Adverbs are similar to adjectives, but while the latter modify a noun, adverbs modify a verb (phrase) or another word, such as an adjective, a numeral, or another adverb. Lugamun has two basic kinds of adverbs: plain adverbs and ku-adverbs.

Ku-adverbs are easily recognizable by having the particle ku in front of them. They are placed after the word they modify.

Plain adverbs, on the other hand, have no specific marker in front of them, and they are placed in front of the word they modify.

XXX Delete this section and just talk of “pure adverbs” instead.

Plain adverbs usually consist in a single word. Quantifiers and selectors are a type of plain adverb you know already – they can be placed before verbs and (in some cases) adjectives or adverbs just as well as before nouns.

XXX Add examples and record this usage in the dictionary.

Another type of plain adverb can be called pure adverb – these words are only ever used as adverbs, they cannot modify nouns. They too are placed before the word they modify. They include:

si ples – here (ni+si)
ta ples – there (ni+ta)
? – too (much/many/few/litte)
pia – also, too

XXX Probably explain location expression such as si/ta ples in a different section (technically they are noun phrases used adverbially rather than plain adverbs).

Pure adverbs are typically placed before the phrase they modify. This sometimes allows expressing nuances that are difficult to clearly express in English.

Pia mi xuo o inglis. – I too speak English. (not just you)
Mi xuo pia o inglis. – I speak English too. (not just Lugamun)
Mi pia andika o inglis. – I also write English. (I don’t just speak it)

XXX Explain how adverbs are placed in regard to verb markers – a verb and the corresponding markers are always kept together. Therefore plain adverbs are typically placed at the very start of a verb phrase (before any markers including i), while ku-adverbs are placed at its end. In verb chains, adverbs are instead placed before or after the verb which they modify, which may not always be the first/last verb in the chain. If the phrase is negated, they may be placed before or after the no (itself a plain adverb) depending on whether or not the adverb is included in the negation. Explain all this better and give examples.

Mi [hope] kwai tu miru … – I hope to soon see …

Alternatively, pure adverbs and adverbial expressions referring to the verb (and hence the whole clause) may also be placed elsewhere in the clause, as long as they are placed between rather than within phrases and provided they are unlikely to be misunderstood as referring to the phrase that follows rather than to the verb. Such free placement is especially common with adverbs describing the time when an event took place. Note that anything placed at the beginning of the clause will always be considered as somewhat emphasized compared to neutral placement.

Jen safiri kwai (li) finu cuan o manto (ya). – Soon the traveler took off his cloak. (this is the most typical and most neutral way of expressing this)
Kwai jen safiri (li) finu cuan o manto (ya). – (same meaning, but with a slightly stronger emphasis on the “soonishness” of the act)
Jen safiri (li) finu cuan kwai o manto (ya). – (also possible, but rare)
Jen safiri (li) finu cuan o manto (ya) kwai. – (also possible, but relatively rare and suggests that kwai was added more or less as an afterthought)

Most adverbs are derived from adjectives by placing the marker ku between the adjective and the word or expression it modifies. Such ku-adverbs are placed after the word they modify.

Note: This placement is for consistency with how adjectives are placed in Lugamun.

Ya andika ku hau. – She/He writes well.
wanita [intelligent] ku [amazing] – an amazingly intelligent woman

Any adjective can be turned into an adjective in such a manner, if it makes sense to do so.

Ku-adverbs can be modified by plain adverbs, which are placed before the ku.

Ya andika ingi ku hau. – She/He writes very well.

(You could also express this using reduplication, saying: Ya andika ku hau hau.)

They can also be modified by other ku-adverbs, which are placed after the (whole) adverb to which they refer.

Ya li tenda ku [intelligent] ku [amazing]. – He/She acted amazingly intelligently. / He/She acted in an amazingly intelligent way.

Some ideas that might be represented as adverbs in other languages are expressed using prepositional phrases instead. These include kom ta ‘such, like that’.