Conjunctive Adverbials Used by Charlotte Brontë in the Novel “Jane Eyre”

Conjunctive adverbials or simply conjuncts represent specific sentence elements contributing to the overall semantic coherence of a text. Their use or omission depends entirely on the decision of the author of the text, the way he or she perceives and intends to convey a particular type of connection between its individual parts. In the present linguistic study of the literary work—the self-selected novel “Jane Eyre”—we observe and subsequently specify and evaluate occurrence of conjunctive adverbials in the text with the focus on their particular semantic categories and positions within a sentence.


Introduction
Intelligibility is a critically important aspect of communication (Metruk, 2017), and one of the most significant factors necessary for any kind of text or discourse to be understandable and intelligible is its coherence. There are various language tools and devices that contribute to the textual coherence (Metruk, 2018) and, undoubtedly, linking elements are one of them. Conjunctive adverbials represent one important set of these elements and play a significant role in structuring logical and coherent utterances (Justice & Ezzel, 2016). They are also referred to as linking or connective adverbials/adjuncts, linking devices, sentence connectors, cohesive conjunctions, or adverbial conjuncts. In this research study the focus has been placed on the verbal art, specifically on the well-known British literary masterpiece of the nineteenth century-a novel "Jane Eyre" -with intention to examine in detail Charlotte Brontë's language form and organization as far as discourse coherence is concerned.

Conjuncts and Their Characteristics
The basic role of conjuncts is "to conjoin two utterances or parts of an utterance; they do so by expressing the semantic relationship (e.g. of time or contingency) obtaining between them" (Greenbaum & Quirk, 1990, p. 184). Quirk et al. (1985, p. 631) liken conjuncts to disjuncts for they have "a relatively detached and superordinate" role in comparison with other clause elements. Biber et al. (1999) use the term linking adverbials, Halliday and Matthiesen (2004) label them as linking devices or cohesive conjunctions, Carter and McCarthy (2006) adopt the term linking adjuncts and the term conjuncts is used by Quirk et al. (1985), Greenbaum (1996) and Rafajlovičová (2004). Similarly, the mentioned linguists provide a variety of classifications and subcategories of conjuncts that share some mutual features but differ from each other to some extent, as well. Biber et al. (1999, p. 765) discuss in detail the term linking adverbials and provide the following eloquent definition: "Linking adverbials have a more peripheral relationship with the rest of the clause than circumstance adverbials typically do. Rather than adding additional information to a clause, they serve a connective function. They make explicit the relationship between two units of discourse […]". Later on, Biber et al. (1999, p. 875) convey that beside coordinators and subordinators, linking adverbials are significant if text is to be cohesive. They show the connection between individual parts of the text. They also point out to the major function of linking adverbials-"to state the speaker/writer's perception of the relationship between two units of discourse". Carter and McCarthy (2006, p. 256) adopt the term linking adjuncts which according to them "explicitly indicate the semantic relationship between two clauses or sentences or paragraphs". They also play an important role in academic writing as they help to create textual coherence and organize the text (Hundarenko, 2015, p. 734). (2004, p. 34) who indicates that "conjuncts tell us how the speaker or writer understands the semantic connection between two utterances, or parts of utterances". She also adds that conjuncts are used "to express the type of connection between clauses". Quirk et al. (1985, pp. 631-632) specify that conjuncts "have the function of conjoining independent units rather than one of contributing another facet of information to a single integrated unit". They are related to the speaker's comment with respect to "his assessment of how he views the connection between two linguistic units" (ibid).
Despite the fact that there are several terms used to designate the same category of adverbials, all of them emphasize their connective function, as well as the fact that conjuncts play a significant role in building up cohesion of the text as they clearly indicate the relations and connections between certain parts of the text.

