Universal #1398

Legacy number: 1398

 Number  1394
 Original  All languages have non-reduced adverbial constructions.
If a language has reduced adverbials, these are always more restricted in their privileges of occurrence than non-reduced adverbials.
 Standardized  All languages have non-reduced adverbial constructions.
If a language has reduced adverbials, these are always more restricted in their privileges of occurrence than non-reduced adverbials.
 Keywords  adverbial
 Domain  syntax
 Type  no genuine implication; rather: provided that
 Status  achronic
 Quality  absolute
 Basis  23 languages in Sanders 1972 [1978]</r>
 Source  Sanders 1972: 107, Sanders 1978: 64

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Discussion
Notes
All languages have certain superficial grammatical constructions which are used to express predicational relations between a nominal or clausal argument and a predicate of temporal or spatial location, function, direction, etc. Such constructions are most commonly referred to as ADVERBIALS, or, where the predicate constituent is an uninflected word or clitic, as prepositional or postpositional phrases. non-reduced adverbials are certain adverbial predications where at least one predicate constituent with overt noun or pronoun head is present. E. g. at the back of the (house) at - predicate, the back - nominalreduced adverbial constructions are certain adverbial predications which invariably occur without overt predicate/argument constituents. E. g. [N] (predicate-reduced) John went home. (locative argument) The party was yesterday (temporal argument) *The party was on/in/at yesterday. [P] (argument-reduced) John went out. (locative predicate) He had never dance before. (temporal predicate)
Comment
Frans Plank · 3 Aug 2006
All languages have certain superficial grammatical constructions which are used to express predicational relations between a nominal or clausal argument and a predicate of temporal or spatial location, function, direction, etc. Such constructions are most commonly referred to as ADVERBIALS, or, where the predicate constituent is an uninflected word or clitic, as prepositional or postpositional phrases.

NON-REDUCED adverbials are certain adverbial predications where at least one predicate constituent with overt noun or pronoun head is present.
E. g. at the back of the (house) at - predicate, the back - nominal

REDUCED adverbial constructions are certain adverbial predications which invariably occur without overt predicate/argument constituents.
<table class = "textTable">
<tr>
<td>E. g.</td>
<td> [N] (predicate-reduced)</td>
<td> </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> </td>
<td> John went home.</td>
<td> (locative argument)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> </td>
<td> The party was yesterday</td>
<td> (temporal argument)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> </td>
<td> *The party was on/in/at yesterday.</td>
<td> </td>
</tr>
<td> </td>
<td> </td>
<td> </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> </td>
<td> </td>
<td> </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> </td>
<td>[P] (argument-reduced)</td>
<td> </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> </td>
<td> John went out.</td>
<td> (locative predicate)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> </td>
<td> He had never dance before.</td>
<td> (temporal predicate)</td>
</tr>
</table>