Semantic characteristics of the adverbial modifier

§ 99. Semantically adverbials denote place, time, manner, cause, purpose, result, condition, concession, attendant circumstances, comparison, degree, measure, exception, thus forming semantic classes, such as adverbials of place, time, etc.

The semantic class of an adverbial may be identified directly (absolutely) or indirectly (relatively). It is identified directly by lexical meaning of the word or phrase used as an adverbial, as in:

I saw him yesterday. (time)

She spoke in a loud voice. (manner)

In other cases the semantic type is identified relatively, that is, only through the relationship of the adverbial to the modified part of the sentence, as is often the case with participles, infinitives, and some preposi­tional phrases. Thus the phrase with fear functions as an adverbial of manner in the sentence She spoke with fear and as an adverbial of reason in the sentence She shook with fear. The phrase Walking along the track to Buckmaster’s denotes motion in some direction, but in the sentence Walk­ing along the track towards Buckmaster’s Bowen burst into song it acquires temporal meaning and serves as an adverbial of time.

In the majority of cases, an identifying question may help to distinguish between adverbial modifiers from the semantic point of view. When? suggests time, where? - place, in what case? - condition, etc. However, it is not always possible to find an identifying question for every adverbial. Sometimes one and the same question word may correspond to different kinds of adverbials. Thus how? may suggest manner, comparison and degree. On the other hand such adverbials as those of result and attendant circumstances have no corresponding question words.

Semantic classes of adverbial modifiers