Multiplicatives, frequency and quantification adverbs

Abstract

The paper proposes a strict three-way distinction among adverbs that specify the frequency or quantity of multiple events. It is argued that the distribution of the three classes of adverbs in Hungarian largely follows from independent factors, and it is dictated by basic semantic properties of the adverbs. One group of adverbs, that of adverbs of quantification, shares the distribution of comparable (non-adverbial) quantificational expressions. Thus syntactic positions occupied by these adverbs are determined by general considerations, and no adverb-specific assumptions are necessary.