This essay describes the English correspondences to the German adverb „auch“ about two pages.
Table of Contents
1. English correspondences to the German adverb „auch“
Objectives and Topics
The primary objective of this text is to analyze the structural and semantic differences between English and German regarding the usage and positioning of the additive adverb "auch" and its English equivalents "too," "as well," and "also." The study investigates how syntax and intonation influence the focus and ambiguity of sentences in both languages.
- Syntactic positioning of adverbs in English vs. German
- The role of word order and scrambling in German syntax
- Disambiguation through focus and intonation in English
- Semantic references and information structure
- Comparative linguistic analysis of additive particles
Excerpt from the Book
English correspondences to the German adverb „auch“
In English the adverbs too, as well and also correspond to the German adverb auch. Whereas too and as well are always positioned at the end of a sentence (like in a, b), also either occurs before the main verb (like in c) or between the auxiliary and the main verb (like in d).
a) John goes to London as well/, too. *John as well/, too goes to London. b) John has gone to London as well/, too. c) John also goes to London. *John goes to London also. d) John has also gone to London.
In English the adverbs stress that there is at least one other person which goes to London besides John. But the adverb introduces alternatives and thus the sentence is ambigous: Either there is an alternative to the person (like in e) or there is an alternative to the place of London (like in f).
e) John goes to London as well/, too. {that x goes to London as well/ too x ℮ D} f) John goes to London as well/, too. {that John goes to x as well/, too x ℮ D}
Summary of Chapters
1. English correspondences to the German adverb „auch“: This section provides a comparative analysis of additive adverbs, explaining how English relies on fixed word order and intonation to determine focus, whereas German utilizes flexible sentence structure via scrambling to assign semantic meaning.
Keywords
German syntax, English grammar, additive adverbs, scrambling, focus, intonation, ambiguity, comparative linguistics, semantic reference, word order, linguistics, language contrast, constituent stress, auch, also.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the fundamental focus of this linguistic analysis?
The text examines the cross-linguistic differences between English and German concerning the additive adverb "auch" and its counterparts "too," "as well," and "also."
What are the central themes discussed in the paper?
The core themes include syntactic positioning, the impact of word order on sentence meaning, the role of scrambling in German, and how focus is established through intonation in English versus position in German.
What is the primary research objective?
The objective is to demonstrate why English sentences containing these adverbs can be ambiguous due to reliance on intonation, while German sentences remain unambiguous by using word order to place focus.
Which linguistic methods are applied?
The author uses a comparative grammatical approach, analyzing example sentences to illustrate how syntactic structure influences semantic interpretation in both languages.
What topics are covered in the main section?
The main section covers the rules for adverb placement in English, the phenomenon of scrambling in German, and the interaction between the adverb "auch" and the constituent it modifies.
Which keywords best characterize the work?
Key terms include German syntax, English grammar, additive adverbs, scrambling, focus, intonation, and ambiguity.
Why does the author consider English sentences with these adverbs ambiguous?
Because in English, the adverb has a relatively fixed position, requiring the speaker to rely on intonation to clarify whether the focus is on the subject or the destination.
How does German avoid the ambiguity found in English?
In German, the word order is flexible due to scrambling; the constituent following the adverb "auch" is automatically perceived as the focused, most important piece of information.
- Quote paper
- Katrin Schenk (Author), 2007, English Correspondences to the German adverb "auch", Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/123423
