The Frequency and Use of Communicative Verbs Show, Speak, Talk & Argue Within Adverbial Clauses in Written and Spoken Discourse

The focus of this paper is on usage of communicative verbs show, speak, talk and argue within adverbial clauses. Since adverbial clauses are used to realize time, place, manner and contingency semantic categories, the main goal of this paper is to illustrate the use of adverbial clauses that have communicative verbs show, speak, talk, and argue as verbals. The aim is to analyze the frequency and distribution of the verbs show, speak, talk and argue in all types of adverbial clauses. We will also present similarities and dissimilarities of their use in the specific adverbial clauses, and show the specific features of their use within each type of adverbial clause. We will also determine the most frequent type of adverbial clause in each register. The goal is also to present certain features of the selected verbs along with their practical use in spoken and written language. Except that, we will also determine the most frequently used subordinators that introduce all types of adverbial clauses, their use and distribution across analyzed corpus.


Introduction
states that adverbial clauses act as modifiers in or of the main clause (p. 560). They specify circumstances such as manner, time, frequency, place, degree, reason, cause, and condition. In Longman's terms (1999), adverbial clauses, both finite and non-finite, are used to realize time, place, manner, and contingency semantic categories (p. 818). Quirk (1985) states that adverbial clauses function mainly as adjuncts and disjuncts (p. 1068). Furthermore, he says that in their potentiality for greater explicitness, they are more often like prepositional phrases (Quirk, 1985, p.1048).  (20), comment (16), clauses of purpose (13) and clauses of similarity & comparison occur almost equally, while clauses of preference (7), proportion (4), exception (2) and degree clauses (1) are rare. Clauses of contingency are not found in our corpus.
When it comes to different registers, the use of adverbial clauses varies, as shown below. Adverbial clauses across corpus economy, and sport. The use of time clauses is the most dominant in short stories (75), while they are almost equally used in other corpora. Reason clauses are dominant in speech (28), almost equally represented in economy, technology, COVID-19 and politics, while they are rare in other corpora. Conditional clauses are the most frequent in COVID-19, and they are almost equally used in other corpora. Clauses of place are most frequently used in culture, followed by technology; they are less frequent in other corpora while they are not used in COVID- 19. The rest of adverbial clauses occur almost equally in all registers. What is common for all analyzed verbs is that neither of them is used within clauses of contingency.
As for individual communicative verbs that are the subject of our analysis, most frequently used verb is the verb show with 307 examples, followed by the verbs talk (284) and speak (237), while the verb argue (60) is less frequent.

Show
The verb talk is less used within adverbial clauses in the analyzed corpus. As seen from Table 5, this verb is most frequently used within time clauses (162), and they are most dominant in speech, followed by short stories. Time clauses occur almost equally in culture and politics, while they are not frequent in other corpora.
Reason clauses are less frequent with 40 examples found, and most of them are registered in speech, while they are not used in economy. Clauses of place (23) are the most frequent in culture and technology, while they don't occur in the texts on COVID-19.  (12) don't occur frequently, and while conditional clauses are almost equally used in all registers, concessive clauses don't occur in technology and speech. The rest of adverbial clauses are not frequent, while clauses of contingency and degree clauses don't combine with the verb talk.
Based on the results in Table 6, the verb speak is also dominant within time clauses (137), and the greatest number of examples is found in sport, less in short stories and technology, while they are not frequently used in other corpora.
Reason clauses are less frequent (19), and while they are not dominant in other corpora, not even one example of reason clauses is found in COVID-19.  Condition  3  1  1  1  2  3  5  2  Clauses of Concession  1  3  1  3  -3  -1  Reason Clauses  -3  5  1  3  2  21  5  Clauses of Purpose  ----2  1  -2  Clauses of Result  -1  -1  1  1  2  2  Clauses of Comparison &  Similarity  ---2  Comparing to the first 3 verbs, the verb argue is rarely used with only 60 examples found. As shown in Table 7, this verb is most frequently used within time clauses (23). Time clauses are equally used in economy and COVID-19, while the verb argue doesn't occur within time clauses in culture and speech.
Speak Economy Culture Politics Sport Technology Short stories Speech COVID-19

