[Grammar] Any suggestion otherwise is simply false.

[lagoo]

Any suggestion otherwise is simply false. The word "otherwise" can be used as an adverb or an adjective. So in the sentence mentioned above, is "otherwise" an adverb to modify "is" or an adjective to "suggestion" ?

 

[Matthew Wai]

I consider it an adverb modifying 'suggestion'.

 

[Tdol]

Why do you think that it's an adverb there?

 

[Matthew Wai]

The dictionary below says it is an adverb.
http://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/otherwise?q=otherwise

 

[jutfrank]

Interesting question.

I think it's an adverbial. Used here, it seems to be synonymous with something like to the contrary. If so, then the question for me is what it's modifying.

Could we understand it as modifying an implied verb?

Any suggestion [made] otherwise...

I can't make sense of it as an adjective: an otherwise suggestion doesn't seem right, does it?

 

[jutfrank]

Well, English does have a number of postpositive adjectives.

Yes, quite. Thanks for the link. But for me, otherwise cannot be an adjective, whether it is postpositive or otherwise.

In my sentence above, too, I believe the word appears to be an adjective, but in fact is functioning adverbially, to modify the verb be.

If we use otherwise to say, generally, 'in another way', then it must be adverbial.

 

[jutfrank]

What does otherwise modify in "Any suggestion otherwise is simply false? It means something like 'of something else, of a different type' . We could rephrase the sentence wordily as Any suggestion that suggests something other than what has previously been suggested' is false. This suggests to me that it is modifying 'suggestion', and must be an adjective.

. I cannot see it modifying the verb.

Yes, I see your point. I find this a very interesting question. I agree that rephrasing can often shed light in cases like this.

I'm not sure this is particularly illuminating but the final part of the phrase ...is simply false suggests to me that a good rephrasing would be to the contrary. Not so much "that suggests something other than...", as you say, as 'that suggests something in opposition to...', which is slightly different.

To take this a bit further, if we take as an example the phrase the woman in black.

Is in black a postpositive adjective modifying the noun the woman?

Or is the whole phrase a reduced articulation of the woman [who is dressed] in black, where in black modifies the implied verb dressed?

 

[Matthew Wai]

If it is modifying a noun, it must be an adjective.

Would you consider 'below' an adjective in 'the sentence below', where it is modifying a noun?

 

[Tdol]

To me, it modifies suggestion, not the verb or the sentence. It is similar to any different suggestion, not [strike]any differently suggestion[/strike]. It's a predicative adjective to me, though there's always room for debate.

 

[Tdol]

However, I am going to have to admit defeat now. I think 'otherwise' is an adverb, but I cannot come up with a convincing argument for this.

The longer you stare into the grammatical abyss....

 

[Matthew Wai]

I found a similar example: 'Students today seem to know very little about geography'──quoted from Longman, where 'today' is an adverb.

I am going to have to admit defeat now.

I have seen it for the first time.

 

[jutfrank]

If it's of any interest to anybody, here is my understanding of the essential difference between adjectives and adverbs. I'd welcome any comments at all.

Both adjectives and adverbs are ways of describing. They modify by description. Adjectives modify nouns, signifying properties/attributes of things:

The sky is blue.
The chair is soft.

Adverbs modify verbs (events), describing a way of doing/happening.

Open it carefully.
It's snowing heavily.

Of course, adverbs can also modify the verb BE. In this case, they describe a way of being/existing. So in the example

I'm there now.

both there and now describe a way of existing in space and in time (what in ontology can be called the 'ontic properties') of the subject.

Interestingly, adverbs may also modify adjectives,

It's really good.

where they can be understood to describe the ways of having properties.


Based on the above, it's hard for me to understand otherwise as a property of anything. It seems to me to be a way of being (different), and therefore adverbial.

 

[teechar]

I think given that "otherwise" can act as a predicative adjective, I don't see why we should reject it as a postpositive adjective in this case.

I don't think there's a clear-cut answer to this. At first, I was leaning towards the adverbial interpretation. The -tion in "suggestion" led me down that road. But then I considered "any claim otherwise is false" and I was back to square one.

Another comment: "other" is close enough to "otherwise", so we can read "suggestion otherwise" as "other suggestion". That would tend to support the adjective camp.

 

[jutfrank]

I think given that "otherwise" can act as a predicative adjective, I don't see why we should reject it as a postpositive adjective in this case.

We don't all agree that it can.

 

[teechar]

We don't all agree that it can.

You may well argue that, but the reality is otherwise. ;-)

 

[jutfrank]

You may well argue that, but the reality is otherwise. ;-)

You mean the reality is you think otherwise. ;-)