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With the briefest nod at terms ancient and modern for ‘verb’, indeclinable words are introduced, beginning with ten lectures on prepositions [here divided into two parts]. After notes on terminology and recent bibliography, the chapter sketches (Lectures 17–18) a summary inventory of ‘true prepositions’ and ‘improper prepositions’ (or ‘prepositional adverbs’) in Greek and Latin, distinguishing inherited and secondary forms of various types (with an excursus on words for ‘about’). Turning to the use of the true prepositions, the chapter comments briefly on their original use as adverbs (Lecture 18), before giving a detailed account of their use as preverbs in compound verbs. This includes discussion of tmesis (formal separation from/union with the verb, Lecture 19), semantic effects of fusion of preverb and verb (Lecture 20), verbs which occur only with — or never with — preverbs, and other sources of apparent instances of preverb + verb (Lecture 21).

With the briefest nod at terms ancient and modern for ‘verb’,indeclinable words are introduced, beginning with ten lectures on prepositions [here divided into two parts]. After notes on terminology and recent bibliography, the chapter sketches (Lectures 17–18) a summary inventory of ‘true prepositions’ and ‘improper prepositions’ (or ‘prepositional adverbs’) in Greek and Latin, distinguishing inherited and secondary forms of various types (with an excursus on words for ‘about’). Turning to the use of the true prepositions, the chapter comments briefly on their original use as adverbs (Lecture 18), before giving a detailed account of their use as preverbs in compound verbs. This includes discussion of tmesis (formal separation from/union with the verb, Lecture 19), semantic effects of fusion of preverb and verb (Lecture 20), verbs which occur only with — or never with — preverbs, and other sources of apparent instances of preverb + verb (Lecture 21).

With the briefest nod at terms ancient and modern for ‘verb’, indeclinable words are introduced,beginning with ten lectures on prepositions [here divided into two parts]. After notes on terminology and recent bibliography, the chapter sketches (Lectures 17–18) a summary inventory of ‘true prepositions’ and ‘improper prepositions’ (or ‘prepositional adverbs’) in Greek and Latin, distinguishing inherited and secondary forms of various types (with an excursus on words for ‘about’). Turning to the use of the true prepositions, the chapter comments briefly on their original use as adverbs (Lecture 18), before giving a detailed account of their use as preverbs in compound verbs. This includes discussion of tmesis (formal separation from/union with the verb, Lecture 19), semantic effects of fusion of preverb and verb (Lecture 20), verbs which occur only with — or never with — preverbs, and other sources of apparent instances of preverb + verb (Lecture 21).

With the briefest nod at terms ancient and modern for ‘verb’, indeclinable words are introduced, beginning with ten lectures on prepositions [here divided into two parts]. After notes on terminology and recent bibliography,the chapter sketches (Lectures 17–18) a summary inventory of ‘true prepositions’ and ‘improper prepositions’ (or ‘prepositional adverbs’) in Greek and Latin, distinguishing inherited and secondary forms of various types (with an excursus on words for ‘about’). Turning to the use of the true prepositions, the chapter comments briefly on their original use as adverbs (Lecture 18), before giving a detailed account of their use as preverbs in compound verbs. This includes discussion of tmesis (formal separation from/union with the verb, Lecture 19), semantic effects of fusion of preverb and verb (Lecture 20), verbs which occur only with — or never with — preverbs, and other sources of apparent instances of preverb + verb (Lecture 21).

With the briefest nod at terms ancient and modern for ‘verb’, indeclinable words are introduced, beginning with ten lectures on prepositions [here divided into two parts]. After notes on terminology and recent bibliography, the chapter sketches (Lectures 17–18) a summary inventory of ‘true prepositions’ and ‘improper prepositions’ (or ‘prepositional adverbs’) in Greek and Latin,distinguishing inherited and secondary forms of various types (with an excursus on words for ‘about’). Turning to the use of the true prepositions, the chapter comments briefly on their original use as adverbs (Lecture 18), before giving a detailed account of their use as preverbs in compound verbs. This includes discussion of tmesis (formal separation from/union with the verb, Lecture 19), semantic effects of fusion of preverb and verb (Lecture 20), verbs which occur only with — or never with — preverbs, and other sources of apparent instances of preverb + verb (Lecture 21).

