Carol A. Chapelle - The Concise Encyclopedia of Applied Linguistics

Adverbs are usually categorized according to their position and function within the clause. More than any other word class, they demonstrate the interdependency between grammar and meaning, although accounts differ markedly in their classification schemes and terminology. This may lead to terminological confusion (see Hasselgård, 2010, pp. 14–39). Quirk et al. (1985, pp. 438–653) and Crystal (2004, pp. 268–93), in his synopsis thereof, distinguish four classes of adverb divided into two main groups: adjuncts and subjuncts; disjuncts and conjuncts. Adjuncts relate to the verb or “verb phrase” ( He ate slowly and surely ; he had time, and he had strength ) or to the entire clause (Nowadays, there is no excuse for getting into trouble ). They constitute the largest subgroup of adverbs, and include such traditional categories as adverbs of place, manner, and time, sometimes known collectively as “circumstantial adverbs” (Biber et al., 1999). Occasionally, adjuncts may be obligatory—they are required by the verb to make the clause grammatically acceptable and usually occur at E: Ruth lives in Berlin ; We wanted a relaxing, fun day and thankfully everything went wonderfully ; The dinosaur exhibition extended through the summer (see Goldberg & Ackerman, 2001; Hasselgård, 2010, pp. 46–8, 124).

Subjuncts generally play a more subordinate role in relation either to the clause or to a clause element, especially the verb or verb phrase, here to heightening effect: We couldn't , literally couldn't, have managed without your help . Subjuncts comprise adverbs expressing: viewpoint ( Economically and politically [ speaking ], they've been completely disenfranchised ); focus ( Only the lonely know the way I feel tonight ); degree ( You simply must let me have a copy ); and courtesy, where their role is essentially formulaic ( Please mind the gap / Kindly allow me to speak ). In short, subjuncts add the speaker's slant toward the content of the associated clause (Crystal, 2004, pp. 284–5). Disjuncts have a superior role in relation to the clause, by making a judgment, a comment, or an evaluation about what is being said: It is arguably the most important discovery ; Fortunately, or unfortunately , that is easy work now ; Consequently , it is regrettably inevitable that personal property will occasionally go missing . Conjuncts are peripheral to clause structure and have a linking or relational function between clauses when these are viewed as connected discourse: It happened before dawn so they might have been asleep at the time ; Environment can never completely explain art. I am sure, however, that it plays an important role ; We have a way of talking, and thus a way of thinking . In combination with modal verbs, certain types of subjunct and disjunct are significant for the expression of modality: In this context it may well be true ; This is one wheel that you definitely should not try to reinvent ; Perhaps they might even learn to think critically instead of parroting ; Of course, there may be special occasions where an exception should be made . (See further Hoye, 1997; see also Simon‐Vandenbergen & Aijmer, 2007, pp. 68–9, and Aijmer, 2009, on the issue of modal adverbs and modal particles.)

Since adverbs express such a wide range of meanings, treatment of their grammar also involves focusing on their semantic roles. Quirk et al. (1985, pp. 479–86) distinguish seven broad categories, often based on a figurative extension of what they call “spatial relations,” and with a clear nod to the traditional categories of time, place, manner, frequency, and degree, although more rigorously articulated. Space or “place” adverbs refer to position ( Change here ), direction ( They were speeding southward ), distance ( It's not far from the town ); time adverbs to temporal distance ( The meeting may have taken place yesterday/before/then ), duration ( We will remain eternally vigilant every single day / Diamonds are forever ), frequency ( Prices are reviewed and updated regularly ), relationship, or “temporal continuity” ( The rehearsal is already/still in progress/underway [the rehearsal has started/is ongoing]); process adverbs refer to manner ( People were casually strolling in the park ), means ( Never has such naked aggression been so strongly and generously supported morally, politically, economically, and militarily ), instrument ( the mountain peak was measured geometrically and barometrically ), agent ( The printer connects wirelessly to your computer ); respect adverbs convey the sense “in regard to” ( They have no right legally, ethically, or morally to censor the book [in terms of the law, ethics, morals]); contingency adverbials refer to cause ( Moods may change easily from laughter ), reason ( He never intended to marry — neither for love nor [for] money), purpose ( We use language in this country in order to understand each other , and to give and receive information ), result ( As a result of the blocked land border, the main smuggling route is now by sea ), condition ( Long journeys by road should be undertaken only if absolutely necessary ), concession ( This month remains very cold despite a significant increase in temperatures )—where there is no one‐word adverb equivalent to the multiword adverbial units or expressions cited; modality adverbs refer to emphasis ( The green eyes were incredibly [extremely] dark , approximation ( The truth probably lies somewhere between the two poles of opinion ), restriction or “focus” ( This fact alone must have affected the way that people conceived of travel and of distance ); degree adverbs refer to intensity ( There are people who are not thrifty who really can't see the point of the little things / History is literally present in all that we do. It could scarcely be otherwise, since it is to history that we owe our frames of reference ).

Sometimes medially placed adverbs overlap between two not unrelated readings, here modality (emphasis) and manner: He was locked in concentration, unswervingly focused on his meditation ; “He was steadily/totally focused and focused in a determined/fixed manner.” The intensive meaning predominates: It is intimated by the lexical verb locked and the accompanying manner adverbial in concentration and, as a result of “delexicalization,” the more lexically loaded, adverbial of manner reading becomes secondary. This remains true, no matter how lexically loaded the adverb(s) appear to be: It does not feel right to refer to her voice in the past tense , because it always sounds so fantastically , vitally [“absolutely,” “completely,” “totally”] in the moment (Hoye, 1997). Adverb classes are not watertight; their interpretation will depend on recognizing the wider context in which they occur, where there may well be a blending of possible interpretations.

Adverbs are more than mere ornamentation; they underpin processes of textual argumentation and provide additional, circumstantial information that helps avoid any sense of anomaly or incompleteness about what is being said (Goldberg & Ackerman, 2001, p. 798). Pervasive in discourse, adverbs occur across all genres, regardless of levels of formality or medium. And regardless of their many detractors, such as those cited at the outset. Used judiciously, their role may be crucial. Ernest Hemingway, known for his terse prose, was not totally immune to their use, especially the ‐ ly variety: “after forty days without a fish the boy's parents had told him that the old man was now definitely and finally ‘salao’, which is the worst form of unlucky” (Hemingway, 1952, p. 1). Here, the meaning of “salao” (Cuban and southern Spanish slang for “the worst kind of bad luck”) is captured and reinforced by the two adverbs, as they herald the gloss in the relative clause that follows, and somehow hint at the inward travails the old man has yet to face.