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As a general rule, could an adjective be used like an adverb in Latin?

What would be some exceptions?

Quidam
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1 Answers1

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There are three main ways to turn an adjective into an adverb in Latin. In decreasing order of popularity:

  • Use a special adverb-forming suffix: first/second adjectives get -ē, while third adjectives get -ter. This can be done freely to pretty much any adjective (famōsē, rubrē, calidē, velociter, prūdenter).
  • Use the neuter accusative form. This is also quite well-attested, but less productive; it's where third comparative adverbs in -ius and (non-comparative) adverbs in -e come from (facilius, facile, multum).
  • Use the neuter ablative form. This one was dying out by Classical times, mostly showing up in set phrases and fossilized expressions, but it's the ancestor of the extremely common -ē mentioned above (verō, falsō).

The first at least was still productive in Classical times; I'm not aware of any adjectives which couldn't be turned into adverbs in one way or another.

Draconis
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    It might also be worth mentioning instances where Latin uses adjectives, esp. in the nominative, where we would more naturally use an adverb in English – e.g., tacitus venit, 'He came in silence/silently', laeti audiverunt, 'they listened with joy/happily.' – cnread Oct 22 '19 at 05:32
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    @cnread You could also mention those in a separate answer. There's nothing wrong with having multiple answers with different focuses or points of view. Even different wordings of the same idea can be very useful. – Joonas Ilmavirta Oct 22 '19 at 07:38
  • Group 1 Adverbial suffix, includes the group gradatim, step by step; seriatim, one-by-one; sparsim, here and there; etc. (just for completenes; does not affect the adj. for adverb Q.&A.) – Hugh Oct 29 '19 at 20:34