Descriptive and Theoretical Investigations into the Properties and Licensing of English Adverbs

本研究在对前人研究进行批判性考察的基础上，特别是在生成语法的框架下，对英语副词所能表达的意义及其在特定句子中所能承担的功能进行了理论和描述性的考察。本文的研究表明：英语副词几乎都是歧义性的，但歧义在特定的句子中是可以消解的，在特定的句子中，副词的意义和功能是有明确的规定的。英语副词在特定句子中所处的位置和结构对确定其意义和功能是非常重要的。首先，副词在句子中所处的位置和结构可以决定副词在句子中所承担的功能。句子副词（包括连接副词），主谓副词，英语副词的意义和功能不仅可以根据副词出现的位置和结构来确定，而且还可以根据副词的词汇性质（即，/y-副词的词汇性质通常可以由其词干形容词预测，但有些/y-副词的词汇性质却不能预测;副词性介词短语的性质在词典中是无法规定的，因为它们是相当有产出性的，就像/y-副词一样，英语副词，尤其是主语副词和动词短语副词的意义和功能的确定，需要某种检验机制，因为副词与句子中的相邻成分之间存在着密切的联系。

In this research, basing on the critical examination of the previous studies especially within the framework of generative grammar, we made theoretical and descriptive examination of what meanings English adverbs can express and what functions they can bear in particular sentences. This research has made clear the following points :Almost all of English adverbs are ambiguous, but the ambiguity can be dissolved in particular sentences, where their meanings and functions are specifically determined.The positions and structures that English adverbs occupy in particular sentences are important for detenruning their meanings and functions.First of all, the positions and structures that adverbs occur can determine which function the adverb bear in the sentence : sentence adverb (including conjunctive adverb), subject-predicate adverb, subject adverb or predicate adverb.The determination of meanings and functions of English adverbs can be made by means of not only the above mentioned positions and structures that adverbs occur but also lexical properties of adverbs (I.e., the range of the meanings and functions that adverbs can bear).The lexical properties of /y-adverbs can usually be predicted by their stem adjectives, but the properties of some /y-adverbs cannot ; then, the lexical properties that cannot be predicted must be specified as lexical idiosyncrasies.The properties of adverbial prepositional phrases cannot be specified in dictionaries because they are quite productive, just like /y-adverbs, but they must be determined from the properties of prepositions and nouns.The determination of the meanings and functions of English adverbs, especially subject adverbs and verb phrase adverbs, will need some kind of checking mechanism, because there can be close associations between adverbs and neighboring elements in sentences.