Roger wrote:
> This is incorrect because an adverb always
> modifies a verb, just like its most common
> use in English.
Nah.
*~
times =: *
'times' ~
Unless you were suggesting nomenclature? In that case Ken (and precedent)
disagrees with you. In your English Grammar Essay [1], we read:
Adverbs, such as / , that act upon verbs or nouns. For example, +/
is
a (derived) verb called plus across that sums any list of numbers to
which it is applied, and ×/ is a verb that yields the product across
all elements of a list.
When an adverb applies to a noun rather than to a verb (as in 1 0 2
/
to produce a "selection" verb so that 1 0 2 / 5 8 7 yields 5 7 7)
it might well be called an adjective. However, since such production
of verbs from nouns is (in English) more commonly performed by a
suffix rather than by an adjective (as in deify, reify, and
nitrify),
we will use the term adverb for all cases.
K.E. Iverson, A Dictionary of APL, APL Quote Quad, Volume 18,
Number 1, 1987-09. Section II: Grammar.
Moreover, in the Role of Operators in APL [2], we read
An adverb may modify an adverb (as in run very quickly) or an
adjective
(as in a very black night) as well as a verb. The first of these
is
interesting in that it corresponds to an operator applying to an
operator
to produce a new operator. The second is interesting in that an
adjective
(and, consequently, a modified adjective) can be thought to modify a
verb indirectly, as the adjective green indirectly modifies the
action of pointing in the sentence point out all the green
houses.
Iverson, K.E., The Role of Operators in APL, APL79, APL Quote Quad,
Volume 9, Number 4, 1979-06.
I tend to agree with these concepts:
(1) Adverbs commonly modify verbs, as in +/
(2) Adverbs can also modify nouns, as in 3} ,
in which case we could use the term "adjective"
or "adnoun", though "adverb" still suits.
(3) Adverbs can also modify adverbs, as in (&.>) /
Though in the latter case, I like Ken's idea that we are "really" modifying
a verb (or noun), indirectly (since grammatically, adverbs cannot take
adverbs as arguments, and so / can't "see" &.>).
-Dan
[1] English Grammar Essay
http://www.jsoftware.com/jwiki/Essays/English%20Grammar#A1987
[2] The Role of Operators in APL
http://www.jsoftware.com/papers/APLOperators.htm
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