Semantic Roles and Realization Forms of Conjuncts
According to the classification made by Biber et al. (1999, p. 875), there are six general semantic categories that can be distinguished: adverbials of enumeration and addition, adverbials of summation, adverbials of apposition, adverbials of result/inference, adverbials of contrast/concession and adverbials of transition. This classification, however, does not include a complete list of all conjuncts, belonging to each category. On the other hand, Quirk et al. (1985, p. 636) classify roles of conjuncts into seven categories along with their subdivisions: listing (enumerative, additive-equative and reinforcing), summative, appositive, resultative, inferential, contrastive (reformulatory, replacive, antithetic and concessive), and transitional (discoursal and temporal) conjuncts. Quirk et al. specify particular examples of conjuncts within each category and subcategory. Carter and McCarthy (2006, p. 257) deal with the issue of syntactic forms of conjuncts and specify conjuncts as a "large class which includes single-word and phrasal items". According to their classification, all types of conjuncts containing one word belong to the category of "single-word" and the others containing more than one word belong to the category of "phrasal/clausal". More detailed and elaborated overview of syntactic forms of conjuncts is suggested by Biber et al. (1999, p. 884) who specify the following forms by which conjuncts might be realized: single adverbs, adverb phrases, prepositional phrases, finite clauses, and non-finite clauses. They take a closer look upon the occurrence of different forms of conjuncts within two registers, which are conversation and academic prose and claim that the majority of conjuncts are realized by single adverbs in both conversation and academic prose. However, in academic prose (Hundarenko 2014, p. 7) there are also prepositional phrases that occur relatively frequently.

Position of Conjuncts within a Sentence and Their Occurrence in the Register of Fiction
There are three main positions that can be distinguished-initial, medial and final (end) ones. Biber et al. (1999, pp. 890-891) summarize that the most common position of conjuncts in conversation and academic prose is initial; that in conversation, the second most common position is final, medial positions occur very rarely and that in academic prose, the second most common position is medial; final positions occur very rarely. Quirk et al. (1985, pp. 643) agree that the initial position is typical of conjuncts which are restricted to it. Conjuncts with an initial position are typically followed by a comma and those with final position are usually preceded by one and "such comma is used especially when the conjunct would have a separate intonation nucleus in speech or when it might be misinterpreted as an adjunct" (ibid).
Biber et al. realized the research on frequency of occurrence of conjuncts in four different registers-academic prose, conversation, fiction and news. The research findings show that the highest number of conjuncts can be observed in academic prose. Furthermore, their occurrence is less frequent in conversation and fiction and the least amount was noticed in news. As to the register of fiction, which is the subject matter of our interest, the most common used category of conjuncts is that of contrast/concession. Less frequent, but still used are resultive conjuncts (Biber et al., 1999, pp. 880-883).
Another research done by Liu (2008) was aimed at investigating different types of conjuncts in the NBC (National British Corpus) across five registers-spoken English, academic writing, fiction, news writing and other writings. The research results correspond with Biber et al.'s findings to a certain extent, claiming that there is a lower frequency of conjuncts in fiction than in speaking or academic writing (Liu, 2008, p. 499). However, Liu's research brought several new findings as well. For instance, it was showed that there is a high frequency of so called sequential linking adverbials (conjuncts) in the register of fiction. The author assumes that it is because of the fact that "fiction is narrative and the sequence of events plays a very important role in narration" (Liu, 2008, p. 501). According to the classification adopted in Liu's research, the sequential category of conjuncts refers to and embraces listing, summative and transitional (temporal) conjuncts (Liu, 2008, p. 496). Another finding concerning the use of conjuncts in fiction is that there can be more colloquial conjuncts observed in its dialogues than in conversation.

