Eckhard Bick - VISL

4.5.4 Adverbial function
4.5.4.1 Argument adverbials
In this text, I understand the term adverbial in a functional way, and will reserve it for
clause level constituents, which may either be valency bound by the main verb
(argument adverbials, @ADV, 1b/c) or not (adjunct adverbials, @ADVL, 1a). The first
group may then be subdivided into obligatory (1c) or optional (1b) arguments.
(1a) Ele falou em Londres. (Ele fala. O que aconteceu/fez em Londres?)
(1b) O livro caiu no chão. (O livro caiu. *O que aconteceu/fez no chão?)
(1c) Ele morava em Londres. (*Ele morava. *O que aconteceu/fez em Londres?)
In (1) two tests are applied: The adverbial omission test tests for optionality (positive
in 1a and 1b), and the predicate isolation test tests whether the adverbial can be
isolated from the VP (i.e. is part of the VP or not). This test is positive only in (1a)
where the adverbial is an adjunct at sentence level, not a complement at VP level.
Dependency-wise all adverbials "point" towards the main verb, the functional leveldistinction
between @ADV and @ADVL being made explicit by the tags and not the
attachment markers (in more precise terms, @ADVL constituents do not attach directly
to the main verb, but rather to a complex head, the VP - or verb chain - as a whole).
Semantically, the most common valency bound adverbials are locatives and directives,
appearing both as first and (in transobjective constructions) second complement:
(2) Locative adverbial (i.e. ADV or PP) complements (obligatory in bold face)
LOCATION
estar na casa 'be'
morar 'live'
ficar 'be, stay'
1. complement 2. complement
quedar 'stay'
entrar 'enter'
aportar 'arrive'
arribar 'arrive'
DIRECTION
ir para Brasil 'go'
viajar para 'travel'
A
pôr o livro sobre a mesa 'put'
colocar 'place'
botar 'place'
deitar 'lay'
B deixar 'leave'
instalar 'install'
D
mandar o filho para Londres 'send'
enviar 'send'
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C
F