Argue
Concessive clauses are dominant in economy, while they don't occur in short stories and speech. Out of 10 examples of comment clauses found, 7 occur in COVID-19 and 3 in politics.
The rest of adverbial clauses are not frequent. The verb argue doesn't occur within manner, clauses of contingency, degree clauses, purpose, exception, proportion and clauses of preference.
As we already mention, Time clauses are widely used in our corpus. These clauses combine with our verbs in 449 examples, and as it can be seen from Table 8, they most frequently occur with the verb talk (162), followed by verbs speak (137) and show (127), while they are not frequent with the verb argue (23). The clauses are the most frequent in speech with the verb talk, followed by the corpus of sport with the verb speak; while they are not used in culture and speech with the verb argue.
The commonest subordinator that introduces time clauses is the subordinator when (see the  In the corpus with the verb speak; this subordinator is most frequent in sport (23) and short stories (20), while it is less used in other corpora.
With the verb show, this subordinator is most frequent in culture (19), while with the verb argue it is mostly used in economy (5), and it doesn't occur in speech, sport and culture.
The subordinator after occurs 76 times, and it is most frequent with the verb show (46), almost equally presented as the subordinator when. The greatest number of examples with the verb show is found in COVID-19 (19) and economy (12). This subordinator combines 18 times with the verb speak (mostly in sport and culture), while it is equally used with verbs talk and argue (6 times respectively).
The subordinator as occurs frequently with the verb speak (18), followed by the verb talk (13). This subordinator rarely combines with verbs show and argue.
The subordinator while is not frequently used and occurs 9 times with the verbs talk and speak, respectively, 3 times with the verbs show and argue, respectively. The conjunction before combines only with the verbs show (12), talk (7) and speak (6) and the subordinator since occurs with the same verbs: show (3), talk (3) and speak (1).
Subordinators until, once and as long as combine only with the verbs show and talk, while, on the other hand, subordinators as soon as and whenever occur only with verbs speak and talk. The subordinator till occurs only with the verb show.
As already stated, the verb talk is used in time clauses mainly in speech. The most numerous subordinator that introduces time clauses with this verb is the subordinator when. Interestingly, in the corpus of speech, in almost all examples found, the verb talk occurs twice in complex sentences, although we found that the verb talk also occurs twice within the same time clause:

Does your desire to fictionalize those stories you registered in your new novel, The Merry-Co-Round, have any bearing on a notion of Betty's in Davies: "She had often thought that when he was talking about himself he was talking about her too"?
When used with the subordinator when, the verb talk occurs with pseudointransitive complementation and the preposition about, which functions as a verb complement in the language of speech and culture As for other prepositions performing the same function, only a few examples of the preposition to are found in both corpora: b) Yet still key workers can't get tested -even when they start showing symptoms -to confirm whether they pose a risk, either to those they help or to their own families.
Although, the verb argue is not frequently used, it is still possible to emphasize certain characteristics of its use within time clauses with the subordinator when. In almost all examples in economy, adverbial clauses of time with the subordinator when are combined with nominal that-clauses (a), except in one example where instead of subordinate that-clause, it occurs the combination with non-personal subject (Quirk, 1985 It can also be seen when wealthy pensioners argue that the government should maintain the state pension as a universal benefit and even continue paying the winter fuel allowance. Although the subordinator after is less frequent, this subordinator in the corpora with the verb show is almost equally represented as the subordinator when, and the greatest number of examples is registered in COVID-19 (19) and economy (12). In politics and sport, the verb show combines with the catenative construction with appear to: a) Labour has demanded answers from the government after leaked letters appeared to show ministers were repeatedly warned that fire regulations were not keeping people safe in high rise blocks like Grenfell Tower.
This subordinator is less frequently used with the verb speak (18), and it is found in sport (4) and culture (4). In sport, the verb speak occurs within multi-word construction, i.e. in the form of the phrasal verb speak out, and in the same corpus, this phrasal verb is combined with the preposition against: Varnish claimed she was dismissed after speaking out against coaching decisions but the report stops short of this conclusion.
The verb talk, in almost all examples found, occurs in non-finite form, more precisely, in the form of gerund, while in this combination, the preposition to usually performs the function of the prepositional complement: "After talking to the Arts Council and lawyers," says Biscuit, "it turned out that we wouldn't legally be allowed to use a funding grant in that way. The rest of the subordinators found is less frequent, while subordinators directly, immediately, now (that), so long as, whilst are not registered in the analyzed material.

