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Clause adverbials

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In this section a variety of clause adverbials are discussed, i.e. adverbials related to the clause as a whole rather than to the verbal predicate alone. Some adverbials, for instance polarity and spatio-temporal adverbials, are used both as clause and as VP adverbials. Clause adverbials usually precede VP adverbials in the ordering of the clause and have scope over the entire clause. To determine whether its scope extends over the entire proposition, the adverbial is cast in a construction in which it precedes the clause in question, as in (1b).

My kollega is moontlik uitstedig.

my colleague is possibly out.of.town

My colleague is possibly out of town.

Dit is moontlik (so) dat my kollega uitstedig is.

it is possibly so that.COMP my colleague out.of.town is

It is possibly so that my colleague is out of town.

When interpreted as negating an entire clause, the polarity adverbialnie not – usually followed by a clause or sentence final nie confirming the first negative – is a clause adverbial, e.g.

Erna het nie vanjaar 'n bonus gekry nie.

Erna have.AUX not this.year a bonus get.PST.PTCP PTCL.NEG

Erna didn't get a bonus this year.

As any adverbial preceding a clause negative is likely also to be a clause adverbial, this positioning is a convenient way to identify other clause adverbials. Thus a focus particle such as selfs even is preferably placed before the negative:

Sy het selfs nie 'n bonus gekry nie.

she have.AUX even not a bonus get.PST.PTCP PTCL.NEG

She didn't even get a bonus.

An aspectual adverbial such as the iterativedikwels often is also found in this position:

Sy het dikwels nie 'n bonus gekry nie.

she have.AUX often not a bonus get.PST.PTCP PTCL.NEG

She often didn't get a bonus.

Byna almost is an example of a clause-degree adverbial, e.g.

Sy het byna nie 'n bonus gekry nie.

she have.AUX almost not a bonus get.PST.PTCP PTCL.NEG

She almost didn't get a bonus.

Clausal modality may be verbal, for example epistemicmoet should in (6a), but it can also be done adverbially, through the evidential adverb glo reportedly illustrated by example (6b).

Sy moet tans oorsee wees.

she must.AUX.MOD at.present overseas be.INF

She should be overseas at the moment.

Sy is glo op die oomblik oorsee.

she is reputedly on the moment overseas

She is reputedly overseas at the moment.

Clause adverbials can also be subject-oriented, as in (7a), or denote the stance that the speaker adopts in respect of the entire propostion, as in (7b):

Sy het wyslik daarteen besluit.

she have.AUX wisely PN.against decide.PST.PTCP

She wisely decided against it.

Sy het ongelukkig nie 'n bonus gekry nie.

she have.AUX unfortunately not a bonus get.PST.PTCP PTCL.NEG

She unfortunately didn't get a bonus.

A clause adverbial may also express the speaker's point of view, as illustrated in example (8).

Wat my betref, moes sy 'n bonus gekry het.

what me concern must.AUX.MOD.PRT she a bonus get.PST.PTCP have.AUX

As far as I'm concerned, she should have received a bonus.

Temporal and locational adverbials can function as clause adverbials when they precede another clause adverbial, as in examples (9a) and (9b), respectively.

Sy kry vandag miskien goeie nuus.

she get today perhaps good news

She will perhaps receive good news today.

Sy hoor in Pretoria dalk van haar ma.

she hear in Pretoria perhaps from her mother

She'll perhaps hear from her mother in Pretoria.

Various contingency adverbials are used, for instance to refer to the cause of something:

Sy het as gevolg van beurtkrag geld verloor.

she have.AUX as result of load.shedding money lose.PST.PTCP

She lost money as a result of load shedding

The domain in which an event is situated may also be expressed by a clause adverbial, e.g.

Sy makeer sielkundig heeltemal niks.

she lack psychologically entirely nothing

Nothing at all is wrong with her psychologically.

In exampole (12), ook also is a conjunctive adverbial.

Sy is nie ryk nie, maar ook nie suinig nie.

she is not rich PTCL.NEG but.CNJ also not stingy PTCL.NEG

She is not rich, but she isn't stingy either.

