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Grammar English 2126 |
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The Adverbial and Adverbial Complement
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Another functional constituent that suggests a copular relationship with some other clause constituent is the adverbial complement. It occurs only in explicit copular relationships referring to the subject, as in
Liz (S) is in the park (AC).
or in implicit copular relationships referring to the object, as in
I put the cookies (DO) in the pantry (AC).
The adverbial complement referring to the object can be paraphrased in a SVC clause, as in
The cookies (S) are in the pantry (AC).
Adverbial complements occur only in those two positions. Adverbials on the other hand are not usually as restricted in position or in reference.
To understand more about these last two functions, we should learn to identify adverbials in general by their form, position, and meaning.
Form. The adverbial is normally an adverb phrase, prepositional phrase, or a clause. Occasionally, a noun phrase can function as an adverbial.
Later (A), I will finish the book.
In the afternoon (A), I will finish the book.
When I get home (A), I will finish the book.
Next week (A), I will finish the book.
Position. As we have seen above, the adverbial can occur in many different positions with a clause. The adverbial may be at the beginning (clause-initial), in the middle (clause-medial), or at the end (clause-final). Indeed, even its clause-medial position reveals an enormous degree of "flexibility."
Frankly (A), John was disappointed. [initial]
John, frankly (A), was disappointed. [medial]
John was, frankly (A), disappointed. [medial]
John was disappointed, frankly (A). [Final]
(By contrast, we know that the adverbial complement is restricted in its position to follow either a copular verb or an object.)
Further we should note that not all the adverbials in English are as "mobile" as the example above. Though, generally speaking, adverbials do give the speaker the greatest degree of positional choice of all the clause constituents.
Meaning. The adverbial conveys a definable, but wide-ranging, set of meanings.
Yesterday (A), Ted left. [time]
If possible (A), ring me later. [contingency]
The book fell on the floor (A). [place]
If it rains (A), we'll leave later. [condition]
Although he's young (A), he's good. [concession]
While she slept (A), I worked. [contrast]
I would go, except I can't (A). [exception]
Knowing her (A), I chose a red one. [reason]
To open the lock (A), tug on the door. [purpose]
I fed the stray, to gain its trust (A). [result]
The dog obeyed, as instructed (A). [comparison]
I would fight, rather than quit (A). [preference]
Ankara, I believe (A), is the capital. [comment]
Finally, we should remember one last, but important, difference between the adverbial and all other functional constituents: the adverbial is the optional constituent; it can be left out of the clause; all others are obligatory.
Having completed this brief survey of the clause, we should always remember, one, that there is always much more to be said than this meager outline can cover and, two, that there is always a much greater variety of grammatical structure in the world's language than this chapter could ever hope to show (cf. Curme 1931 and Quirk et al. 1985).
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