Difference between revisions of "Adverbs"
| Line 27: | Line 27: | ||
When adverbs modify adjectives, they can come before or after the verb phrase, but cannot intervene between the stative verb and bare adjective with those adjectives that have a verb-adjective form, like balig 'black': |
When adverbs modify adjectives, they can come before or after the verb phrase, but cannot intervene between the stative verb and bare adjective with those adjectives that have a verb-adjective form, like balig 'black': |
||
| + | (5) |
||
oɓoxole fop aɓalga ɓalig |
oɓoxole fop aɓalga ɓalig |
||
oɓoxole aɓalga ɓalig fop |
oɓoxole aɓalga ɓalig fop |
||
| Line 34: | Line 35: | ||
The adverb fop can also mean 'both': |
The adverb fop can also mean 'both': |
||
| + | (6) |
||
okoor fo o tew fop a ƈiʄ |
okoor fo o tew fop a ƈiʄ |
||
‘the boy and girl all are smart’ |
‘the boy and girl all are smart’ |
||
| Line 39: | Line 41: | ||
The most remarkable think about adverbs in Sereer is that, like adjectives, there is a group of words that can serve adverbial, adjectival and even verbal functions. For instance, fop can be the adverb 'completely', or the quantifier 'all' in a partitive construction: |
The most remarkable think about adverbs in Sereer is that, like adjectives, there is a group of words that can serve adverbial, adjectival and even verbal functions. For instance, fop can be the adverb 'completely', or the quantifier 'all' in a partitive construction: |
||
| + | (7) |
||
fop no ɓoxole aɓalga ɓalig |
fop no ɓoxole aɓalga ɓalig |
||
‘All of the dogs are black.’ |
‘All of the dogs are black.’ |
||
| Line 44: | Line 47: | ||
The ability of adverbs to be used as verbs can be illustrated with these minimal pairs: |
The ability of adverbs to be used as verbs can be illustrated with these minimal pairs: |
||
| + | (8) |
||
retam ñofu ñofam o ret |
retam ñofu ñofam o ret |
||
‘I go quickly.’ ‘I hurry up and go.’ |
‘I go quickly.’ ‘I hurry up and go.’ |
||
| Line 51: | Line 55: | ||
| + | The sentences in (8) illustrate how adverbs can be verbs. |
||
| − | |||
Revision as of 00:49, 14 December 2012
The positioning of adverbs in the sentence is as flexible in Sereer as in English, as examples (1) to (4) show:
<gl id="ex1" fontsize=12> \gll gim -am apaax / tok sing 1sg very / a-lot \trans I sing loudly </gl>
<gl id="ex2" fontsize=12> \gll appax / tok gim -am very / a-lot sing 1sg \trans loudly I sing loudly </gl>
<gl id="ex3" fontsize=12> \gll nang -am weʄ -a legleg habitual 1sg swim INF sometimes \trans I swim often </gl>
<gl id="ex4" fontsize=12> \gll legleg nang -am weʄ -a sometimes habitual 1sg swim INF \trans often I swim </gl>
When adverbs modify adjectives, they can come before or after the verb phrase, but cannot intervene between the stative verb and bare adjective with those adjectives that have a verb-adjective form, like balig 'black':
(5)
oɓoxole fop aɓalga ɓalig oɓoxole aɓalga ɓalig fop *oɓoxole aɓalga fop ɓalig 'The dog is completely black.'
The adverb fop can also mean 'both':
(6)
okoor fo o tew fop a ƈiʄ ‘the boy and girl all are smart’
The most remarkable think about adverbs in Sereer is that, like adjectives, there is a group of words that can serve adverbial, adjectival and even verbal functions. For instance, fop can be the adverb 'completely', or the quantifier 'all' in a partitive construction:
(7)
fop no ɓoxole aɓalga ɓalig ‘All of the dogs are black.’
The ability of adverbs to be used as verbs can be illustrated with these minimal pairs:
(8)
retam ñofu ñofam o ret ‘I go quickly.’ ‘I hurry up and go.’
weʄi ñofu ñofi weʄ ‘Swim quickly!’ ‘Hurry up and swim!'
The sentences in (8) illustrate how adverbs can be verbs.
Go back to: Sereer Grammar
Oana 00:47, 8 December 2012 (UTC)