Language of the Novel "Jane Eyre"
The novel "Jane Eyre" is one of the most outstanding novels written during the Late Romantic Era. It displays a wide array of Romantic themes, concepts and modes (Murray, 2004, p. 573). The novel represents an authentic source with a very complex style of writing, using long and complex sentences, rather than simple ones. On the basis of its analysis, it is possible to find out and clarify to what extent conjuncts were used in the literature of the nineteenth century. Charlotte Brontë is considered to be one of the first modern women authors of her time. The period of Brontë's life is known as Victorian era which was famous for its high moral standards, social conventions and gender differences. It largely influenced Brontë's writing. The novel "Jane Eyre", published in 1847, is a narrative of a woman who struggles with her own desires and social conditions. It consists of 38 chapters and is written from the first-person point of view and narrated by the main character, Jane Eyre. Brontë uses long and vivid descriptions of settings and events and the emotional state of the main character creates a unique and realistic atmosphere. She uses a very impressive and symbolic language to catch the attention of the reader, including various literary techniques and devices such as metaphors, allusions, alliterations or imagery.
Syntactically, Charlotte Brontë applies each type of sentence construction. As Staveley (2013) points out, she uses multi-clausal and tangential sentences which were not simple to write. Petersen (2013) claims that long sentences in the novel "Jane Eyre" portray heroine's thoughts in the novel and stress the curiosity from her perspective. Moreover, Lodge (2009, p. 46) adds that the author creates a swift of short sentences by using multiple independent clauses within sentences, separating them with a semi-colon or uniting them with a conjunction.
Regarding adverbial frequency, Charlotte Brontë works with a high number of adverbs and put intense emphasis upon them. These features reflect the psychology of the author and show the importance by the way an act is performed, i.e. its duration, intensity and manner (Lodge, 2009, p. 46). The author inclines to the use of balanced clauses, rhetorical questions, exclamations, exhortations, appended clauses and appositional phrases to disrupt the balanced lines (Lodge, 2009, p. 50). As stated by Laying the Foundation (2004, p. 702), the use of ellipsis in her novels eliminate unknown words and create a strong rhythmical pattern.

Research Interpretation
The interpretation and analysis of the collected and observed conjuncts have been realized on the basis of Quirk et al.'s (1985) and Biber et al.'s (1999)

Research Results
The total of 72 different conjuncts have been found and observed within the novel "Jane Eyre". As the majority of them occur frequently throughout the story, the overall number of all conjuncts used in the research sample is 1188.
It has also been found out that not all of the observed items always function as a conjunct. Therefore, it has been inevitable to consider the function of each item separately by observing its surrounding sentences and context in which the particular item appeared. There are several examples of such items that do not function solely as conjuncts:
Besides I and Sophie used to walk every day in a great green place full of trees, called the Park; and there were many children besides me, and a pond with beautiful birds in it, that I fed with crumbs (Brontë, 2009, p. 131).

Yet
When I again unclose my eyes a loud bell was ringing: the girls were up and dressing; day had not yet began to dawn, and a rushlight or two burned in the room (Brontë, 2009, p. 59).

Too
The night passed rapidly: I was too tired even to dream (Brontë , 2009, p. 59 So I had meant to be so good and to do so much at Lowood; to make so many friends, to earn respect, and win affection) (Brontë, 2009, p. 69).

Frequency of Occurrence of Individual Conjuncts
On the basis of the observation it is possible to sum up that there are several conjuncts with much higher occurrence than the others. The results are summarised in the table below. It shows the number of occurrences of each individual conjunct observed in the literary text. The most frequent conjunct occurring in the novel is then/and then which belongs to the listing category. It is used 271 times within the research text and occurs in all three positions (initial, medial and final ones) in the observed sentences. On the basis of the research results we can claim that the frequency of the conjunct then/and then outnumbers the frequency of all the other conjuncts found in the research sample to a great extent. Its overall occurrence in the text represents 23%. The reason of such a high occurrence of this particular conjunct lies in the character of the observed text. As it is typical for narration that events are presented in a certain order, it is assumed that the conjunct then/and then plays an important role when creating the sequence of the story. It should be pointed out that our findings match Liu's (2008) ones. They showed that the register of fiction is characterized by a frequent use of sequential conjuncts-category including listing, summative and transitional conjuncts. According to the results, the second most common used conjunct is indeed, belonging to the summative category with the frequency of occurrence 91 times within the novel, taking all sentence positions as well, and representing 8% of the overall number of used conjuncts. The contrastive conjunct yet/and yet is the third in a row with the occurrence 84 times in the research sample. Again, it has been observed in all three main positions and its amount in the text represents 7% of the total number of all used conjuncts. Furthermore, the

