grammar In linguistics, the grammar of a natural language is its set of structure, structural constraints on speakers' or writers' composition of clause (linguistics), clauses, phrases, and words. The term can also refer to the study of such constraint ...

, an adverbial genitive is a

noun A noun () is a word that generally functions as the name of a specific object or set of objects, such as living creatures, places, actions, qualities, states of existence, or ideas.Example nouns for: * Living creatures (including people, alive, d ...

declined in the

genitive case In grammar, the genitive case (abbreviated ) is the grammatical case that marks a word, usually a noun, as modifying another word, also usually a noun—thus indicating an attributive relationship of one noun to the other noun. A genitive can al ...

that functions as an

adverb An adverb is a word or an expression that generally modifies a verb, adjective, another adverb, determiner, clause, preposition, or sentence. Adverbs typically express manner, place, time, frequency, degree, level of certainty, etc., answering ...

English

Old Old or OLD may refer to: Places *Old, Baranya, Hungary *Old, Northamptonshire, England *Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD) *OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, Mai ...

and

Middle English Middle English (abbreviated to ME) is a form of the English language that was spoken after the Norman conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century. The English language underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old English p ...

, the genitive case was

productive Productivity is the efficiency of production of goods or services expressed by some measure. Measurements of productivity are often expressed as a ratio of an aggregate output to a single input or an aggregate input used in a production proces ...

, and adverbial genitives were commonplace. While Modern English does not fully retain the genitive case, it has left various relics, including a number of adverbial genitives. Some of them are now analyzed as ordinary adverbs, including the following: * ''always'' (from ''all way'') * ''afterwards'', ''towards'', and so on (from their counterparts in ''-ward'', which historically were adjectives) * ''once'', ''twice'', and ''thrice'' (from the roots of ''one'', ''two'', and ''three'') * ''hence'', ''thence'', and ''whence'' (related to the roots of ''here'', ''there'', and ''where'') Some words were formed from the adverbial genitive along with an additional parasitic ''-t'': * ''amidst'' (from ''amid'') * ''amongst'' (from ''among'') * ''midst'' (from ''mid'') * ''whilst'' (from ''while'') The adverbial genitive also survives in a number of stock phrases; for example, in "I work days and sleep nights", the words ''days'' and ''nights'' are analyzed as plural nouns but are in fact derived historically from the genitive or instrumental cases of ''day'' and ''night''. (That they function as adverbs rather than as direct objects is clear from the rephrasing "I work during the day and sleep at night.") The modern British expression "Of an afternoon I go for a walk" has a similar origin, but uses the

periphrasis In linguistics, periphrasis () is the use of one or more function words to express meaning that otherwise may be expressed by attaching an affix or clitic to a word. The resulting phrase includes two or more collocated words instead of one infl ...

"of + ''noun''" to replace the original genitive. This periphrastic form has variously been marked as used "particularly in isolated and mountainous regions of the southern United States" and as having "a distinctly literary feel".Entry of.3, page 680, ''Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of English Usage'', Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster, 1994

German

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

uses the genitive as a productive case, in addition to adverbial genitive expressions. The adverbial suffix ''-erweise'' added to adjectives is derived from the feminine singular genitive adjective ending ''-er'' agreeing with the noun ''Weise'' 'manner'. For example, the adverb ''glücklicherweise'' 'fortunately' can be analyzed as ''glücklicher Weise'' 'fortunate way enitive, i.e. 'in a fortunate way' or more explicitly ‘in a manner of good fortune’ (which also hints at the possessive role of the case). The conjunction ''falls'' ('if') is the genitive of ''Fall'' 'case'. Likewise for ''keinesfalls''/''keineswegs'' ('by no means of'), ''andernfalls'' ('otherwise' i.e. ‘another way of’). The preposition ''angesichts'' ('in view of') is the genitive of ''Angesicht'' ('face'). The time expressions ''morgens'', ''mittags'', ''abends'', ''nachts'', ''eines Tages'' (one day) and ''eines Nachts'' (one night; analogized with ''eines Tages'', though ''Nacht'' is feminine) use the adverbial genitive.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Adverbial Genitive Genitive construction Parts of speech English grammar German grammar

English

German

See also

References