| 6 | | Matetika, which means 'generally' or 'often', is somewhat problematic in terms of order. It appears both first among the pre-verbal elements, and last in the entire sentence, with the same meaning. | (13) | Matetika tsy mandamina intsony mihitsy ny trano Rakoto. | | generally Neg arrange anymore at-all Det. house Det. Rakoto | | "Rakoto does not generally put the house in order at all anymore." | | (14) | Tsy mandamina intsony mihitsy ny trano Rakoto matetika |
It can also occur among the post-verbal adverbs | (15) | Tsy mandamina matetika intsony mihitsy ny trano Rakoto. |
According to Cinque, 'generally' should be first in the hierarchy of adverbs, which corresponds to the matetika which appears before the pre-verbal adverbs, as in (15). It is a puzzle why it can also occur in so many other places, when the other Malagasy adverbs are more or less restricted in location. There is, however, a logical explanation for this behaviour, which will become apparent later, during the discussion of structure. When matetika appears directly after the verb, among the other post-verbal adverbs, it is not the same as the pre-verbal and post-sentential occurrence. It has a somewhat different meaning, being able to modify the verb alone, rather than the entire sentence (an option which is not available to the other occurrences of matetika). It does not occur here as naturally as in the other locations because there must be a special context. Because the different behaviour of this adverb sets it apart from the others, it indicates a need for different kind of treatment in the structure. |
