Position of Adverbial Phrases

Table 5. The Distribution of Adverbial Phrases Based on Types in The Tell-Tale Heart Here are the adjuncts and some examples of their clauses taken from the story with explanation of their functions. a. Spatial Position 4 I had my head in, and was about to open the lantern, when my thumb slipped upon the tin fastening, and the old man sprang up in bed, crying out --Whos there? p. 278 5 I swung the chair upon which I had been sitting, and grated it upon the boards, but the noise arose over all and continually increased. p. 281 In sentence 4, there are three adjuncts of space with position semantic roles. Three of them point out three different positions. First is in. This adjunct explains the position of the narrator’s head in which was in the room. Second is upon the tin fastening . This adjunct explains the position where the narrator’s thumb slipped, the exact position was on the tin fastening. Third is in the bed. This adjunct Grammatical Function Semantic Role Total Spatial Position 39 Spatial Direction 14 Temporal Position 26 Temporal Duration 17 Temporal Frequency 9 Temporal Relationship 6 Process Manner 64 Process Instrument 2 Process Mean 3 Process Agent 2 Contingency Purpose 9 Total 191 explains the position of the old man who woke up as the result of the narrator’s action. It is the same for sentence 5. The adjunct upon the boards explains the position of the narrator’s action. b. Spatial Direction 6 I proceeded with what caution --with what foresight --with what dissimulation I went to work p. 277 7 …, for I had directed the ray as if by instinct, precisely upon the damned spot. p. 279 In sentence 6, the adjunct of space with direction as sematic of role is the complement for the action verb went. They define the direction where the narrator went. In the sentence 7, the adjunct is upon the damned spot. Even though the preposition of the adjunct is upon which is same as in sentence 4 and 5, however, the verb makes the difference of the adjunct. The verb directed is complemented by the adjunct with the preposition upon. c. Temporal Position 8 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. p. 279 9 Presently I heard a slight groan, and I knew it was the groan of mortal terror. p. 278 10 I then took up three planks from the flooring of the chamber, and deposited all between the scantlings. p. 280 PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI Sentence 8, 9 and 10 are examples of sentences with adjunct of time and position as the semantic role. In sentence 8 and 9, the adjuncts show the position when the action occurred in narrator’s ‘present’ point of view. In sentence 10, the adjunct then points out a certain time from the narrator’s ‘future’ time position point of view. d. Temporal Duration 11 His fears had been ever since growing upon him. p. 279 12 So I opened it --you cannot imagine how stealthily, stealthily –until, at length a single dim ray, like the thread of the spider, shot from out the crevice and fell full upon the vulture eye. p. 279 13 I placed my hand upon the heart and held it there many minutes. p.280 14 Yet, for some minutes longer I refrained and stood still. p.279 In contrast to the previous type of adjunct which time is conceived as fixed point, this type of adjunct relates to time as a linear dimension past, now, future. In this type, the adjuncts may have orientation to the speaker’s ‘now’ or they can be more general temporal issue, thus not requiring orientation to the speaker’s ‘now’. Sentence 11 is an example of backward span adjunct. Adjunct since explains the action from certain past time going to narrator’s now. Sentence 12 is a forward sp an. It is because the time that is explained starts from the narrator’s present and goes until a certain time in future when a certain action is completed. Sentence 13 and 14 are the examples for the latter type which showing duration. 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