Frequency of Occurrence of Semantic Categories
Regarding the occurrence of each semantic category of conjuncts, it was found out that there are all of the above mentioned categories represented within the selected novel. However, when considering the distribution of individual categories, it is possible to see striking differences between their frequencies of occurrence.
The findings of our research do not correspond with the Biber et al.'s (1999) ones. According to them the most common category in the register of fiction is that of concession/contrast. Our research results show that it is the listing category with the highest frequency of occurrence. However, this is in correspondence with the Liu's (2008) research who found out that sequential linking adverbials represent the highest frequency of occurrence in the fiction. As to the representation and distribution of individual subcategories, the results are summarized in Table 2: We can deduct that within the listing category, the subcategory of enumeration occur more frequently (29%) than the subcategory of addition (14%). In the transitional category, it can be seen that discoursal subcategory (6%) slightly prevails over the temporal one (4%). Considering the category of apposition, the table shows that both subcategories occur to a very similar extent, as the exemplification represents 2% and the reformulation only 1%. Table 3 includes all representatives of each category of conjuncts with their total amount of occurence. Conjuncts are ordered from the most frequent to the least frequent. conjuncts). Another point worth mentioning is that there are several conjuncts in each category/subcategory with a much higher frequency of occurrence than all other representatives. It can be stated that rather than using a wide range of different conjuncts, the author prefers using only a few dominant conjuncts within each semantic category. In the following subchapters, each category will be discussed in more detail.

Listing Conjuncts
Listing conjuncts represent 43% of the whole research sample. Out of all 1188 conjuncts used in the novel, 506 conjuncts have been placed into the listing category. It is subdivided into two subcategories-enumeration and addition conjuncts. Both subcategories represent 17% of the total amount of conjuncts and contain the same number of representatives-12 conjuncts. The most frequent conjunct, not only within the individual category but also in the research sample as a whole, is (and) then with the 54% presence. It is used 271 times within the whole novel. It has been shown, that the other conjuncts with a rather high frequency in the category of listing are: too (14%), besides (10%) and at last (5%). The rest of the conjuncts belonging to this category have the frequency of occurrence less than 5%.
Listing conjuncts are used so that to create a logical sequence of orders or information and to add items of discourse to one another. By using listing conjuncts, it is possible to see that described events have a beginning and an end. According to Quirk et al. (1985, p. 636) a listing role is "a basic language function". Regarding these implications, it can be stated that a high occurrence of listing conjuncts within our research sample is logical and natural. As the novel "Jane Eyre" belongs to the genre of fiction, it can be assumed that a logical order of events plays a significant role when narrating a story.

Contrastive/Concessive Conjuncts
The second most frequent category of conjuncts occurring in the novel "Jane Eyre" is that of contrast/concession. It has been shown that it represents 29% of the whole research sample, as 342 out of all 1188 conjuncts found in the research sample belong to this category. There are, overall, 17 representatives included within this particular category. The most frequent ones are: (and) yet representing 25% of the whole category and used 84 times in the novel, though with 23%, used 78 times, however with 17%, used 57 times and at least with the occurence of 7% used 25 times.
Contrastive/concessive conjuncts are used to express opposition, contrast or difference between what is being said and what has been said before. They show that one statement is surprising and rather unexpected with the respect to the other. From the numerical statistics stated above, it is possible to deduct that the two most frequent conjuncts (and) yet and though occur in the research text to a very similar extent. Several empirical studies, dealing with the occurrence of conjuncts in various registers have shown that within the category of contrast/concession it is mainly however that occurs with a notable frequency. It can be noticed that in our research text, the conjunct however is the third most frequent one within the particular category. Yet, it is important to mention that the results of the former studies relate principally to the register of academic prose. Therefore, it is assumed that there are certain differences in using particular conjuncts in the register of academic prose and the register of fiction.

