Dear Kent,

Absolute phrases are generally considered free modifiers.  In my book
I call them sentence modifiers.  There are two kinds--with different
purposes and different effects.   One kind explains a cause or
condition:

        The car having developed engine trouble, we stopped for the night.

        A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a
free state, the right of the people             to keep and bear arms
shall not be infringed.

The second kind adds a detail or point of focus to the idea stated in
the main clause--like a filmmaker moving in for a close-up:

        The man stood laughing, his weapons at his hips. (Steven Crane)

        There was no bus in sight and Julian, his hands still jammed
in his pockets and his head thrust forward, scowled down the empty
street. (Flannery O'Connor)

        Her hair a dripping mess, Jill dashed in out of the rain.

These are noun phrases in form, a headword with one postnoun
modifier.  The  first kind nearly always has a participle as the
postnoun modifier; the second kind can have any form: participial
phrase, prepositional phrase, noun phrase.

The postnoun modifier is adjectival, but I would call the absolute
itself a sentence modifier.

Martha





>I sent this question out to my colleagues on the English faculty here a
>couple days ago. No one has responded yet, so I guess they don't know
>either! It's probably a simple answer. Any help extended to this
>simpleton will be appreciated.
>
>Kent
>
>*
>Does an absolute phrase function adjectivally or adverbially? Since it
>usually contains a participle, I suppose one would think of it as an
>adjective... However, since it's modifying the whole sentence or clause,
>couldn't it be seen to function in both senses? Is it the one kind of
>phrase without an "absolutely" certain function?
>
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