about a part of speech

[Casiopea]

Can"t help you there. I'm only a mere linguist. ^0^ "ad-" means, add to, and "verb", well, that's obvious. Adverb => Add to a verb. "God" is not a verb.

[safya]

thanke you Marylen for every thing i like study here . i wish to be good in english i need to practies . i will talk with amircan . bye i am happy know to find some one help me

[Casiopea]

Safya, please add in the information you sent me. ^0^ I think we could all benefit from it.

Only (no one else but God) God can make a tree.

Thanks.

[sariputra]

Dear Casiopea,

With reference to the above my question, I think I came to know the reason why a part of speech of the word 'only'in the sentence "Only God can make a tree." is not an adjective but an adverb. The reason is that the word of only in the sentence has no descriptive element about God. That is, No word can be an adjective without having descriptive meaning.

The word of only in the sentence only restrict or limit the word of God with the meaning of " no one else but " Therefore, it can not be an adjective but an adverb.

I would like to inform you of the fact that I owed much to a Korean linguist who helped me to understand the strict meaning of an adjective.

Sincerely yours,
Sariputra from Korea

[Tdol]

Would you say that in 'an only child' it is an adjective or adverb? The reason I'm asking, is that I don't think it's a clearcut as you're suggesting. In my answer, I said others could disagree because I can see a case for arguing that it is an adverb.

[Marylin]

Dear Casiopea,

With reference to the above my question, I think I came to know the reason why a part of speech of the word 'only'in the sentence "Only God can make a tree." is not an adjective but an adverb. The reason is that the word of only in the sentence has no descriptive element about God. That is, No word can be an adjective without having descriptive meaning.

The word of only in the sentence only restrict or limit the word of God with the meaning of " no one else but " Therefore, it can not be an adjective but an adverb.

I would like to inform you of the fact that I owed much to a Korean linguist who helped me to understand the strict meaning of an adjective.

Sincerely yours,
Sariputra from Korea

I think there is something called a "focusing adverb" and I think this is what it is. A focusing adverb can refer to different parts of the sentence, even if it's placed right before a subject.

[Casiopea]

Adverb: Max is only a child. (i.e, only and nothing but/else)
Adjective: Max is an only child. (i.e., existing alone)

Distribution
If the word in question occurs between a determiner and a noun, it functions as an adjective. If the word in question stands on its own, it's an adverb.

Position Adj: an (determiner) only (adjective) child (noun)
Position Adv: is (verb) only (adverb) child (noun)

=> Variation
. . . is (verb) child (noun) only (adverb)
. . . only (adverb) is (verb) a (determiner) child (noun)