Transitional Conjuncts
The third most frequent semantic category is that of transition, representing 10% of the total number of conjuncts. There are 116 conjuncts referring to 11 representatives. This category is subdivided into the discoursal subcategory with 3 representatives and the temporal one with 8 representatives. It can be seen that there is only one conjunct-now-that occurs quite often and outnumbers all other representatives to a great extent. Its occurrence in the text (67 times) represents 58% of the whole category. The second most common conjunct is meantime, which in comparison with now appears only 22 times and represents 19% of the total amount. Other representatives have a low frequency of occurrence.
As to the role of conjuncts within this category, they are used in order to change a topic of conversation. Discoursal ones serve to move the attention by expressing an unrelated event. Temporal ones mark a shift from the "normal sequence in narrative" (Quirk et al., 1985, p. 640). The most frequent discoursal conjunct observed in our research is now. It is according to Quirk et al. (1985, p. 636) informal, and is used within the novel especially in the fictional dialogues between characters. The discoursal conjunct by the bye, which in spite of its low frequency (used only 6 times), occurs more often than the conjunct by the way (used only once). It can be assumed that the occurrence of the conjunct by the bye, that is not very common in present-day literature, reflects a different language use in the nineteenth century.

Summative Conjuncts
The summative category of conjuncts takes the fourth place regarding the frequency of occurrence in the research text. With 99 conjuncts it represents 8% of the research sample. However, there are only 3 representatives of this category-indeed, in short and best of all. The conjunct indeed appears 91 times within the novel.
The role of summative conjuncts is to conclude and summarize the information that has been presented. It is supposed that rather a low frequency of conjuncts from this particular category is not surprising when considering the register of fiction, as drawing conclusions and summaries is more typical for other registers, e.g. academic prose.

Resultive/Inferential Conjuncts
Resultive/inferential category of conjuncts represents only 7% of the research sample-it contains 85 conjuncts with 11 representatives. The most common conjuncts within this category are: thus (used 26 times) and of course (used 23 times).
The resultive/inferential conjuncts are used to indicate the result of something that has been said before. In spite of a variety of conjuncts belonging to this category found within the research sample, it can be noticed that the author uses only two of them quite frequently. These findings do not correspond with the Biber et al.'s findings (1999) who, though claiming that resultive conjuncts are not very commonly used, admit that they can be found in the register of fiction (especially conjunct so). In our research sample so represents only 14% of the whole category and overall, it is used only 12 times.

Appositive Conjuncts
The least frequent category representing only 3% of the research sample is that of apposition. Altogether, there are 40 appositive conjuncts found in the novel. This category has 6 representatives-two in the subcategory of exemplification and four in the subcategory of reformulation. The most commonly used conjuncts are those of exemplification: for instance, representing 37 % (used 15 times) and etc., representing 30% (used 12 times).
Appositive conjuncts are used to express information that has been said in other words or to specify it more explicitly, providing concrete examples. A typical appositive conjunct for example is not used within the research sample at all. Instead, the author uses its equivalent for instance repeatedly throughout the novel. A rare occurrence of this particular category with regards to its semantic role might indicate that its use is more typical for other registers than for the register of fiction.