A number of adverbials relate to the way an utterance expresses a speech act, e.g.

Om die waarheid te sê, Erna verjaar vandag.

for.COMP the truth PTCL.INF say.INF Erna celebrate.her.birthday today

To tell the truth, it's Erna's birthday today.

Polarity adverbials
Focus particles
Aspectual adverbials
Clause-degree adverbials
Modal verbs and adverbials
Subject-oriented adverbials
Stance adverbials
Point-of-view adverbials
Spatio-temporal adverbials
Contingency adverbials
Domain adverbials
Conjunctive adverbials
Speech-act related adverbials

[+]Polarity adverbials

This section discusses the negative adverb nie not and its unstressed clause-final correlate nie by means of which the proposition contained in a clause is negated, as in (14a), and its affirmative counterpart wel indeed which emphatically affirms such a proposition, as in (14b). Unlike nie, wel may be superfluous as truthfulness is the default value of a declarative sentence. In (14c) it is indicated how nie and wel are used contrastively.

Fanie het nie sy huiswerk gedoen nie.

Fanie have.AUX not his homework do.PST.PTCP PTCL.NEG

Fanie hasn't done his homework.

Marie het wel haar huiswerk gedoen.

Marie have.AUX indeed her homework do.PST.PTCP

Marie has indeed done her homework.

Fanie het nie sy huiswerk gedoen nie, maar Marie hare wel.

Fanie have.AUX not his homework do.PST.PTCP PTCL.NEG but.CNJ Marie hers indeed

Fanie hasn't done his homework but Marie has done hers.

The scope test indicates that both nie and wel are clause adverbials:

Dit is nie so dat Fanie sy huiswerk gedoen het nie.

it is not so that.COMP Fanie his homework do.PST.PTCP have.AUX PTCL.NEG

It isn't so that Fanie has done his homework.

Dit is wel so dat Marie haar huiswerk gedoen het.

it is indeed so that.COMP Marie her homework do.PST.PTCP have.AUX

It is indeed so that Marie did do her homework.

The adverb nie can also be used in constituent negation, for instance in (16a), where almal everyone is negated. With the alternative order in (16b), both constituent and propositional negation may be intended:

Nie almal het opgedaag nie.

not all have.AUX up.turn.PST.PTCP PTCL.NEG

Not everyone turned up.

Almal het nie opgedaag nie.

all have.AUX not up.turn.PST.PTCP PTCL.NEG

No one turned up. / Not everyone turned up.

In Afrikaans the scope of the negation, which may extend over more than one clause in a complex sentence, is demarcated by the second nie. This is possible in sentences with omdat because as coordinator:

Fanie het nie tuis gebly omdat hy siek was nie.

Fanie have.AUX not at.home stay.PST.PTCP because.CNJ he ill was PTCL.NEG

Fanie didn't stay at home because he was ill.

Fanie het nie tuis gebly nie, omdat hy siek was.

Fanie have.AUX not at.home stay.PST.PTCP PTCL.NEG because.CNJ he ill was

Fanie didn't stay at home, because he was ill.

Fanie het tuis gebly, maar nie omdat hy siek was nie.

Fanie have.AUX at.home stay.PST.PTCP but.CNJ not because.CNJ he ill was PTCL.NEG

Fanie stayed at home, but not because he was ill.

With want because as coordinator, nie cannot have scope across want:

*Fanie het nie tuis gebly want hy was siek nie.

Fanie have.AUX not at.home stay.PST.PTCP because.CNJ he was ill PTCL.NEG

To mean: Fanie didn't stay at home because he was ill.

Fanie het nie tuis gebly nie want hy was gesond.

Fanie have.AUX not at.home stay.PST.PTCP PTCL.NEG because.CNJ he was well

Fanie didn't stay at home, because he was well.

Fanie het tuis gebly want hy was nie gesond nie.

Fanie have.AUX at.home stay.PST.PTCP because.CNJ he was not well PTCL.NEG

Fanie stayed at home because he wasn't well.

