Freitag, 11.30 Uhr
This paper investigates the syntactic distribution of 'complement' adverbs, or so-called qualifying adverbs in the clausal and nominal domain. This class of adverbs subsumes manner, completion, Aktionsart, locative and temporal adverbs. These contrast sharply with the so called 'specifiers'-adverbs, e.g. aspectual ones, in that the former are argued to be internal to the VP, similar to NP-complements in the syntactic representation, while the latter are base-generated in the specifiers of functional projections (in agreement with Antisymmetry cf. Kayne 1994).
The traditional view of 'complement- adverbs' holds that these are predicate modifers, which adjoin at some V'- or VP level. However, in view of the fact that these can also occur as selected complements to some verbs (cf. McConnell-Ginet 1982, Grimshaw & Vikner 1991 among others), it seems that these assumptions need to be reconsidered.
(1) John worded the letter *(carefully)
Evidence will be presented that this class of adverbs behaves similarly to other NP-complements. This will be illustrated in a number of environments (e.g. incorporation), thus partly supporting Larson's (1988) view that adverbs should not be distinguished from NP-arguments on hierarchical grounds. Moreover, it will be shown that, similarly to other complements, complement adverbs undergo a type of A-movement to the specifier of a functional category in the IP domain, specifically each adverb to the category carrying the relevant feature to license it. It is due to this process that they appear, at the surface, to occupy both pre- and post-argument positions.
Finally, the presence of complement adverbs, and the absence of 'specifier-adverbs' in nominalizations will be examined.
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