This chapter relates two questions concerning bare noun arguments: (i) the contrast between the acceptability in Hebrew of sentence initial V‐S with bare noun subjects where V is unaccusative, and its unacceptability where V is unergative; (ii) the telicity in Hebrew and English of achievements with bare noun arguments, in contrast to the atelicity of accomplishments with bare noun arguments. The argument that the two contrasts are related relies on the observation that both disappear under the presence of a locale (an indexical adverb of the sort found as subject of existential constructions). The major claim made in the chapter is thus about the central role locatives play both in forcing existential interpretations and in allowing telic readings with non‐quantity arguments.

This chapter provides a precise and full characterization of adpositions (Adps), by showing what they are, what they are not, and what they do, synchronically and diachronically. The chapter is organized as follows. Section 1 first proposes a general definition of Adps. Section 2.1 studies the relationship between Adps and case affixes. Section 2.3 characterizes Adps with respect to the term they govern. Section 2.4 presents word-types that might be mistaken for Adps, while Section 2.5 presents Adps as sources of new units. Finally, the ‘adposition’ is justified in relation to the other available terms.

English has a much larger repertoire of epistemic (sentential) adverbs than other European languages, possibly indeed without parallel in other languages of the world. The set of these adverbs includes the following: probably, possibly, clearly, obviously, presumably, evidently, apparently, supposedly, conceivably, undoubtedly, allegedly, reportedly, arguably, unquestionably, seemingly, certainly, and in American English likely. As this chapter discusses in some detail, this rich repertoire of epistemic adverbs developed in English gradually. Undoubtedly, the rise of this semantico-grammatical category in English was related to the rise of verbal epistemic phrases, such as I presume, I assume, I gather, I understand, I suppose, and so on. The cultural concerns reflected in the two categories are essentially the same, and in both cases they can be linked with the post-Lockean emphasis on the limitations of human knowledge, on the need to distinguish knowledge from judgment, on differentiating between different “degrees of assent.” But to compare the class of “epistemic adverbs” in different languages one must first identify this class in each language, and for this one needs some explicit semantic criteria. In the absence of a detailed semantic analysis of the individual words it is impossible to rigorously delimit the class in question; and without delimiting it, it is impossible to compare its size across language boundaries. This chapter shows that the use of the NSM methodology makes it possible to carry out such detailed semantic analysis, and to establish that the proliferation of epistemic adverbs is indeed a distinctive feature of English. The legal scholar Larry Solan (1999) has observed that British “17th century thinkers, influenced heavily by John Locke, developed an epistemology that differentiated among various kinds of evidence.” It is shown that in the English-speaking world, this epistemology differentiating among various kinds and degrees of certainty has had an impact on ordinary ways of speaking, and on the English language itself, and this impact continues to this day.

MON types an ‘uncertainty’ question and non‐typing MON adds ‘uncertainty’ to questions typed by an overt or silent performative. This paper accounts for the placement of MON in both these cases and also explains why V‐2 is not triggered when MON occurs sentence initially. The explanation rests on the idea that MON is linearized in the phonology as are other adverbs and that V‐2 is phonologically motivated.

The standard doctrine that basic grammatical classes (parts of speech) are not semantically definable rests on erroneous assumptions about the nature of linguistic meaning. With a proper view of meaning, basic categories—notably noun and verb—have plausible conceptual characterizations at both the prototype level (for typical examples) and the schema level (valid for all instances). The prototypes are based on conceptual archetypes: objects for nouns, and actions for verbs. The schemas are independent of any particular conceptual content, residing instead in basic cognitive abilities immanent in the archetypes: for nouns, grouping and reification; in the case of verbs, the ability to apprend relationships and to track their evolution through time. An expression's grammatical category specifically depends on the nature of its profile (not its overall content). Thus a noun profiles a thing (defined abstractly as any product of grouping and reification), while a verb profiles a process (a relationship tracked through time). Expressions that profile non-processual relationships include adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, infinitives, and participles. Relational expressions can be categorized in different ways, depending on factors like the number and type of focused participants, whether the profiled relation is simplex or complex, and whether it is apprehended holistically or sequentially. These characterizations prove efficacious in describing how relational expressions function as noun modifiers and in clausal organization.

Supplements (i.e., parentheticals, appositives) provide one of the major sources of evidence for conventional implicatures discussed in this book. After some general discussion of supplements, the focus narrows to supplemental relatives and nominal appositives. The proposed syntax is conservative: supplements are argued to be fully integrated syntactically and morphologically, with their ‘peripheral’ feel attributed to their semantics and their comma intonation. Appositives are shown to manifest all of the properties Grice specified for conventional implicatures, and are analyzed in the terms of Chapter 3. The final major section extends the analysis to a range of sentence-level adverbs.

