I have never much liked the term "conjunctive adverb." I think it's
more a creation of the handbooks, where it has been a fixture for
ages. I certainly wouldn't say we SHOULD use a semicolon before
"however" (and its related words) when they open an independent
clause, but I would say that it's a common pattern, or even a pattern
recommended by most handbooks. It's a standard option to use a
semicolon between independent clauses, and words like "however" don't
subordinate a clause they begin, but that's pretty much true of all
adverbs.
   "Then" would function like "soon" or "later" or "later on" or "further
on" or "in a little while." It establishes a time in relation to a
previous event. Therefore,it might be thought of as establishing a
meaning in relation to previous discourse, but so much in language does
that. "Conjunction" seems to me to grammatically link two elements,
establishing them as equal (coordinate) or unequal to each other. I
don't know what we gain by extending the term to normal adverbs.
   In English, I think conjunctions are limited to an opening position. An
adverb like "then" is much more moveable.  "Then we left for work." "We
left then for work." "Soon we were in LA." "We soon were in LA." When
an optional element (something other than subject) opens a sentence, it
generally gets intonational marking, so the comma would tend to
reinforce that. It gets left out enough, even in speech, to seem
optional.

Craig


 I definitely follow the semicolon part, but for me, the presence or
> absence of a comma after the adverb depends not on a syllable count but
> on whether or not the word marks a distinct contrast or break in
> thought. Thus for me, "however" and "still" (= nevertheless) get commas,
> but a word like "therefore" does not.
>
> Note that there's some variation comma use in such contexts. People who
> favor a more closed punctuation style would probably use a comma after
> "therefore."
>
> On your example with "then," it's still an adverb. In this case,
> however, you have not two independent clauses but a compound predicate
> (joined without "and," i.e., it's asyndeton), so the absence of a
> semicolon, or even a comma, is appropriate.
>
> On 2/11/2011 12:57 PM, John Dews-Alexander wrote:
>> I want to check my own understanding of a few things. This message might
>> meander, but it goes somewhere, promise!
>>
>> First, is this a very common punctuation standard? *
>>
>> A conjunctive adverb, when used to join two independent clauses, is
>> preceded by a semicolon and followed by a comma unless the conjunctive
>> adverb is one syllable, in which case the comma is not necessary.
>>
>> *Following this rule, we would write:
>>
>> "The first freeze of winter arrived; however, the plants were saved due
>> to the gardener's efforts."
>>
>> "The first freeze of winter arrived; then the gardener wept over his
>> dead plants."
>>
>> Is this a punctuation convention that list members use?
>>
>> Second, I'd like to ask about the word "then". It seems like a
>> prototypical conjunction, functioning to join a concept with a temporal
>> modifier. The example above would qualify as would this one, which uses
>> the conjunction as an adverbial NOT between two independent clauses:
>>
>> "You are late. You go, then, to the back of the line.
>>
>> But what about this:
>>
>> "He turned the ignition then slammed his foot on the gas pedal."
>>
>> "Then" is not functioning as a conjunctive adverb. It's neither
>> adverbial nor conjunctival (conjunction-like?). In this case is it
>> functioning as a preposition? If so, is the verb phrase "slammed his
>> foot on the gas pedal" serving as object of that preposition?
>>
>> Am I on the right track here? I'm trying to answer a student question
>> about why our native instinct is to say:
>>
>> Speaker A: "Who should go first?"
>> Speaker B: "You then me." (Instead of "You [go] then I [go].)
>>
>> Is it "me" because it is serving as object of a preposition ("then")?
>>
>> Thanks for weighing in on this!
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