Keywords
Event structure
Semantic selection of modifiers
How to Cite
Abstract
This study analyzes bem (well) in its use as a manner adverb when modifying verb phrases in Brazilian Portuguese. Taking the perspective that verb phrases can be broken down into a syntactically represented event structure, we argue that the manner adverb bem semantically selects durative sub-events (states or processes) and will always be allowed in verb phrases which have some durative component in their event structure. At the end, we show how this perspective even explains the occurrences of the adverb under analysis in verb phrases headed by verbs typically classified as achievements. This study therefore provides not only a robust description of the properties of bem as a manner adverb, but also an argument in favor of treating the structure of the verb phrase not as a syntactic structure projected by an item, but as a syntactic and semantic arrangement into which a verb root may be allowed.
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