[+]Focus particles

Particles such as net just, only, ook only and selfs even can precede clause negation as focus particles. They also satify the clausal scope test, as demonstrated by the examples in (20).

a.	As atleet is Frik net nie goed genoeg nie.
	as athlete is Frik just not good enough PTCL.NEG
	As an athlete Frik just isn't good enough.

a.'	Dit is net so dat Frik nie as atleet vinnig genoeg is nie.
	it is just so that.COMP FRIK not as athlete fast enough is PTCL.NEG
	It is just so that Frik isn't fast enough as an athlete.

b.	Frik speel nie tennis nie en Fransina ook nie.
	Frik play not tennis PTCL.NEG and Fransina also PTCL.NEG
	Frik doesn't play tennis and neither does Fransina.

b.'	Dit is ook so dat Fransina nie tennis speel nie.
	it is also so that.COMP Fransina not tennis play PTCL.NEG
	It is also so that Fransina doesn't play tennis.

c.	Frik kan selfs nie 'n fiets bekostig nie.
	Frik can.AUX.MOD even not a bicycle afford PTCL.NEG
	Frik can't even afford a bicycle.

c.'	Dit is selfs so dat Frik nie 'n fiets kan bekostig nie.
	it is even so that.COMP Frik not a bicycle can.AUX.MOD afford PTCL.NEG
	It is even so that Frik cannot afford a bicycle.

Some of these adverbials also function as clause adverbials without collocating with the negative:

Frik speel ook tennis.

Frik play also tennis

Frik also plays tennis.

Fransina kan selfs 'n motor bekostig.

Fransina can.AUX.MOD even a car afford.INF

Fransina can even afford a car.

[+]Aspectual adverbials

Aspectual adverbials which can precede sentence negation include habitual adverbials such as gewoonlik usually, frequentative adverbials such as dikwels often, continuative adverbials such as nog (steeds) still and iterative adverbials such as weer again. The fact that they precede sentence negation is an indication that they are clausal rather than VP adverbials. This is also borne out by the scope test, as illustrated by the examples in (22).

a.	Dat Piet gewoonlik nie pendel nie, is waar.
	that.COMP Piet usually not commute PTCL.NEG is true
	That Piet usually doesn't commute is true.

a.'	Dit is gewoonlik so dat Piet nie pendel nie.
	it is usually so that.COMP Piet not commute PTCL.NEG
	It is usually so that Piet doesn't commute.

b.	Dat Piet dikwels nie pendel nie, is waar.
	that.COMP Piet often not commute PTCL.NEG is true
	That Piet often doesn't commute is true.

b.'	Dit is dikwels so dat Piet nie pendel nie.
	it is often so that.COMP Piet not commute PTCL.NEG
	It is often so that Piet doesn't commute.

c.	Dat Piet nog nie pendel nie, is waar.
	that.COMP Piet still not commute PTCL.NEG is true
	That Piet still doesn't commute is true.

c.'	Dit is nog so dat Piet nie pendel nie.
	it is still so that.COMP Piet not commute PTCL.NEG
	It still is so that Piet doesn't commute.

d.	Dat Piet weer nie pendel nie, is waar.
	that.COMP Piet once.again not commute PTCL.NEG is true
	That Piet once again isn't commuting is true.

d.'	Dit is weer so dat Piet nie pendel nie.
	it is once.again so that.COMP Piet not commute PTCL.NEG
	It is once again so that Piet doesn't commute.

When these adverbials are placed after the negative, they are usually VP adverbials, as shown in (23).

Dat Piet nie gewoonlik pendel nie, is waar.

that.COMP Piet not usually commute PTCL.NEG is true

That Piet doesn't usually commute is true.

Piet pendel nie en dit is gewoonlik die geval.

Piet commute not and this is usually the case

Piet doesn't commute and this is usually the case.

Baiekeer very often in (24a) occurs before the first negation and the clause adverbial waarskynlik probably and is therefore a clause adverbial (cf. (24ai)). However, in (24b), where it occurs after the first negation and waarskynlik, the negation functions as a constituent negation (cf. example (16) and baiekeer is a VP adverbial.

Piet pendel waarskynlik nie baiekeer nie.

