23578
I'm wondering about the difference between adverbs, adverbial nouns, and
temporal nouns.*

I know that adverbs modify verbs, adjectives and other adverbs. They usually
tell amount, weight, time, distance, etc.

So here are my questions:

  1. Does that mean that all temporal nouns are also adverbial nouns? I know that the other direction is not true.

  2. Also, I'm under the impression that adverbs can't be the topic of a Japanese sentence, but adverbial nouns and temporal nouns can. Is this correct?

* * *

*Terminology [(as used by edict/jmdict)](http://www.edrdg.org/jmdictdb/cgi-bin/edhelp.py?svc=jmdict&sid=#kw_posl):

  * temporal noun (`n-t`): 時相名詞 ([list](http://beta.jisho.org/search?keyword=%23n-t))
  * adverbial noun (`n-adv`, formerly `adv-n`): 副詞的名詞 ([list](http://beta.jisho.org/search?keyword=%23n-adv))
  * adverb (`adv`): 副詞 ([list](http://beta.jisho.org/search?keyword=%23adv))
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question
adverbs nouns
Adverbial Nouns and Temporal Nouns
# Terminology

First of all some remarks on the terminology used.

Adverb (副詞) is the usual definition as it can be found in dictionaries. The
other two words require some more thought.

It seems 時相名詞 is a technical term used by
[jumandic](http://www.unixuser.org/~euske/doc/postag/), a dictionary for
[morphological parsers](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morphological_parsing).
Here's the [only insight I could
find](http://www.anlp.jp/proceedings/annual_meeting/1997/pdf_dir/D2-1.pdf):

>
> EDRは時詞という名前で、JUMANは時相名詞という名前で、副詞としても振舞い得る名詞を分類している。しかしこのような分類は、名詞か副詞のどちらかであるという‌曖昧性の表現の仕方としては変則的である。

Thus: temporal noun = a noun that can be used adverbially. You can use a word
such as 今年 like a noun or adverbially:

>   * 今年の目標
>   * 今年起きた事件
>

Often these are nouns related to time (hence the name), but not necessarily.
全部 is classified as a temporal noun as well. However, I would judge this to be
a classification error, considering the name and that most of them are indeed
related to time.

Furthermore, this classification might be necessary in the context of parsing
Japanese, but I suppose it is probably irrelevant if you only want to learn
the language. Also, the paper I linked mentions that this classification might
not be the best.

* * *

Next, 副詞的名詞 is used by _jumandic_ too. It's also used on the net and in papers
in the context of Japanese and other languages. In _ipadic_ this is called
副詞可能. It refers to nouns (or words originating from a noun) that can be used
adverbially such as ところ, ため, ぐらい. For example:

> 試験を棄権するぐらいつらいことはない。
>
> (from the noun 位【くらい】, from 座【くら】居【い】る)

[In this
paper](http://www.anlp.jp/proceedings/annual_meeting/1995/pdf_dir/A5-4.pdf)
there is a remark on adverbial nouns:

> 副詞的名詞(連体修飾を受ける副詞)

This seems to suggest that an adverbial noun must admit the possibility to
accept modifiers (adjectives, relative clauses &c.), such as in the above
example or this:

>   * 住所等を変更 **した場合** すぐにお知らせください
>   * 肝炎ウイルスは **多くの場合** 、 感染しても自覚症状が無く本人が気がつかない。
>

# Question 1

> Are all temporal nouns also adverbial nouns?

First of all, it should be obvious that not all adverbial nouns are temporal.
As for the other direction, most temporal nouns appear to be adverbial nouns
too, namely [445/592(75%)](http://beta.jisho.org/search/%23n-t%20%23n-adv) of
them. Those that are alo adverbial can be modified:

>   * 楽しい毎日
>   * ほとんどまた何も **見えない未明** の視界
>

However, here are some words marked only as `temporal noun` in jmdict:

> 月【つき】、今日【きょう】、明日【あした】、此【こ】れから、大部分【だいぶぶん】

Referring to the definitions given above, here the explanation for this would
seem to be that while 今日【きょう】 or これから can be used adverbially in a sentence,
you cannot modify it usually.