Reason Clauses
The most frequent use of these clauses is found in speech with the verb talk, less in all other corpora, while they are not used in economy with the verbs talk and argue, short stories with the verbs show and argue, COVID-19 with the verbs speak and argue, and culture with the verb argue.
As for subordinators introducing reason clauses, the most frequent one is the subordinator because (68), less used is the subordinator as (28), and there are only one examples of subordinators now (that) and since found, respectively. As seen from Table 11, there is a difference in the most frequent subordinators used with different verbs.
Thus, the subordinator because is more frequently used with the verbs talk and speak, while it is not used with the verb argue, and the subordinator as is more frequent with the verb show.  (20) is chiefly found in the clauses introduced by the subordinator because. In other texts it is less used with the same verb, for example it is not used in short stories. In speech, the verb talk almost always occurs with the preposition about, that performs the function of the prepositional complement, while the preposition to, performing the same function, is found in only 2 examples:

JEFFREY BROWN: I'm curious now, because you were talking about short stories, and one thing I didn't know about you -I know your novels, but I didn't, until I was just reading about this prize, you wrote crime fiction under a pseudonym?
In addition, in the same corpus, the verb talk occuring with the complementation talk + about + NP is premodified with the adjunct of universal frequency always, adjunct of high frequency often, adjunct of low frequency never, and exclusive subjunct just: I now know something I never knew because it was never talked about, that on the eve of my third birthday, she was in a psychiatric institution having electroshock treatment.
In the corpus with the verb speak, this subordinator mostly occurs in speech (5)

Reason Clauses Subordinators
with the complementation speak + to + NP, where the verb speak is premodified with the time-relationship subjunct still: Most classics are classics for a reason, because they contain stories that still speak to us, stories that endure.
In the corpus with the verb show, this subordinator is mostly used in technology, and it usually occurs in the complementation with the that-clause, that performs the function of a direct object: Testing without drivers is also critical because studies have shown that in partial automation, where a human is still behind the wheel, it can be difficult for a driver to stay engaged.
The subordinator as is most frequent in the corpus with the verb show, and it is mostly used in economy (12), less in COVID-19 (5), while it is not used in speech, sport and short stories. In economy, this verb often occurs with the complementation show + that-clause (a). The complementation show + NP is less frequent (b): The ratings agency said there were signs of "renewed tremors" from the result of the UK's EU referendum on 23 June while the election of Trump as US president showed that political risk remained significant.

