<p>I am working on a conlang and am trying to better handle the distinction between adverbs, adjectives, and determiners. Adverbs <strong>modify</strong> verbs (and other things), and adjectives <strong>modify</strong> nouns, but determiners aren't typically said to <strong>modify</strong> anything. But in my perspective, for my conlang, I would like to treat determiners as a form of &quot;focusing modifiers&quot;, essentially focusing the context of the the following phrase in some way (i.e. &quot;the tree&quot;).</p>
<p>Currently I have the general rule:</p>
<ul>
<li><code>i</code>: Precede the verb with this</li>
<li><code>a</code>: Precede the noun with this</li>
<li><code>u</code>: Precede the modifier chain with this</li>
</ul>
<p>However, it doesn't seem like it will work now that I think of it.</p>
<p>For example:</p>
<pre><code>I will super quietly run quickly.
</code></pre>
<p>That really is a bunch of adverbs to the verb <code>run</code>, some coming before and some coming after. I think I am going to enforce the modifiers coming before the thing they are modifying.</p>
<pre><code>I will super quietly quickly run.
</code></pre>
<p>But the problem with this is, <code>quiet</code> and <code>quick</code> are adjectives, <em>they are already modifiers</em> before being turned into adverbs! In my lang, it would be something like this:</p>
<pre><code>a me i will u super quiet quick i run.
</code></pre>
<p>But am I going to run into problems with this? Should I be adding particles/distinguishers between adjectives and adverbs or something like that (both are modifiers...)? I.e.:</p>
<pre><code>a me i will u super-ly quiet-ly quick-ly i run.
</code></pre>
<p>Or is it possible to completely know unambiguously that <code>u &lt;a&gt; &lt;b&gt; &lt;c&gt; ... i &lt;verb&gt;</code> means a, b, and c are all verb modifiers, while <code>u &lt;a&gt; &lt;b&gt; &lt;c&gt; ... a &lt;noun&gt;</code> means a, b, and c are all noun modifiers? Are there any cases where you would blend together noun <em>and</em> verb modifiers in some way, causing this system to break down? Specifically like in a more complex sentence? I haven't thought of any.</p>
<pre><code>I quickly saw the super fast car drive recklessly.
</code></pre>
<p>That would become something like:</p>
<pre><code>[a] me [u] quick [i] saw [u] the super fast [a] car [u] reckless [i] drive
</code></pre>
<p>So it seems you always have a sequence <code>&lt;verb modifiers&gt; &lt;verb&gt; &lt;noun modifiers&gt; &lt;noun&gt; &lt;verb modifiers&gt; &lt;verb&gt; etc.</code></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-12-12T22:40:17.720Z
Terminology fix: What is called "determiner" in this question is not what usually named so in modern grammars. A modifier of an adverb may be  called *intensifier* but usually it is lumped  under the label *adverb* as well.
Sir Cornflakes
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-12-12T22:42:14.820Z
For determiners, look at this question on [linguistics.se]: https://linguistics.stackexchange.com/a/12994/9781
Sir Cornflakes
<grammar>
How do you handle the distinction between "modifiers" (adjectives and adverbs) and "determiners" in a generic way?
# How do you handle the distinction between "modifiers" (adjectives and adverbs) and "determiners" in a generic way?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2021-12-12)

I am working on a conlang and am trying to better handle the distinction between adverbs, adjectives, and determiners. Adverbs **modify** verbs (and other things), and adjectives **modify** nouns, but determiners aren't typically said to **modify** anything. But in my perspective, for my conlang, I would like to treat determiners as a form of "focusing modifiers", essentially focusing the context of the the following phrase in some way (i.e. "the tree").

Currently I have the general rule:

* `i`: Precede the verb with this
* `a`: Precede the noun with this
* `u`: Precede the modifier chain with this

However, it doesn't seem like it will work now that I think of it.

For example:

```
I will super quietly run quickly.

```

That really is a bunch of adverbs to the verb `run`, some coming before and some coming after. I think I am going to enforce the modifiers coming before the thing they are modifying.

```
I will super quietly quickly run.

```

But the problem with this is, `quiet` and `quick` are adjectives, *they are already modifiers* before being turned into adverbs! In my lang, it would be something like this:

```
a me i will u super quiet quick i run.

```

But am I going to run into problems with this? Should I be adding particles/distinguishers between adjectives and adverbs or something like that (both are modifiers...)? I.e.:

```
a me i will u super-ly quiet-ly quick-ly i run.

```

Or is it possible to completely know unambiguously that `u <a> <b> <c> ... i <verb>` means a, b, and c are all verb modifiers, while `u <a> <b> <c> ... a <noun>` means a, b, and c are all noun modifiers? Are there any cases where you would blend together noun *and* verb modifiers in some way, causing this system to break down? Specifically like in a more complex sentence? I haven't thought of any.

```
I quickly saw the super fast car drive recklessly.

```

That would become something like:

```
[a] me [u] quick [i] saw [u] the super fast [a] car [u] reckless [i] drive

```

So it seems you always have a sequence `<verb modifiers> <verb> <noun modifiers> <noun> <verb modifiers> <verb> etc.`

**Tags:** grammar

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Terminology fix: What is called "determiner" in this question is not what usually named so in modern grammars. A modifier of an adverb may be  called *intensifier* but usually it is lumped  under the label *adverb* as well.  
> **username_1**: For determiners, look at this question on [linguistics.se]: https://linguistics.stackexchange.com/a/12994/9781  

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