Piet commute probably not many.time PTCL.NEG

Piet probably doesn't commute very often.

a.	Piet pendel baiekeer waarskynlik nie.
	Piet commute many.time probably not
	Piet very often probably doesn't commute.

a.'	Dit is baiekeer so dat Piet waarskynlik nie pendel nie.
	it is very.often so that.COMP Piet probably not commute PTCL.NEG
	It is very often so that Piet probably doesn't commute.

[+]Clause-degree adverbials

Adverbials such as byna almost and amper almost, which are synonymous in Afrikaans, indicate the degree to which a proposition is realised:

Jan het byna/amper sy humeur verloor.

Jan have.AUX almost his temper lose.PST.PTCP

Jan almost lost his temper.

Dit was byna/amper so dat Jan sy humeur verloor het.

it was almost so that.COMP Jan his temper lose.PST.PTCP have.AUX

It was almost so that Jan lost his temper.

A small set of adverbials are postposed to the negative as downtoners, i.e. to render the negative less absolute, viz. eintlik really, actually, the pair rêrig and regtig really, and juis exactly, particularly, e.g. (26a). As a collocation, nie eintlik not really functions as a clause adverbial, cf. the scope test in (26b).

Jan het nie eintlik sy humeur verloor nie.

Jan have.AUX not really his temper lose.PST.PTCP PTCL.NEG

Jan hasn't really lost his temper.

Dit is nie eintlik so dat Jan sy humeur verloor het nie.

it is not really so that.COMP Jan his temper lose.PST.PTCP have.AUX PTCL.NEG

It isn't really so that Jan lost his temper.

[+]Modal verbs and adverbials

Modality not only plays a part in the VP, but may also express an evaluation of the factuality of the proposition as a whole. A distinction may be made between epistemic modality, which evaluates the degree of factuality of a proposition, and evidential modality, which evaluates the type of factuality of a proposition. Epistemic modality may be verbal or adverbial in nature.

Verbal modality

In the following, kan can has a speculative sense, and expresses a low degree of certainty, while deductive moet must and assumptivesal will express higher degrees of certainty.

Mariska kan die prys gewen het.

Mariska can.AUX.MOD the prize win.PST.PTCP have.AUX

Mariska could have won the prize.

Bell moet die uitvinder van die telefoon wees.

Bell must.AUX.MOD the inventor of the telephone be.INF

Bell must be the inventor of the telephone.

Mariska sal nou voor haar rekenaar sit.

Mariska will.AUX.MOD now before her computer sit.INF

Mariska would be sitting in front of her computer now.

Kan presents the proposition as a possible conclusion, moet presents the proposition as necessarily true, and sal presents the proposition as predictable on the basis of available evidence.

Evidential judgments are related to the source of the information on which the judgment is based. The modal preterite sou may hint at a rumour, and is therefore evidential in nature:

Mnr X sou sy vrou verlaat het.

Mr X will.AUX.MOD.PRT his wife leave.PST.PTCP have.AUX

Mr X is rumoured to have left his wife.

Skyn to seem in (29a) indicates that the truthfulness of the information is restricted to appearances or rumours, while blyk to turn out in (29b) suggests that a source can be identified, i.e. direct evidence.

Mnr X skyn sy vrou te verlaat het.

Mr X seem.AUX.MOD his wife PTCL.INF leave.PST.PTCP have.AUX

Mr X seems to have left his wife.

Mnr Y blyk sy vrou te verlaat het.

Mr Y appear.AUX.MOD his wife PTCL.INF leave.PST.PTCP have.AUX

Mr Y appears to have left his wife.

Adverbial modality

Glo to be said to be the case is the evidential adverb par excellence in Afrikaans, indicating that the speaker does not hold him-/herself responsible for the reliability of the information. It passes the test for clausal adverbials, as illustrated by example (30).

Mnr X het glo sy vrou verlaat.

Mr X have.AUX reputedly his wife leave.PST.PTCP

Mr X has reputedly left his wife.

