e. Time + Frequency
15 He had never given me insult. p. 277 16 …, but I found the eye always closed; and so it was impossible to do
the work; … p.278
17 And every morning, when the day broke, I went boldly into the chamber, and spoke courageously to him,
… p. 278 Adjunct of time with frequency as a semantic role is the type of adjunct
that responds to ‘How often?’. Sentence 15 is the example the frequency that the action not once ever happened. However, still, it is included to the definite
frequency because of its clearness. In sentence 16 and 17, the adjuncts do not clarify how many times an action occurs, therefore the reader cannot identify the
exact number. If a clause using a more definite word, such as twice, or four times, the reader can distinguish the frequency more clearly.
f. Temporal Relationship
18 He was still sitting up in the bed listening; … p. 278
19 If still you think me mad, you will think so no longer when I describe the wise precautions I took for the concealment of the body. p. 280
This type of adjunct indicates “a relationship between two times position that are both being considered in utterance are realized by forms that serve more
than one function” Biber et al., 1999: 550. It means that the adjuncts connect another utterance i
n time’s related perspective. The adjunct still in sentence 18 and 19 explain the time position that are related from another utterance in the
story. For sentence 18, this adjunct relates to the previous sentence which PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
mentions the old man had not lied down. Still in sentence 19 also relates time in the sentence with the story.
g. Process Manner
20 And then, when my head was well in the room, I undid the lantern cautiously --oh, so cautiously --cautiously for the hinges creaked
… p. 278
21 … and so I knew that he could not see the opening of the door, and I kept pushing it on steadily, steadily. p. 278
22 The night waned, and I worked hastily, but in silence. p. 280 23 I then replaced the boards so cleverly, so cunningly, that no human
eye -- not even his --could have detected any thing wrong. p. 280 This type of adjunct is the type that occurs the most often in the story. The
function of this type is simply to describe the way in which something is done. The adjuncts modify the verb and give the quality about how the action is performed. In
the examples of this type above, all of them explain how the narrator did his action. h.
Process Instrument 24
–now, I say, there came to my ears a low, dull, quick sound, such as a watch makes when enveloped in cotton. p. 279
25 It was a low, dull, quick sound --much such a sound as a watch makes when enveloped in cotton. p. 281
Both sentences are similar and have same the Instrument that is cotton. This instrument explains the comparison of the sound that the narrator heard that is
the sound of a watch when enveloped in cotton. It makes the reader easier to imagine the sound.
i. Process Mean
26 Yes, he had been trying to comfort himself with these suppositions: but he had found all in vain. p. 279
27 I paced the floor to and fro with heavy strides, as if excited to fury by the observations of the men -- but the noise steadily increased. p. 281
This type of adjunct may be similar to the previous type. However, there is a difference between them. While Instrument explains the item used to
accomplish the action, Mean explains the methods or means by which the action was accomplished. Therefore, it is clear that in sentence 26 and 27, the adjuncts
of Process + Mean describe the way how the doer did his action. j.
Process Agent 28 And now a new anxiety seized me --the sound would be heard by a
neighbor p. 279 29 A shriek had been heard by a neighbor during the night; suspicion of
foul play had been aroused; … p. 280
There are two data found for this type and both are the same, that is by a neighbor. The neighbor is the agent of the verb heard and included in this kind of
type because the statement is in form of passive construction. k.
Contingency Purpose 30 … --I made up my mind to take the life of the old man, … p. 277
31 … information had been lodged at the police office, and they the officers had been deputed to search the premises. p. 280
32 In the enthusiasm of my confidence, I brought chairs into the room, and desired them here to rest from their fatigues
…p. 280 This kind of adjunct is quite easy to find in the data because all of them
start with the preposition of to. Adjunct of Contingency + Purpose explains can be paraphrased to ‘for the purpose of’. Therefore, it describes what the speaker want
to achieve by his action.
3. Types of Adverbial Phrases Used in Three Position of Occurrences
This part discusses whether the position of adjunct has an influence to the types of adjuncts in the story or vice versa. This discussion is answering the first
problem formulation in this study, the distribution of adverbial phrases adjuncts in The Tell-Tale Heart.
Table 6. Types of Adjunct Phrases and Occurrences in The Tell-Tale Heart in
Position Types
Initial Position
Middle Position
Final Position
Spatial Position 46
54 Spatial Direction
71 29
Temporal Position 31
58 11
Temporal Duration 12
65 23
Temporal Frequency 88
11 Temporal Relationship
100 Process Manner
2 76
22 Process Instrument
100 Process Mean
100 Process Agent
50 50
Contingency Purpose 89
11 PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
These are the occurrence of adjunct phrases in the story. Adjuncts of process dominate by number the appearance of adjunct in the story. It means that the author
gives more attention to the verbs because adjunct of process is used to add details or modify the verb. The second adjunct that often appears is adjunct of time. They
are to convey the time-related meanings. It can deal with the position in time, duration about how long an event lasted, and frequency of an event.
