Jangari
July 25, 2007 at 11:39 pm
The ‘usually’ examples depend a little more on adverb placement than you suggest here; I think it’s more than ‘flavo(u)r’.
We usually go to the movies on Sunday afternoons.
We go to the movies, usually on Sunday afternoons.
We go to the movies on Sunday afternoons, usually .
I’d contend that the first means that, for most Sunday afternoons, we are at the movies a film. The second though, suggests that if we are at a film, then chances are it is a Sunday afternoon. The third, and indeed the same with the adverb moved right to the front, can mean either and depend therefore on either context or intonation, as in John’s only example.
Hmm, after thinking about this a bit more, I agree entirely with John. These examples mean what they mean to me because of the intonation they have when I sound them out. Indeed I can override any interpretation simply by altering the prosody:
We usually go to the movies on Sunday afternoons.
Intonation is a lot more important than we give it credit for, methinks.
Reply
3 Comments.
Organic Mama
July 27, 2007 at 9:40 am
Thank you again, my friend, for stepping in, and so deftly. I am sorry to have missed this exercise; it sounds like a wonderful conversation and I thank you fro bringing the class to a place where we can continue to work with the description foundation you’ve help to build. Anytime you want to visit our little workshop, please do!
Reply