Bruce,

    This is very helpful. I was trying to square an analysis of a phrase like “forty miles above the earth” where “miles” is usually the head with “forty miles away,” or “forty miles long,” where “away” and “long” seem to be the head and “forty miles” just quantifies extent (like ‘very long” or “a little long.”) . Would “forty miles in length” give us “miles’ as head, but “forty miles long” give us “long” in the same role?  That doesn’t feel quite right to me.

Craig

From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Bruce Despain
Sent: Thursday, September 06, 2012 9:03 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: adverb construction

Craig,

I have kept my eyes open over the years since I put a masters thesis together on the quantifier construction in 1974, but have not seen much progress made.  And so I would be very interested in alternative analyses.  You probably already saw my work on these expressions when I referred to them last week (www.bdespain.org/S&L/SE/SE-155.htm).  I understand them as having an adverb (or two) that are understood, but not explicitly expressed.  Hence, 

1) They hovered forty (many) miles (far) above the earth.  etc.

With time the redundant version would be:

7) They came in twenty (many) minutes (long) after the speech. etc.

These general adverbs of extent for space and time, far and long, are some that are regularly omitted, but others with more content will remain:

1)' They hovered forty (many) miles high above the earth.

7)' They came in twenty (many) minutes late after the speech.

It may be noted that the phrase structure rule that characterizes this construction is recursive allowing the many also to anchor a head. The quantifier, viz. adverb, appears when the modifier to the quantifier phrase, viz. adverb phrase, is questioned.

7A) How many minutes (long) after the speech did they come in? 

7B) How long after the speech did they come in?

The context of my description classifies ten different quantification expressions in three parts of phrase (pre-quantifier, quantifier, noun).  The constructions for quantifiers seem to fall into seven different kinds of expression. 

Bruce

--- [log in to unmask] wrote:

From: "Hancock, Craig G" <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: adverb construction
Date: Wed, 5 Sep 2012 16:30:05 +0000

I have had trouble sending this message (new system?) so I apologize if you receive it more than once.

I am interested in ways to understand constructions like the following.

1)  They hovered forty miles above the earth.

2) They hovered forty miles above.

3) The road was forty miles long.

4) They went forty miles past the exit sign.

5) They went forty miles past.

6) They went way past.

We can come up with similar patterns for time location.

7) We came in twenty minutes after the speech.

8) We came in twenty minutes after.

9) We came in twenty minutes late.

What are the standard views? Are there alternatives?

Craig

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