As had been found in the previous study in Ayr, middle-class speakers used derived adverbs in -ly significantly more frequently than working-class speakers. This is true of both adults and adolescents. The middle-class speakers also use very and quite significantly more than the working-class speakers, but there are no differences in the use of just. The adolescents rarely use very, preferring pure and dead. The middle-class speakers also use evaluative adjectives twice as frequently as the working-class speakers.

This chapter presents a qualitative analysis of the different kinds of discourse styles employed by the speakers, relating this to the quantitative measures. The significant differences in adverb use between the middle-class speakers and the working-class speakers are shown to reflect a basic difference in discourse style. The middle-class speakers make frequent evaluative comments, whereas the working-class speakers avoid them. The results contradict the inference Bernstein drew about social class differences in speech.

This chapter begins with an analysis of narrow focus in replacive negation constructions, questions, and various types of chiasmus. It also covers association of focus with frequency adverbs and focus particles. It concludes with an account of weak pronoun raising.

In Lecture 49, the chapter begins the discussion of the cases by drawing attention to indeclinable nouns and defective nouns (nouns lacking one or more case-forms), and by considering the relation between case-forms and adverbs. The chapter proceeds (Lecture 50) to the question of the number of cases to be found in Indo-European and non-Indo-European languages, and to the diachronic phenomenon of syncretism (reduction over time in the number of cases) and reasons for it. Postponed to a later lecture (one never published) is the treatment of the use of the individual cases,with the exception of the vocative, which, together with the use of nominative for vocative, and some remarks on the use of the vocative particles Gk □ and Lat. ο, is the subject of the last lecture of the first series (Lecture 51).

In Lecture 49, the chapter begins the discussion of the cases by drawing attention to indeclinable nouns and defective nouns (nouns lacking one or more case-forms),and by considering the relation between case-forms and adverbs. The chapter proceeds (Lecture 50) to the question of the number of cases to be found in Indo-European and non-Indo-European languages, and to the diachronic phenomenon of syncretism (reduction over time in the number of cases) and reasons for it. Postponed to a later lecture (one never published) is the treatment of the use of the individual cases, with the exception of the vocative, which, together with the use of nominative for vocative, and some remarks on the use of the vocative particles Gk □ and Lat. ο, is the subject of the last lecture of the first series (Lecture 51).

In Lecture 49, the chapter begins the discussion of the cases by drawing attention to indeclinable nouns and defective nouns (nouns lacking one or more case-forms), and by considering the relation between case-forms and adverbs. The chapter proceeds (Lecture 50) to the question of the number of cases to be found in Indo-European and non-Indo-European languages,and to the diachronic phenomenon of syncretism (reduction over time in the number of cases) and reasons for it. Postponed to a later lecture (one never published) is the treatment of the use of the individual cases, with the exception of the vocative, which, together with the use of nominative for vocative, and some remarks on the use of the vocative particles Gk □ and Lat. ο, is the subject of the last lecture of the first series (Lecture 51).

Lectures 22–5 are devoted to the use of prepositions in combination with case-forms. Lecture 22 addresses their placement before or (in anastrophe) after the noun, in a noun phrase, in a string of nouns in coordination, or fixed in old combinations. There follow (Lecture 23) some general remarks on the cases governed by prepositions, with special attention to the genitive in Greek, the ablative in Latin, and the accusative in both. Lecture 24 covers the general tendency towards increased use of prepositional expressions, and, on the other hand, the use of certain case-forms without prepositions. Combinations of preposition + adverb, and the occurrence and ordering of strings of more than one preposition/preverb are treated in Lecture 25. The last lecture in this chapter (Lecture 26) is on the meaning — and change of meaning — of individual prepositions. Some general remarks on semantic change are followed by two case-studies (Gk πρό and μετά).

Lectures 22–5 are devoted to the use of prepositions in combination with case-forms. Lecture 22 addresses their placement before or (in anastrophe) after the noun,in a noun phrase, in a string of nouns in coordination, or fixed in old combinations. There follow (Lecture 23) some general remarks on the cases governed by prepositions, with special attention to the genitive in Greek, the ablative in Latin, and the accusative in both. Lecture 24 covers the general tendency towards increased use of prepositional expressions, and, on the other hand, the use of certain case-forms without prepositions. Combinations of preposition + adverb, and the occurrence and ordering of strings of more than one preposition/preverb are treated in Lecture 25. The last lecture in this chapter (Lecture 26) is on the meaning — and change of meaning — of individual prepositions. Some general remarks on semantic change are followed by two case-studies (Gk πρό and μετά).