> ○今日通知を受けとりました。
>
> ？通知を受けとりました今日

On the other hand, 昨日【きのう】 is marked as both temporal and adverbial noun in
_edict/jmdict_. If we look it up directly in _jumandic_ , we find:

```

    明日,1501,1501,6660,名詞,時相名詞,*,*,明日,あした,代表表記:明日
    昨日,1501,1501,6670,名詞,時相名詞,*,*,昨日,きのう,代表表記:昨日
    
```

Thus my conclusion is that the tagging of 昨日【きのう】 is a mistake in
_edict/jmdict_.

# Question 2

> Is it true that adverbs can't be the topic of a Japanese sentence; but
> adverbial nouns and temporal nouns can be?

I'm going to assume that by `can be the topic` you mean `can be marked with
the focus/topic particle は`. Also, any word can be used with は when making a
comment about that word in the form `「甲」は乙` (mentioning rather than using it,
eg. 恰【あたか】もはかたい表現), so I will exclude this usage from the following
discussion.

First temporal and adverbial nouns. This is easily answered by providing some
examples. Many words can be topicalized:

>   * 毎月第2火曜日temporal, adverbialは庁舎周辺のごみ拾いをしましょう。
>   * 3月10日未明temporal, adverbialは敗戦の序章・東京大空襲の日
>   * 今日temporal天気がいいですね。
>   * 父が原稿を書いている最中adverbialは、だれが話しかけても返事がない。
>

Now let us turn to adverbs. Some words marked as adverb in _edict/jmdict_
include:

>
> 普通、特別、正直、一番、屡々【しばしば】、度々【たびたび】、本当、時々、多分、幾【いく】つ、迚【とて】も、若【も】し、忽【たちま】ち、のんびり、頗【すこぶ】る、更【さら】に

Some of these are not only marked as adverb, but also as (na/no-)adjective
&c., which might explain why they can be used with the focus particle は. For
example:

> しかし、これが大変に難しくて、 **普通は** できないものだ。

So let us consider a word marked as adverb only: いくつ, たびたび, とても, and もし.

It's true that usually you wouldn't use them as the topic of the sentence or
with the particle は. However, language is flexible and people use it to fit
their needs. Often, whether something is possible or not is only a function of
how hard you're looking. Consider the following sentences:

**いくつ:**

> この１２という数字には色んな意味が込められてて、そのうちの **幾つは** 冒頭でも話したけど、その他にもいくつかあって、
> 例えば１６進数の「C」は１０進数で１２。 そして時計の針は１から１２。

**たびたび:**

>
> 「あのお母さまも、誠に頼りなく暮らしていらつしやるやうでございますから、あの辺【へん】お二人でいらつしやるやうなことがあつたら、偶【たま】には寄っておあげなさいまし。それこそ如何【どんな】にお悦びなさいますか。」
>
> 「でも知れると悪いでせう。」
>
> 「だから **[度々]{たび/\}** は可【い】けません。[…]」
>
> from 徳田秋声全集 第三期 長篇小説, ISBN 4-8406-9693-4

**とても:**

This is the best I can come up with.

> **とてもは** 言い過ぎだけど、たまにくるこの痛みはなんでしょ～

But it's borderline mentioning the word.

**もし:**

> 〔蜻蛉日記・上〕例の人は、案内【あない】するたより、 **若しは** なま女などして、いはすることこそあれ。
>
> 《訳》ふつうの人は、取り次ぎをする縁故者、または身分の低い女房などを介して、(意のあるところを)言わせることが例であるのに。
>
> (from 全国ご古語辞典 第三版 旺文社 2003)

In _edict/jmdict_ , these words are marked only as `adverb`. I'll leave it to
you to decide whether they are adverbs in the above sentences. The point is,
some of them _can_ be used with は.

Other adverbs such as のんびり or あたかも are extremely rare with the particle は, so
we can't make a general statement that they could or couldn't be used with は.

# Summary

  * most temporal nouns are adverbial nouns
  * some adverbs can be used with the particle は, but it depends upon the word and isn't too common
  * these classifications are not important unless you're a linguist or programmer
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