The third adjunct that quite often appears is adjunct of space. This kind of adjunct is used to explain the position, source, or direction of an action. The spaces
are not limited only in reality space, but also abstract space. The last adjunct that infrequently appears is adjunct of conti
ngency. This adjunct covers “circumstance adverbials that shows how one event or state is contingent upon another” Biber et
al., 1999: 779. It means that the adjunct must be related or connected to another element in a sentence, and in this case, adjunct of contingency is related to purpose
and result. From the table above, the distribution of adjuncts can be comprehended
more clearly. From all types of adjunct, the types appearing in the Middle Position are one of the most frequent in the story. Its average is more than types of adjunct
in Initial Position and Final Position. Types of adjunct occur in the Final Position is the second type that quite frequent occur. Types of adjunct in Initial Position
rarely occur in the story. They only occur in three types of adverbial phrases with low percentages.
Thus, it can be seen that adjuncts in Middle Position are the types that regularly appear in the story. With this positioning, adjuncts in Middle Position
usually modify or give explanation about how, when and where the action happened. The flexibility of adjuncts in Middle Position can be placed before or
after the verb. It may give more information in the middle of sentence for the reader. The information from the adjuncts around the verb summon the read
er’s imagination about the manner, time, and place of an event at once because they are
still in the middle of sentence. Therefore, it can be concluded that adjuncts in Middle Position
are contributing in igniting the reader’s imagination to the situations or event in the story.
B. Significance of Adverbial Phrases in the Short Story
From the data collected of adverbial phrases in the stories, the type of adverbial which most frequently appears based on grammatical function is adjunct.
This type represents the analysis of the adverbials. Thus, the other grammatical function such as disjunct, subjunct, and conjunct is not discussed in this study.
Adjuncts, in all kind of texts, can answer the questions How? When? Where? Why?
. These answers are received by the readers’ mind subconsciously because before them asking this question to the text, adjuncts have already given
explanation about it. They give more detailed description to a text. However, unlike adjectives that only give description to a noun, adjuncts do not merely serve the
function of qualifying only one type of lexical category. They are more flexible to modify another lexical category. Adjunct’s capability to give various description in
various forms can be the primary style of the author in telling his stories. When the author masters the usage of adverbials, he can give more impact to his story. The
story may convey a hidden or symbolic message in the adverbials, and make invite the reader’s attention to understand deeper the adjuncts used by the author.
Therefore, their stylistic significance may vary according to their function in the clause, but still the description of adjuncts used by author is observable.
In this analysis, the writer discovered some findings about the significance of the adverbial phrases to the story. It is found how something is being clarified or
modified by other features. Here are some results from analyzing the adjunct phrases in The Tell-Tale Heart.
1. The Settings of Events
This is a common knowledge that an adverb of place and an adverb of time describe the setting of space and time of an event. The description of the setting
makes the reader imagine the situation or even feel the atmosphere of the setting. The example below shows how the setting is described.
It took me an hour to place my whole head within the opening so far that I could see him as he lay upon his bed. Ha --would a madman have been so
wise as this? And then, when my head was well in the room, I undid the lantern cautiously --oh, so cautiously --cautiously for the hinges creaked
--I undid it just so much that a single thin ray fell upon the vulture eye. And this I did for seven long nights --every night just at midnight --but I
found the eye always closed; and so it was impossible to do the work; for it was not the old man who vexed me, but his Evil Eye. And every morning,
when the day broke, I went boldly into the chamber, and spoke courageously to him, calling him by name in a hearty tone, and inquiring
how he has passed the night. So you see he would have been a very profound old man, indeed, to suspect that every night, just at twelve, I
looked in upon him while he slept. p. 278
The italic phrases above are the adjuncts showing the settings of time and place of the story. They mostly have the semantic roles of position of space,
duration of time, and frequency of time. The adjunct in the room refers to the old man’s room. The description of the room is explained in another sentence. It is
described that the room was as black as pitch with the thick darkness and the shutters were close fastened, through fear of robbers. This adjunct explains the
space position of the event. In this place, the narrator stalked and killed the old man. Next adjunct that shows the setting of the event is adjuncts of time. The
adjunct for seven long nights --every night just at midnight and that every night, just at twelve indicates the action was always done in midnight for seven days straight.
This description of time is the typical of horror story, where something bad or scary would happen. Rarely authors write the setting of a murder in the morning or noon.
Poe took this setting to make the readers feel the atmosphere of the murder setting. The second adjunct is adjunct of time every morning. This time frequency
is different from before and the action is also different. In every morning, the narrator tried to provoke the old man. The writer is certain the narrator cannot kill
the old man in the day because he was afraid of what he did was heard by neighbors. Then, on the midday, the narrator provoked him intentionally to resolve himself to
kill the old man. Adjunct of time with a semantic role of position can also describe the
setting of the action. In this story, we have to follow the time from the narrator’s perspective to understand the time.
And now at the dead hour of the night, amid the dreadful silence of that old house, so strange a noise as this excited me to uncontrollable terror.
Yet, for some minutes longer I refrained and stood still. But the beating grew louder, louder I thought the heart must burst. And now a new anxiety
seized me --the sound would be heard by a neighbor The old mans hour had come With a loud yell, I threw open the lantern and leaped into the