The government's spending deficit is on course to worsen this year as official figures show the economic slowdown is beginning to take a toll on the UK's public finances.
Within these clauses introduced by the subordinator as, the verb show occurs with the complementation show + wh-clause in the COVID-19:

"I was expecting to hear back but I heard that the government has been inundated with volunteers which is great news as it shows what we can do as a country when we come together."
Subordinators since and now (that) are respresented with only one example respectively, and occur in economy (since) and politics (now (that), while subordinators in view of the fact that and seeing (that) don't occur with our verbs.
There are 86 examples of Clauses of condition in our corpus, and the verb show is mostly used within them (48). Verbs talk and speak are less used within these clauses, while only a few examples of verb argue are found within these clauses. As resprented in Table 12, the most frequent use of these clauses is found with the verb show in COVID-19, while it is less used with other verbs.
Conditional Clauses are not found in short stories with the verb speak, and in most of the corpus with the verb argue. As the analysis has shown, the function of conditional clauses perform conditionals. The most frequent type of conditional is open condition (53), hypothetical condition is less frequent (21), while the indirect conditional is only found in technology with the verb show. One example of mixed conditional is also found in economy with the verb speak. The When Pistorius first applied to run in the Olympics, IAAF rules said that runners using prosthetics would be allowed to compete against able-bodied athletes unless the IAAF could show that the athlete received an unfair advantage over other athletes not using prosthetics.

Conditional Clauses
Subordinators as long as, assuming (that), if only, in case, in the event (that), just so (that), on condition (that), providing/provided (that), so long as and suppose/supposing (that) are not found in the analyzed material.

Clauses of concession,
with 66 examples found, are also not frequent in the analyzed corpus. As it can be seen from Table 13, verb show usually occurs within this type of clauses 26), and the other verbs less. The most dominant use of these clauses is registered in economy with the verb show as their verbal, less in other corpora, while it is not used in speech with neither of our verbs. The list of subordinators introducing clauses of concession is given below. The most frequent subordinator is although (29), followed by the subordinator while, and subordinators even though (8), even if (7) and whereas (2) are less frequent. The verb show occurs in clauses introduced by subordinator although usually in sport (5), where the verb show is combined with the catenative construction appear to:

After their attack, Dumoulin called the Colombian and the Italian out for what he viewed as underhand conduct, although television images appeared to show Quintana and Nibali waiting initially as the race leader chased, fruitlessly.
In short stories, the verb speak is premodified with the adjunct of low frequency never and manner adjunct directly. As for other adverbials, in the same corpus, we registered manner adjunct proudly and time-relationship subjunct yet: And although they never spoke directly to each other, Charlie kept joining in the conversation in an odd, once-removed manner.
When these clauses are introduced by the subordinator while, then the verb in the clause is argue, usually in technology (3) (Table 15).
The only subordinator introducing clauses of place is the subordinator where. In all examples, the verb talk occur with pseudo-intransitive complementation talk + PP. The most frequent preposition that has the function of prepositional complement is the preposition about (13). The preposition to is less frequent (7). Prepositions that also perform the function of prepositional complement in the corpus with the verb talk are with & into (economy), off & of (technology): The fear stems from a passage in the Bible's book of Revelation, where it talks of the mark of the beast on the forehead or right hand.
The subordinator wherever is not registered in our corpus.
Verb show occurs in Manner clauses 26 times, while verbs speak and talk occur 3 times each. The verb argue does not occur within these clauses.
With the verbs show, these clauses are most frequent in culture (8) In the corpus with the verb talk, clauses of result are used in speech (2), COVID-19 (2), and only one example in short stories, sport, technology and culture respectively, while it is not used in economy and politics. In the corpus with the verb speak, these clauses are used only in technology (2), sport (1), and short stories (1).
The most frequent subordinator is the subordinator so (23), the subordinator so (that) is found only in technology (1) and short stories (1) with the verb speak, while the subordinator such (that) is not found in the analyzed material.
Clauses of contrast are also not frequent. Out of 20 examples found, 8 is registered with the verb show, 6 with the verb speak, 4 with the verb argue, and 2 with the verb talk. In the corpus with the verb show, these clauses occur in culture (2), and all the other corpora with one example respectively, except in speech where clauses of contrast are not used. In the corpus with the verb speak, these clauses are found in economy (2), and technology (2). With the verb argue, clauses of contrast are used in COVID-19 (2), economy (1), and politics (1), while with the verb talk, we found in politics (1) and economy (1).
In our corpus, these clauses are mainly introduced by the subordinator while (19), while the subordnator whilst is found only in shorts stories (1) with the verb show.
In culture, the verb show occurs with the complementation show + NP as direct object, where the NP consists of coordinated complex noun phrases: One stand interprets "digital traces" in the city, like text messages and phone calls, in the form of abstract sounds, while another shows footage of flashmobs and protests in the Arab spring, both apparently the product of the internet and public space.
The subordinator whereas doesn't occur in our corpus.
Comment clauses are found with the verb argue (10), speak (4), and the verb talk (1). In the corpus with the verb argue, these clauses are found in COVID-19 (7)   Clauses of preference are found in the corpus with the verb talk (politics-3), the verb show (economy-1, speech-1, technology-1) and only one example is registered in technology with the verb speak. The only subordinator that marks clauses of preference is the subordinator rather than, while the subordinator sooner than is not found. Interestingly, in all 3 examples found in politics, the verb talk occurs in the form of gerund: Rather than talking about the government's plans for the economy, he chose to spend his time at the dispatch box telling the Commons why no one should believe a word that was in the Labour manifesto.
Clauses of proportion are found only with the verbs talk and speak. The verbs talk combines with these clauses in the corpus of culture, sport and speech-one example per each corpora. Two examples of clauses of proportion are introduced by the structure the more...the more (culture and sport), while one example occurs with the structure the more...the better (speech). The verb speak occurs once within clauses of proportion in the corpus of culture and this example is introduced by the structure the more...the more: We are backstage at the Barbican, the London Symphony Orchestra's home venue, and the more Rattle talks the more it seems clear that he sees "making things better" as not only a possibility but a responsibility.
Clauses of exception are very rare and we found only two examples combining with the verbs speak and talk respectively. In the corpus of short stories with the verb speak, this clause is introduced by the subordinator except that and the verb speak is in negative form, while in the corpus of speech with the verb talk, this clause is marked by the subordinator but that.
Except that this voice was not speaking in Paul's broken Sahib-Hindi: it was colloquial, racy, freely mixed with Punjabi curse words.
Clauses of contigency are not combined with communicative verbs show, speak, talk and argue in the analyzed material.

