Routledge Dictionary of Language and Linguistics.pdf

Dictionary of language and linguistics 574instrumental1 Morphological case, e.g. in some IndoEuropean languages, which identifies the meansof accomplishing the action expressed in the verb. In languages which lack this case (e.g.English, German, French), this meaning is expressed by prepositional phrases (e.g.work with a hammer) or sometimes the dative.2 thematic relation case grammarcaseReferencesinstrumental clauseSemantically defined clause functioning syntactically as a modal adverbial. Instrumentalclauses describe the means by which the state of affairs expressed in the main clause isachieved, and are introduced by conjunctions such as by: By carefully dissolving thepaint, the original portrait could be restored. ( also modal clause)instrumental nounDesignation for nouns (often derived from verbs) that denote the correspondinginstrument: cleanser, humidifier. Frequently, there is an overlap between instrumentalnouns and nominal agents ( nomen agentis) such that one must posit a vague -ersuffix, cf. (record) player vs (football) player.word formationReferencesinstrumental phonetics experimentalphonetics, phonetics