Adverbs of Evaluation: Correlation of Semantic and Syntactic Properties (The Case of General and Hedonistic Evaluation)

Abstract

Considering evaluation adverbs of Russian expressing two types of evaluation we argue that the syntactic properties of adverbs are determined by their meaning. The hypothesis is that adverbs of general evaluation (the type good – bad) should have more syntactic functions, than the ones of particularized evaluation, and for this purpose adverbs of hedonistic evaluation (e.g. tasty) are studied. We briefly expose the main insights of linguistic-oriented evaluation theory of N. D. Arutyunova, and discuss syntactic functions of хорошо ‘good’, typical of general evaluation adverbs. Section 2 is devoted to adverbs of hedonistic evaluation. We argue that adverbs of the type приятно – неприятно ‘pleasant – unpleasant’ should be excluded from this class, because in their lexical meaning only the general sensory evaluation is fixed, while its specification as hedonistic or psychological is conditioned by syntactic and/or semantic context. We show that hedonistic evaluation adverbs possess lesser number of syntactic functions than general evaluation adverbs. We demonstrate syntactic differences in the degree of acceptability of the explicit experiencer and the implicit causing factor with the hedonistic evaluation adverbs, conditioned by the channel of perception encoded in adverb’s lexical meaning, and give them the cognitive explanation. The results of our analysis bring into question the syntactic criterion of adverbs with floating scope proposed by M. V. Filipenko (2003). According to this criterion the adverbs of taste and smell evaluation should have floating scope because they have predicative function, but as all hedonistic evaluation adverbs they have the fixed scope over the semantic predicate ‘feel’ implicit in their meaning. We argue that the only syntactic property that guarantees the floating scope for an adverb is its ability to govern the subordinate complement clause with the complementizer chto ‘that’.