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    Medium degree
    quickinfo

    Medium degree modifiers play the middle field between high degree and low degree modifiers. Some examples include betreklik relatively, taamlik quite and redelik reasonably:

    1
    Dit is vandag betreklik stil.
    it be.PRS today relatively quiet
    Today it is relatively quiet.
    2
    Toestande is taamlik gunstig.
    conditions be.PRS quite favourable
    Conditions are quite favourable.
    3
    Die kragnetwerk is redelik onstabiel.
    the power grid be.PRS reasonably unstable
    The power grid is reasonably unstable.
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    While medium degree modifiers can be ranked as intermediate between high degree and low degree modifiers, and are expressed by means of adverbs, such as betreklik relatively and redelik reasonably, they may consist of multi-word adverbial phrases, as in tot op sekere hoogte to a certain degree and in 'n mate to some extent. While such adverbs and multi-word adverbial phrases are often, and in some cases mostly, used to determine predicates, as in the following examples

    4
    Dit lyk nie of hulle besoek enigsins geslaag het nie.
    it seems not if their visit at.all succeeded have.AUX PTCL.NEG
    It does not seem as if their visit has had any success at all.
    5
    Gelyke toegang kan dié ongelykhede tot op sekere hoogte oorkom.
    equal access can.AUX.MOD these inequalities to a certain degree overcome
    Equal access can overcome these inequalities to a certain degree.
    6
    dat hy sy ewewig in 'n mate terugkry
    that he his balance to some extent back.find
    that he recovers his balance to some extent

    such modifiers may also arguably determine adjectives, as in:

    7
    Hy is in 'n mate teleurgesteld daarmee.
    he be.PRS in a measure disappointed therewith
    He is, to a certain extent, disappointed with it.

    Medium degree modifiers such as heelwat a good deal and aansienlik substantial cannot always be clearly distinguished from high degree modifiers, which suggests that their meaning in concrete instances of language use is in part pragmatically determined.

    8
    Sy simbole het heelwat /aansienlik gedaal.
    his symbols have.AUX a good deal / substantially dropped
    His symbols dropped significantly.

    Furthermore, such modifiers, when not used as quantifiers, mostly occur in comparative constructions:

    9
    Hy is heelwat / aansienlik ryker as sy ouers.
    he be.PRS plenty substantially richer PTCL.SIMT his parents
    He is a good deal / substantially richer than his parents.
    References
      About this article
      Author(s): Ernst Kotzé, Adri Breed
      Category: Afrikaans Syntax
      Keywords: medium degree modifier
      Version: 1.0, May 2020
      Version history:
      version editor(s) date remarks
      1.0 Ernst Kotzé, Adri Breed May 2020
      This is a beta version.
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