A very large per cent of these adverbs modify the verb.
That is to say, it is largely through the adverb that what the predicate
expresses is declared not to be true of the thing named by the subject. It
is very suggestive that much of what is said consists of denial--is taken
up in telling not what is true of things but what is not true of them.
"The negative particle in our language is simply the consonant +n+. In
Saxon it existed as a word +ne+; but we have lost that word, and it is now
a letter only, which, enters into many words, as into _no, not, nought,
none, neither, nor, never_."--_Earle_.
_No_ and _yes_ (_nay_ and _yea_), when used to answer Questions, show how
the thought presented is regarded, and may therefore be classed with
adverbs of manner. They are sometimes called _independent adverbs_. They
seem to modify words omitted in the answer but contained in the question;
as, Did you see him? _No_ = I did _no_ (_not_) see him; Will you go? _Yes_.
The force of _yes_ may be illustrated by substituting _certainly_--Will you
go? _Certainly_. _Certainly_ I will go, or I will _certainly_ go. As _no_
and _yes_ represent or suggest complete answers, they may be called
+sentence-words+.] etc., used to modify a word--as, _spoke_ in, He _spoke
plainly_--by expressing manner, are called +Adverbs of Manner+.
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