Greek "λεξικόν" , neut...
as part of the grammatical competence relating to the verb.
An alternative description, along the lines of construction grammar
Construction grammar
The term construction grammar covers a family of theories, or models, of grammar that are based on the idea that the primary unit of grammar is the grammatical construction rather than the atomic syntactic unit and the rule that combines atomic units, and that the grammar of a language is made up...
is that they are parts of certain argument structure constructions - in this case the caused motion construction - which are specifically compatible with the semantics of the verb. Here, adverbial complements are stored in the grammar as part of the caused motion construction which is a sign in its own right.
Another construction
Grammatical construction
In linguistics, a grammatical construction is any syntactic string of words ranging from sentences over phrasal structures to certain complex lexemes, such as phrasal verbs....
-based theory combines the two arguing that certain senses of verbs co-occur so frequently with certain argument structure constructions, that the argument structures are also stored as part of the grammatical competence relating to the verb. These small argument structure constructions are called mini-constructions. So, in the case of put, in accordance with this theory, adverbial complements are both part of the argument structure construction and stored as information regarding the verb itself.
See also
- AdjunctAdjunct (grammar)In linguistics, an adjunct is an optional, or structurally dispensable, part of a sentence that, when removed, will not affect the remainder of the sentence except to discard from it some auxiliary information...
- ConjunctConjunctIn linguistics, the term conjunct has three distinct uses:*A conjunct is an adjunct that adds information to the sentence that is not considered part of the propositional content but which connects the sentence with previous parts of the discourse...
- DisjunctDisjunct (linguistics)In linguistics, a disjunct is a type of adverbial adjunct that expresses information that is not considered essential to the sentence it appears in, but which is considered to be the speaker's or writer's attitude towards, or descriptive statement of, the propositional content of the sentence...