relatively?

[Polyester]

I have underlined in red below sentences, please explain to me why write this word adding "ly" in the end?

Other efforts to support the financial markets have largely flopped -- a much-hyped pilot program to connect the Hong Kong and Shanghai exchanges has attracted relatively little investor interest.

 

[MikeNewYork]

The -ly makes it an adverb. As an adverb it modifies the adjective "little".

 

[Polyester]

Can I put here?

Other efforts to support the financial markets have largely flopped -- a much-hyped pilot program to connect the Hong Kong and Shanghai exchanges has relatively attracted little investor interest.

 

[MikeNewYork]

No.

 

[Polyester]

Reason!?
I think this adverb describes the attracted as same time to describe little.
Both are work for me.

 

[MikeNewYork]

I disagree.

 

[Polyester]

You have no reason for this issue.
I can't learn from you and English.
I still confused.

 

[MikeNewYork]

Sorry. But not all why questions have answers. Your proposed structure just doesn't work. You can accept that or not.

 

[Tdol]

What it has attracted is little interest. How much? relatively little interest It is modifying the degree of interest, not the attraction. If I kick a fairly big ball, you cannot say that I have fairly kicked the ball- fairly is modifying the size, not the kick. It is the same here.

 

[Polyester]

Tdol, what about this example?

We had relatively few applications for the job.

Correct?

 

[bhaisahab]

Yes, that's correct.

 

[Polyester]

Ok.
My question is....this word describes few?

We had relatively few applications for the job.

 

[bhaisahab]

Yes.

 

[Tdol]

In my earlier post, I maybe didn't make something clear. You cannot say fairly kicked a big ball with the same meaning as kicked a fairly big ball- you might be able to say it in a different context, with a different meaning. If you move an adverb that is modifying an adjective and place it where it modifies a verb, you will usually be changing the meaning.

 

[Tarheel]

Ok.
My question is does this word describe few?

We had relatively few applications for the job.

There weren't many. There were just a few. There were not many applications for that job. A small number. Not many.

 

[SoothingDave]

"Relatively few applications"

Maybe they usually get 100 applications, but they only got 10 for this job. You may not normally say 10 is a few, but in relation to the normal 100, it is a few. It is relatively a few.