Pernilla Hallonsten Halling

oud-e
stale-attr
brood
bread
attr

‘the stale bread’

2. 
   oud
   

stale

brood
bread
attr

‘stale bread’
(8.11) Dutch (Indo-European) (Donaldson 1997: 108)²

1. 
   Hij
   

he
is
be.3sg
snel.

quick

pred

‘He is quick.’

2. 
   Hij
   

he
rent
run.3sg
snel.

quick

adv

‘He runs quickly.’
General modifiers also constitute the only lexeme class found in attr and adv in Pirahã.³
(8.12) Pirahã (Everett 1986: 273)⁴

1. 
   xaoói
   

foreigner
xaibogí

fast

gáihi
that
attr

‘that fast foreigner / That is a fast foreigner.’

2. 
   xaibogi
   

fast

‘Go fast.’
áp-a-áti
go-rem-unc
adv

Although the General Modifiers in Pirahã can be used in attr and adv to the same extent, certain property notions can also be expressed through verbal suffixes. An ex- ample pair with a General Modifier in attr and a verbal affix in adv expressing the corresponding notion, compared to a General Modifier in both cases, is illustrated in (8.13).
² These examples are repeated from (7.11) in section 7.3.1.
³ The speed item xaibogí ‘fast’ can also undergo zero-conversion/functional shift to be used as a predicate on its own, as illustrated in (6.31) in section 6.4.4.
⁴ These examples are repeated from (6.28) in chapter 6.

(8.13) Pirahã (Everett 1986: 209)

1. 
   xogaí
   

field
xogií

big

koíhi

small

hiaba
neg
attr

‘(a) big field, not (a) small (one)’

2. 
   hi
   

3
si-baí-xi
cry-int-emp
koíhi

small

hiaba
neg
adv

‘He cries a lot, not a little.’
According to Everett (1986), General Modifiers are more common in attr due to the availability of adverbial suffixes in adv. Although this frequency effect must be limited on the basis of the meanings of the adverbial suffixes, which are primarily aspectual (e.g. perfective, continuative, etc.; see Everett 1986: 288–289), the semantic types that actually do occur productively in both functions can be expected to be fewer based on the availability of the suffixes. Another example illustrating this is provided in (8.14), which also shows the use of a General Modifier denoting value in pred and adv (note that no example can be found in attr, even though baábi ‘bad’ can be used in attr too).
(8.14) Pirahã (Everett 1986: 204, 222)⁵

1. 
   ti
   

1
baábi

bad

xiigá
be
pred

‘I am sick.’

2. 
   hiopióxio
   

other
xihiabaí
pay
baábi

poor

gíxai
2
xihiabaí-baí
pay-int
adv

‘Others pay poorly. You pay well.’
The semantic types of speed and value are thus attested among the General Modifiers in Pirahã.
General modifiers are also attested in Cherokee (Iroquoian). They resemble Verbs in many ways, although they are not identical. It is unclear if there are also some items that could be placed in an adjective class, or whether the General Modifiers subsume all property items used for modification. Interestingly, speed does not appear among the General Modifiers (but among the Verbs), although value and noise (e.g. stááya/stááyi ‘loud’) are attested here.
(8.15) Cherokee (Iroquoian) (Montgomery-Anderson 2008: 548)⁶

1. 
   na
   

the
osda

good

asgaya
^˙man^˙
oginaliPi.
fri^˙end
attr

‘The good man is my friend.’

2. 
   osda
   

good

gawonisgoPi.
sp^˙ eaks
adv

‘He speaks well.’
⁵ (8.14a) is repeated from (6.29b) in section 6.4.4.
⁶ These examples are repeated from (7.35) in section 7.4.

Other languages have general modifiers alongside other classes of adjectives and/or adverbs. Sango (Atlantic-Congo) is such an example, with Adjectives that have typical meanings such as color, illustrated in (8.16), and simple Adverbs denoting speed, as illustrated in (8.17).

(8.16) Sango (Atlantic-Congo) (Samarin 1967: 60)

lo kE
it be
bingbá

brown

yãma
animal
attr

‘It’s a brownish animal.’

(8.17) Sango (Atlantic-Congo) (Samarin 1967: 80)

mb´Etí
paper
ní
the.one
akE
be
sí
arrive
na í
with us
ge
here
híO

quickly

pEpE
not
adv

‘The letters don’t reach us here quickly.’
Among the General Modifiers in Sango, value is found, as illustrated in (8.18). (8.18) Sango (Atlantic-Congo) (Thornell 1997: 86)

1. 
   nzönî
   

good

tambûla
journey
tî ë
of 1pl
attr

‘our good journey’

2. 
   Lo
   

3sg
hînga
know
yângâ
language
tî ködörö
of village
nzönî

good

pëpe.
not
adv

‘He does not know the ethnic language very well.’

Marathi (Indo-European) has General Modifiers, in addition to quite a large Adverb class. value is not found among the Adverbs, but among the General Modifiers. There are two types of General Modifiers: those with agreement for number, gender, and case, and those without. For those with agreement, this is found in adv uses as well, as illustrated in example (8.19b). Note that the difference in how the General Modifier ‘good’/‘well’ is written and glossed is due to examples being taken from two different sources.

