Discursive modal adverbs, evaluative comment adverbs or modal words?: a comparative study on the grammatical descriptions of the lexical item "adverb" in portuguese and german

Abstract

The aim of this article is to present contrastively the different types of grammatical categorization of the lexical item adverb in a Brazilian and in two German grammars. It points out the complexity of describing the adverb as a unique grammatical class due to its heterogeneous nature. Three types of grammatical categorization were chosen to illustrate this complexity: discursive modal adverbs (CASTILHO 2010), comment adverbs (DUDEN 2006) and modal words (HELBIG & BUSCHA 2001).

Grammar; Word Classes; Classification; Adverbs; Modal Words