Positions of Conjuncts in Sentences
It has been found out that the most frequent position of conjuncts investigated within the research sample is a medial position (MP). The second most frequent position is an initial one (IP) and the least frequent position is a final one (FP). From a total of 1188 conjuncts, there are 745 conjuncts occurring in MP, representing 63%, 338 conjuncts occurring in IP, representing 28% and 105 conjuncts occurring in FP, representing 9%.
We can conclude that the most frequent conjunct (and) then (used 271 times) occurs 179 times in MP, 67 times in IP and 25 times in FP. The positions of the other four most frequent conjuncts are discussed and summarised in the table below. As shown in the table, there is the dominance of MP in almost all cases, except for (and) yet where IP is the most common. These findings agree with Quirk et al.'s arguments (1985, p. 643) who provide yet as an example of the typical conjunct occurring in IP. When taking a closer look at the percentage rate, it can be seen that MP of all other four conjuncts vastly outnumbers IP and FP, as occurrence in MP represents more than 60%. Another point worth mentioning is the position of the conjunct too. It can be stated that in comparison with all other conjuncts, too is the only one from rather frequent conjuncts that does not occur in IP. However, it is the second most common conjunct occurring in FP (after then). It should be pointed out that the above mentioned results do not correspond with Biber et al.'s and Quirk et al.'s findings completely. As for instance, the linguists state that then and though typically occur in FP but Biber et al. (1999, p. 891) only mention their occurrence in conversation, while Quirk et al. (1985, p. 643) do not specify any register. Examples below illustrate five most frequent conjuncts in all their positions found in the research sample.
IP: Then the importance of the process quickly steadied her, and by the time she had her curls arranged in well-smoothed, drooping clusters, her pink satin frock put on, her long sash tied, and her lace mittens adjusted, she looked as grave as any judge. (Brontë, 2009, p. 170) MP: I obeyed him; then he put the glass on the table, stood before me, and looked at me attentively. (Brontë, 2009, p. 299) FP: I am: so are you -what then? (Brontë, 2009, p. 139) IP: 'Indeed I will, sir; I have my petition all ready.' (Brontë, 2009, p. 261) MP: I will run over to Hay for you with pleasure, if you wish it; indeed, I am going there to post a letter. (Brontë, 2009, p. 115) FP: You ought to have replied no such thing. Beauty of little consequence, indeed! (Brontë, 2009, p. 132) IP: 'Yet,' I reflected, 'she has been young once; her youth would be contemporary with her master's: Mrs Fairfax told me once, she had lived here many years.' (Brontë, 2009, p. 156) MP: There were but eight; yet, somehow, as they flocked in, they gave the impression of a much larger number. (Brontë, 2009, p. 171) FP: 'There! I am up now; but at your peril you fetch a candle yet.' (Brontë, 2009, p (Brontë, 2009, p. 93) MP: I rang the bell, for I wanted a candle; and I wanted, too, to get an account of this visitant. (Brontë, 2009, p. 119) FP: My brother in the interval was dead, and at the end of the four years my father died too. (Brontë, 2009, p. 307)

Discussion
It has been found out that according to the classification adopted for the present research there are six semantic categories of conjuncts occurring in the novel "Jane Eyre". Rather than using a wide range of different conjuncts, the author prefers using only a few dominant conjuncts within each semantic category. The most frequent category is that of listing. It includes the highest number of individual conjuncts-altogether there are 24 representatives (a total of 506 out of 1188 conjuncts). When considering individual conjuncts observed within the whole literary text, the listing conjunct then/and then has the highest frequency of occurrence (in all three positions), as it occurs 271 times and forms 23% of the total amount of conjuncts. The reason of such a high occurrence of this particular conjunct lies in the character of the observed text. It is typical for the genre of fiction and narration that events are presented in a certain order; therefore, extensive use of linking conjuncts by the author when creating the sequence of the story is logical and natural.
Discoursal conjuncts are used in the novel to move the attention by expressing an unrelated event. The most frequent discoursal conjunct observed in our research is now. It is used 67 times within the novel-especially in the fictional dialogues between characters. A six times higher occurrence of the slightly archaic discoursal conjunct by the bye than the occurrence of its synonymic conjunct by the way again refers to the different language use in the nineteenth century.
As regards appositive conjuncts, their semantic role is to generally express information that has been said in other words or specify it more explicitly, providing concrete examples. They are not typically used in the register of fiction-this explains their rare occurrence in the novel. Instead of the conjunct for example the author uses just its equivalent for instance repeatedly throughout the novel.
other two positions (initial and final) to a great extent-more specifically, from a total of 1188 conjuncts used in the novel, 745 conjuncts have been found to occur in medial position (63%). It is assumed, that such a high occurrence of medial position of conjuncts is caused by the structure of sentences used by Charlotte Brontë. They tend to be very long and complex and that might be the reason why it is more likely that conjuncts occur within a sentence itself, rather than at the beginning or at the end of it.
The attempt of our research study was to study the language of literature from the syntactic viewpoint, in detail, to bring the issue of connective adverbials into focus and analyse their use in the masterpiece "Jane Eyre". We have come to the conclusion that our linguistic approach dealing with the syntactical elements has revealed the creativity and complexity of Brontë's writing and, what is more, other syntactic research options in the register of fiction in future (e.g., syntactic comparative studies of various literary periods in different countries). The research results may be beneficial for wide groups of readers, since they can serve as learning material providing the deeper insight into the issue of adverbials, specifically conjuncts as well as to the nature of literary language.