Oriented adjuncts across Germanic languages: evidence from English and Swedish

Abstract

This article gives an account of oriented adjuncts in English and Swedish. After a presentation of a number of properties of oriented adjuncts and a discussion of what distinguishes them from other types of adjuncts, we focus on a number of central and peripheral subtypes that have been delineated, starting from a general typology of oriented adjuncts. Each subtype is described in detail in terms of lexical meanings, possible paraphrases and particular syntactic features. It is shown that, in spite of clear similarities, the oriented adjuncts discussed also display a number of subtle differences between English and Swedish, most clearly in terms of morphosyntax