Adverbs is the 28th skill in the High Valyrian language course. It has 4 lessons.
Grammar Notes[]
An adverb is a word that can stand on its own as a phrase. There are three types of adverbs: temporal adverbs (adverbs having to do with the passage of time); locative adverbs (adverbs having to do with place and location); and manner adverbs (adverbs having to do with how the action of a verb is performed). In the first lesson, we will focus on time adverbs, on the second on locative advervs and the third on manner adverbs
Temporal and locative adverbs[]
Both temporal and locative adverbs tend to be placed at the very beginning of a sentence. This is their preferred position. That said, both temporal and locative adverbs may be placed elsewhere in the sentence, depending on what part of the sentence is to be emphasized. Even so, after sentence-initial placement, pre-verbal placement is the next most preferable spot.
- Ēlī vala taobe ūndas. "First the man saw the boy."
- Vala taobe ēlī ūndas / Vala ēlī taobe ūndas / Taobe ēlī vala ūndas.: "The man saw the boy first."
The same rules of placement serve for locative adverbs. In general, locative adverbs are derived from nouns using either the dative or locative cases. Temporal adverbs are either basic, or are derived using a derivational strategy more commonly employed with manner adverbs. These will be described now.
Manner adverbs[]
In English, many manner adverbs are formed by adding "-ly" to an adjective. In High Valyrian, there are a couple different endings depending on the adjective class. Examples are shown below:
- Class I: lyk- "quiet" + -irī > lykirī "quietly"
- Class II: ader- "quick" + -ī > aderī "quickly"
- Class III: arl- "new" + -ī > arlī "again"
Placement of manner adverbs is a bit less strict. Sentence-initial placement is used to emphasize the adverb; pre-verbal placement is a bit more usual. Equally common is placing the adverb directly after the subject. Here's an example:
- Taoba havon aderī iprattas. "The boy ate the bread quickly."
- Taoba aderī havon iprattas. "The boy ate the bread quickly."
- Aderī taoba havon iprattas. "Quickly the boy ate the bread."
As a final note, some adverbs have different meanings depending on whether the speaker intends to use them as a manner adverb or a temporal or locative adverb. Aderī, for example, can mean "quickly" or it can mean "soon". Context should help to determine which translation is most appropriate.
Lessons[]
Lesson 1[]
- Zān: Yesterday
- Elī: First
- Mēriot: Once
- Olvī: A lot
- Pār: Then
- Sīrgō: Previously, before, prior
- Dōrī: Never
Lesson 2[]
- Naejot: In the front
- Inkot: In the back
- Paktot: To the right
- Geptot: To the left
- Mirriot: Somewhere
- Tolviot: Everywhere
- Daoriot: Nowhere
- Tolī: Afterward, excessively, over
- Memēbagon: To match
Lesson 3[]
- Sȳrī: Well
- Aderī: Quickly
- Paerī: Slowly
- Dāerī: freely
- Kostōbirī: Strongly, powerfully, mightly
- Qubirī: poorly