on of an adverb is, in respect to matters of syntax,
pre-eminently parenthetic; i.e., it may be omitted without injuring the
construction. _He is fighting--now; he was fighting--then; he
fights--bravely; I am almost--tired_, &c.

s. 497. By referring to the Chapter on the Adverbs, we shall find that the
neuter adjective is frequently converted into an adverb by deflection. As
any neuter adjective may be so deflected, we may justify such expressions
as _full_ (for _fully_) as _conspicuous_ (for _conspicuously_), and
_peculiar_ (for _peculiarly_) _bad grace_, &c. We are not, however, bound
to imitate everything that we can justify.

s. 498. The termination -ly was originally adjectival. At present it is a
derivational syllable by which we can convert an adjective into an adverb:
_brave, brave-ly_. When, however, the adjective ends in -ly already, the
formation is awkward. _I eat my daily bread_ is unexceptionable English; _I
eat my bread daily_ is exceptionable. One of two things must here take
place: the two syllables ly are packed into one (the full expression being
_dai-li-ly_), or else the construction is that of a neuter adjective
deflected.

Adverbs are convertible. _The then men_ = [Greek: hoi nun brotoi], &c. This
will be seen more clearly in the Chapter on Conjunctions.

s. 499. It has been remarked that in expressions like _he sleeps the sleep
of the righteous_, the construction is adverbial. So it is in expressions
like _he walked a mile, it weighs a pound_. The ideas expressed by _mile_
and _pound_ are not the names of anything that serves as either object or
instrument to the verb. They only denote the _manner_ of the action, and
define the meaning of the verb.

s. 500. _From whence_, _from thence_.--This is an expression which, if it
have not taken root in our language, is likely to do so. It is an instance
of excess of expression in the way of syntax; the -ce denoting direction
_from_ a place, and the preposition doing the same. It is not so important
to determine what this construction _is_, as to suggest what it is _not_.
It is _not_ an instance of an adverb governed by a preposition. If the two
words be dealt with as logically separate, _whence_ (or _thence_) must be a
noun = _which place_ (or _that place_); just as _from then till now_ =
_from that time to this_. But if (which is the better view) the two words
be dealt with as one (i.e., as an improper compound) the preposition _from_
has lost its n