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I am working on a fantasy language and wondering why you need the -ly on adverbs. Is it just purely an "adverb marking" sign? Or does it have a meaning as well?

For example:

  • I plucked recently ripened berries.
  • I plucked recent ripened berries.

I can get a sense that these two sentences are different, but I can't pinpoint what exactly. Is the -ly basically saying "like", as in "recent-like ripened berries", or is it tying the "recent" directly to "ripened"? Because "recent ripened" means more like "recent, ripened", not recently ripened.

What is the purpose of the -ly exactly? Trying to imagine how other languages do it as well, but this question is for English specifically. If it does just mean -like, why do we need to add it for adverbs exactly?

Lance
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1 Answers1

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The simple answer is that if you leave the "-ly" off of an adverb, it becomes an adjective.

When it's an adverb ("recently"), it modifies the adjective ("ripened").

When it's an adjective ("recent"), it modifies the noun ("berries").

So yes, effectively "-ly" is an adverb marker. It doesn't do the tying to the adjective though. The tying is done by the rules of English that govern adverbs modifying adjectives. But, indirectly, that's the net effect.

And yes, it's related to "-like". However, it was centuries ago that it arrived in the language that would eventually become modern English. At that time it was in the form of a more Germanic suffix like "-lich", which I would expect to be the etymological root of both.

Aiken Drum
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    It's a bit more complex than that because removing "ly" from an adverb often gives something that could be an adjective or adverb e.g. deeply/deep - deep can be adjective or adverb with similar meanings, slowly/slow - slow can be adjective and adverb with similar meanings, and slightly different overly/over - over is an adverb but doesn't. mean the same as overly – Stuart F Oct 23 '22 at 12:03
  • @StuartF - Yeah, though that's just language evolution at work, people taking shortcuts or liberties because they want to say something with less effort or sound edgy. At this point in history, that particular shift hasn't happened with his specific example about "recent(ly)", though it may in time. A society that can reduce "Please pass me a beer," to "Beer me!" is capable of anything. :P – Aiken Drum Oct 23 '22 at 12:45
  • @StuartF Just as there’s no difference between freshly fallen snow and fresh-fallen snow, a newly born babe and a new-born babe, a nearly equal measure and a near-equal measure, finely ground pepper and pepper ground fine, or a kindly old man and a kind old man? :) – tchrist Oct 24 '22 at 02:54