Pernilla Hallonsten Halling

7.6. Summary and conclusion

In this chapter, I have discussed encoding overlaps of attr, pred, and adv on the con- struction level, by employing the constructional-typological approach. Languages where attr and pred overlaps are attested were first discussed as the second most common constructional overlap in the sample. The overlap of attr and pred is only attested as total: the meanings of the functions cannot be distinguished here. The [attr pred] over- lap confirms the status of these two functions as commonly encoded in the same way, not only on the root and lexeme levels, but also on the construction level, although it is local
in the latter. The second overlap described the overlap of pred and adv, which is the
most common constructional overlap. This shows that despite what might be expected from a Eurocentric perspective, many languages display a close connection between pred and adv on the construction level, with attr being encoded separately. In this way, pred and adv appear to be closely related conceptually. The overlap of the attr and adv functions, although only attested in a few languages, is highly important for the understanding of the two functions. In Tagalog, where no part of speech categories can be distinguished, the overlap of attr and adv is found in terms of the constructional schema alone. This shows that the shared function of modification may influence the structural encoding itself, without any specific effect on the lexeme level. The total over- lap in Maltese illustrates that, given the right context, attr and adv are close enough to overlap entirely. Furthermore, it is not surprising that no language in the sample dis- plays a clear constructional overlap of all three functions. Only two languages have a

tendency towards such an overlap. Constructional overlaps undeniably present a much more complex type of overlap than those on the lexeme level, since they include more complex encoding. The three functions in focus are different enough not to be identically encoded in their constructions.

In this chapter and the two that preceded it, the identity of adverbs and their connec- tions to attr and pred have been elucidated. Simple adverbs are found in a majority of sample languages. Different encoding overlaps are found at the root, lexeme, and con- struction levels. In the next three chapters, these results will be discussed in terms of their semantics and their implications for regarding adverbs as belonging to one part of speech category.

Part III.