Dit is glo so dat mnr X sy vrou verlaat het.

it is reputedly so that.COMP Mr X his wife leave.PST.PTCP have.AUX

It is reputedly so that Mr X left his wife.

The adverbials miskien perhaps, dalk perhaps and moontlik possibly express possibility or probability, and also have clausal reference, as shown by the examples in (31).

Inflasie gaan miskien styg.

inflation go.AUX.MOD perhaps rise.INF

Inflation is perhaps going to rise.

Dit is moontlik dat inflasie gaan styg.

it is possible that.COMP inflation go.AUX.MOD rise.INF

It is possible that inflation is going to rise.

A wide range of attitudes is expressed by clausal adverbials such as the following: waarskynlik probably, natuurlik naturally, ongetwyfeld undoubtedly, vermoedelik supposedly, sekerlik certainly, blykbaar apparently, duidelik clearly, kennelik obviously, oënskynlik seemingly and vermoedelik supposedly, as exemplified by the examples in (32).

Jan het vermoedelik belangstelling verloor.

Jan have.AUX presumably interest lose.PST.PTCP

Jan has presumably lost interest.

Dit is duidelik dat Jan belangstelling verloor het.

it is clear that.COMP Jan interest lose.PST.PTCP have.AUX

It is clear that Jan has lost interest.

[+]Subject-oriented adverbials

Subject-oriented adverbials reflect the evaluation of the agent in regard to an action. Thus goedgunstiglik graciously in (33a) expresses the speaker's attitude, while wyslik wisely in (33b) expresses his judgment in regard to an action. The deadjectival adverb mooitjies nice.DIM.PL in (33c), with nominal diminutive and plural inflection attached to an adjectival stem, expresses the speaker's appreciation of the dog's astuteness. These are all causal adverbials, but the phrasal test may require slight adaptation in order to produce a synonymous utterance:

a.	Hannes het goedgunstiglik die uitnodiging van die hand gewys.
	Hannes have.AUX graciously the invitation from the hand show.PST.PTCP
	Jan was kind enough to decline the invitation.

a.'	Dit was vriendelik van Hannes om die uitnodiging van die hand te wys.
	it was friendly of Hannes for.COMP the invitation from the hand PTCL.INF show.INF
	It was a friendly gesture of Hannes to have declined the invitation.

b.	Hannes het wyslik sy aandele betyds verkoop.
	Hannes have.AUX wisely his shares in.time sell.PST.PTCP
	Hannes has wisely sold his shares in time.

b.'	Dit was wys van Hannes om sy aandele betyds te verkoop.
	it was wise of Hannes for.COMP his shares in.time PTCL.INF sell.INF
	It was wise of Hannes to sell his shares in time.

c.	Die hond het mooitjies die yskasdeur oopgemaak.
	the dog have.AUX cleverly the fridge.door open.make.PST.PTCP
	The dog cleverly opened the fridge door.

c.'	Dit was slim van die hond om die yskasdeur oop te maak.
	it was clever of the dog for.COMP the fridge.door open PTCL.INF make.INF
	It was clever of the dog to have opened the fridge door.

[+]Stance adverbials

A stance adverbialexpresses an attitude of the speaker towards the entire propositon contained in the clause. These may have epistemic implications for the assessment of the truth of the proposition, or can be a more subjective evaluation of the proposition. A number of these, such as gelukkig fortunately, ongelukkig unfortunately, helaas unfortunately and begryplikerwys understandibly are factive in nature, as in (34a), whereas others, such as hopelik hopefully, are non-factive, as in (34b). In the latter case the speaker does not know whether the proposition is true, but would prefer it to be the case. All of these can be paraphrased as clause adverbials.

a.	Mercia het helaas nie die eksamen geslaag nie.
	Mercia have.AUX unfortunately not the examination pass.PST.PTCP PTCL.NEG
	Unfortunately Mercia didn't pass the exam.

a.'	Dit is helaas so dat Mercia nie die eksamen geslaag het nie.
	it is unfortunately so that.COMP Mercia not the examination pass.PST.PTCP have.AUX.PST PTCL.NEG
	It is unfortunately so that Mercia didn't pass the exam.