Malagasy Adverbs Andrea Rackowski McGill University August 1996

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In The Structure of Malagasy, Volume II , ed. Ileana Paul, UCLA Working Papers in Linguistics, 1998. According to Cinque, 'generally' should be first in the hierarchy of adverbs, which corresponds to the matetika which appears before the pre-verbal adverbs, as in (15). It is a puzzle why it can also occur in so many other places, when the other Malagasy adverbs are more or less restricted in location. There is, however, a logical explanation for this behaviour, which will become apparent later, during the discussion of structure. When matetika appears directly after the verb, among the other post-verbal adverbs, it is not the same as the pre-verbal and post-sentential occurrence. It has a somewhat different meaning, being able to modify the verb alone, rather than the entire sentence (an option which is not available to the other occurrences of matetika). It does not occur here as naturally as in the other locations because there must be a special context. Because the different behaviour of this adverb sets it apart from the others, it indicates a need for different kind of treatment in the structure 4.3 Preverbal Adverbs The Malagasy adverb which corresponds to Cinque's not class is tsy. It occurs before the VP, alone as well as in a framing pair with other negative adverbs after the verb. (16) Tsy manasa lamba Rakoto. Neg wash clothes Rakoto "Rakoto doesn't wash clothes." (17) Tsy manasa lamba intsony Rakoto. Neg wash clothes anymore Rakoto. "Rakoto does not wash clothes anymore." Efa is the Malagasy adverb which corresponds to Cinque's already class. It is also before the VP in the sentence. When it co-occurs with tsy, two orders are possible. (18) Efa nanasa lamba Rakoto. already washed clothes Rakoto "Rakoto already washed clothes." (19) a. Efa tsy nanana inona na inona izy ve tamin'izany andro izany. already Neg have ' nothing ' 3p ? ' once upon a time ' b. Tsy efa nanana inona na inona izy ve tamin'izany andro izany. "At the time, he already possessed nothing." The next adverb which appears is mbola, corresponding to still. Co-occurring with tsy or efa, many combinations of order are possible, as shown below. (20) Mbola manasa lamba Rakoto. still wash clothes Rakoto "Rakoto still washes clothes." (21) a. Tsy mbola hainy foana [ny tokony ha tao] rehefa misy ny olana. Neg still know-3 always 'what should do' when exist det. problem b. Mbola tsy hainy foana [ny tokony ha tao] rehefa misy ny olana. "When there is a problem, he always already knows what to do." (22) Efa mbola tsy mahay lesona i Rakoto no mbola mitabataba. already still Neg know lesson Art. Rakoto Foc still talkative 6
In The Structure of Malagasy, Volume II , ed. Ileana Paul, UCLA Working Papers in Linguistics, 1998. "Not only does he not know his lessons, but he is talkative also." (23) Tsy mbola efa nahavita nisakafo Rakoto matetika amin'ny roa ora. Neg still already finish-pp eat-pst Rakoto usually at 2 o'clock "Rakoto has not eaten yet at 2 o'clock." The pre-verbal confusion intensifies with the following examples, in which tena, an intensifying adverb, intervenes between adverbs. (24) Tsy tena mbola mahay mandihay Rakoto. Neg Intensifier still know dance Rakoto "Rakoto really does not know how to dance yet." (25) Mbola tena tsy mahay mandihay Rakoto. "Rakoto still really does not know how to dance." 4.4 Post-verbal Adverbs The post-verbal adverbs may appear either after the entire VP (verb head and its complement) or between the verb head and the complement NP. When one or more adverbs appears between verb and complement, the complement must be definite. The post-verbal adverbs display many relative orders. They do not follow a very strict hierarchy, but one order does seem more natural than others. It is this order that follows. First after the verb is tsara, which means 'well'. (26) a. Manasa lamba tsara Rakoto. wash clothes well Rakoto b. Manasa tsara ny lamba Rakoto. wash well Art clothes Rakoto "Rakoto washes (the) clothes well." Tanteraka, meaning 'completely', is second. (27) a. Manasa lamba tanteraka Rakoto. wash clothes completely Rakoto b. Manasa tanteraka ny lamba Rakoto. wash completely Det. clothes Rakoto "Rakoto washes (the) clothes completely." (28) Manasa lamba tsara tanteraka Rakoto. "Rakoto completely washes clothes well." Next comes foana, meaning 'always'. (29) a. Manasa lamba foana Rakoto. b. Manasa foana ny lamba Rakoto. "Rakoto always washes clothes." (30) a. Manasa lamba tanteraka foana Rakoto. "Rakoto always completely washes clothes." b. *Manasa lamba foana tanteraka Rakoto. (31) a. Manasa lamba tsara foana Rakoto. "Rakoto always washes clothes well." b. *Manasa lamba foana tsara Rakoto. 7
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Malagasy Adverbs Andrea Rackowski McGill University August 1996

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