Conclusion
Communication verbs show, speak, talk and argue are not frequently used within adverbial clauses. In our corpus, we registered 888 examples of adverbial clauses, which takes up only 0,01 of the total word count (8 million words).
As for individual verbs, most frequently used verb is the verb show with 307 examples, followed by the verbs talk (284) and speak (237), while the verb argue (60) has the lowest frequency in the analyzed corpus.
Clauses of time represent the most frequent subclass of adverbial clauses, which are frequently used with all four verbs of communication, but they are most dominant with the verb talk. The most dominant subordinator introducing these clauses is the subordinator when.
Reason clauses also combined with all verbs, but they are most numerous in corpus with the verb talk. The most frequent subordinator that is made of these clauses is the subordinator because. Although not frequent, all analyzed verbs are registered within clauses of result, while the most frequent subordinator is the subordinator so.
Clauses of contrast are also not frequently used with our verbs. In our corpus, these clauses are mainly introduced by the subordinator while.
Comment clauses only combine with the verbs argue, speak and talk, while clauses of purpose only occur with the verbs talk, speak and show.
Our verbs are not frequently combined with clauses of comparison & similarity, and the most frequent subordinator used is the subordinator as well as.
Clauses of preference are found with the verbs talk, show and speak, while clauses of proportion occur only with the verbs talk and speak. Similarly, only verbs speak and talk are registered within clauses of exception.
Clauses of Contigency are not combined with communicative verbs show, speak, talk and argue in the analyzed material.
Taking into consideration that communicative verbs within adverbial clauses are not extensively examined, we consider that this paper will give a significant contribution to research of other verb classes within adverbial clauses in the English language.