(8.19) Marathi (Indo-European) (Dhongde & Wali 2009: 61, Hook & Chauhanke 1988: 210)

1. 
   tya-ca
   

he-poss-m.sg
itk-a
this.much-m.sg
caNl-a

good-m.sg

ghod_. a
horse-m.sg
attr

‘His such a good horse’

2. 
   ti
   

she
haa
this
bhaag
part.m.sg
tsaangLa

good.msg

vaatsel
will.read
adv

‘She will read this part well.’

The second type of General Modifier that does not inflect contains, e.g., noise as in the case of niwant@ ‘quiet, quietly, leisurely’, but also e.g. sund@r ‘beautifully’, m@dhur ‘in a

sweet manner’, etc. (Dhongde & Wali 2009: 106). Unfortunately, no example in context could be found here.
Several languages in the sample have a relatively large adjective class, and a class of general modifiers in addition. Since many of these languages are described as having a subgroup among their adjectives that are used adverbially, it is often unclear exactly which ones these items are (cf. section 6.4.4). Conclusions are drawn here based only on attested examples, and not on whether the examples are the only ones in the language in question or whether there are more instances, except for cases where I state this explicitly. Turkish (Turkic) has Adjectives, at least one Adverb (çabuk ‘quickly’, Hatice Zora p.c., which may be somewhat marginal; see section 5.2), and General Modifiers. The latter
class includes speed and value words. In (8.20), examples with value are provided.
(8.20) Turkish (Turkic)(Göksel & Kerslake 2005: 49, 139)⁷

1. 
   güzel
   

beautiful

bir
art
köpek
dog
attr

‘a beautiful dog’

2. 
   Özdemir
   

Ö.
o
that
şarkı-yı
song-acc.sg
güzel

good

söyle-di
sing-pst
adv

‘Özdemir sang that song well.’

In Mian (Nuclear Trans New Guinean), General Modifiers are found alongside fairly large classes of both Adjectives and Adverbs, and are described by Fedden (2011: 116–117) as a subclass of the Adjectives. A clitic article indicating number and gender is required on the last element of the NP, although it may be repeated attached to every element (2011: 203–204). In certain cases where a General Modifier is used, this clitic constitutes the only distinction between attr and adv.

(8.21) Mian (Nuclear Trans New Guinean) (Fedden 2011: 114)

(a)
A¯ns=o
song=n2
AyAm=o
good=n2
ngAAn-b-o=be
sing.ipfv-ipfv-3sg.f.sbj=decl
attr

‘She is singing a beautiful song/songs.’

(b)
A¯ns=o
song=n2
AyAm
good
ngAAn-b-o=be
sing.ipfv-ipfv-3sg.f.sbj=decl
adv

‘She is singing a song/songs beautifully.’

Since the attested Mian General Modifiers are fairly numerous, they are listed in table

8.5. This can be compared to the Mian Adverbs listed in table 5.2 in section 5.2.

⁷ (8.20b) is repeated from (1.2).

Table 8.5. Mian General Modifiers (Fedden 2011: 116–117)



afan ‘wrong’ kat ‘flat’
afet ‘different’ keim ‘in the open’
ayam ‘good’ kweital ‘correct’
ayók ‘secretly’ meleng ‘pleasant’
báin ‘true’ mikík ‘new, firstly’
beselîb ‘huge, very loud’ misiam ‘bad’
dam ‘true’ moton ‘true’
gaang ‘wise’ mubiang ‘last’

gwáab ‘small, soft’ su¯m ‘big, loud’
Among the examples in table 8.5, value and noise items are found. Note that speed and care are absent. However, Mian has speed and care among its simple Adverbs (see tables 8.1, 8.4, and also table 5.2 in chapter 5).
In summary, there is considerable variation in terms of what role the class of general modifiers plays in individual languages. In some cases, it is the only class of lexemes attested that is devoted to modification in attr and adv (Dutch, Pirahã, Cherokee). In others, it exists as a class alongside those of adjectives or adverbs (Marathi), or both (Sango, Turkish). Table 8.6 summarizes the languages with general modifiers, and indi- cates whether also adjectives and/or adverbs are attested. Semantic types are given both for general modifiers and other categories, where applicable. Note that for those languages that have adjectives, there may be other semantic types along the lines of Dixon (1982 [1977]). I focus only on the four semantic types that are posited for adverbs in this thesis. Recall also that the types included are only based on what is attested in the language description in question – whether absence of a type means that it does not exist or simply has not been found remains to be discovered.

Language Category

Abau (Sepik) G. Modifiers
Basque (isolate) G. Modifiers Adjectives
Bora (Witotoan) G. Modifiers
Cherokee (Iroquoian) G. Modifiers
Dutch (Indo-European) G. Modifiers
Ewe (Atlantic-Congo) G. Modifiers Adjectives Adverbs
Hdi (Afro-Asiatic) G. Modifiers Adverbs

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