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    Positional aspects
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    Positional aspects of the various types of clause adverbs correspond to quite some extent to their semantic classification. That is, the various semantic types are positionally ordered with respect to each other in case they co-occur in a clause.

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    All the adverbial subgroups discussed here may be found either in the initial position of a main clause or in the middle field, with the exception of adverbs of emphasis. Adverbs of the various subgroups can sometimes be combined, which provides some insight in their unmarked ordering with respect to each other. This seems to be as follows:

    The order of clause adverbs: subjective – {modal, time} – frequency – emphasis

    1
    a. *De brêgewipper is faak hjoed te let
    the bridgemaster is often today too late
    The bridgemaster is often too late today
    b. ?Hy is wier somtiden te let
    he is really sometimes too late
    Sometimes, he is really too late
    a. Subjective < modal
    It boek is spitigernôch miskien útferkocht
    the book is unfortunately maybe out.sold
    Unfortunately, the book may be sold out
    ?It boek is miskien spitigernôch útferkocht
    the book is unfortunately maybe out.sold
    Unfortunately, the book may be sold out
    b. Modal < time
    It boek is moarn miskien útferkocht
    the book is tomorrow maybe out.sold
    The book may be sold out tomorrow
    ?It boek is miskien moarn útferkocht
    the book is maybe tomorrow out.sold
    The book may be sold out tomorrow
    c. Modal < frequency
    Hy is miskien faak te let
    he is maybe often too late
    Maybe he is often too late
    *Hy is faak miskien te let
    he is often maybe too late
    Lit: He is often maybe too late
    d. Time < frequency
    De brêgewipper is hjoed faak te let
    the bridgemaster is today often too late
    The bridgemaster is often too late today
    e. Frequency < emphasis
    Hy is somtiden wier te let
    he is sometimes really too late
    Sometimes, he is really too late

    These word order tests may not be very conclusive, since they are affected by the pragmatics of the different scopal readings, by the definiteness of the adverbs, by the aspect of the sentence, the nature of the predicate and other factors. Moreover, it appears that these word order tendencies cannot be circumvented by preposing the lower adverb to clause-initial position.

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      About this article
      Author(s): Eric Hoekstra
      Category: Frisian Syntax
      Keywords: order of clause adverbs
      Version: 1.0, December 2015
      Version history:
      version editor(s) date remarks
      1.0 Eric Hoekstra December 2015
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