Before going on to examine data from Finnish, I discuss briefly what stage and individual level predicates are. The distinction between stage and individual level predicates was first introduced by Carlson (1977), following Milsark (1974). Carlson used the stage/individual level distinction to explain the different readings that English bare plural nouns receive in different contexts:
(1) a. Mice ate all the cheese in the fridge. b. Mice are small. c. Mice are animals.
The term bare plural noun, according to Carlson (1977) refers to NPs which lack overt specifiers, but which can still get different readings. Carlson (1977) suggests that bare plural nouns get different readings, not because they are accompanied by some kind of null specifier element, but because of the type of the predicate that these nouns are combined with. In other words, bare plural nouns are unambiguous, and can get a unified analysis so that all the occurrences of bare plurals are similar, in terms of structure and interpretation. So, if nouns get different readings depending on the type of predicate they are combined with, my question is: can adverbials also behave in the same way, and get different readings, depending on the type of the predicate they are combined with.
I begin by looking at some simple sentences in Finnish, consisting of a subject and an intransitive verb:
(2) Sirkku kavelee Sirkku-nom walk-present/3sg Sirkku walks
The sentence in (2) is ambiguous between two readings. On the one hand, we can be talking about some specific, temporary occasion on which Sirkku walks. On the other hand, we can be talking about some generic, permanent property or characteristic that Sirkku has. The first reading is the stage level reading, and the second reading is the individual level reading. Carlson (1977) argues that these two readings arise because the verb 'walk' has multiple meanings. It can either be a stage level verb and quantify over stages, or it can be an individual level verb and be predicated of individuals. As a stage level verb, it expresses temporary, transitory events: we are saying something that holds of an individual named Sirkku with regard to some particular time or place. As an individual level verb it expresses the inherent, permanent properties or characteristics that an individual has: we are saying something that always holds of an individual named Sirkku, or is always Sirkku's property or characteristic, irrespective of time or place. It is always true of Sirkku that she has the property of walking, in the same way that it is always true of Sirkku that she has blond hair, or tans easily, or likes to eat croissants in the morning. This is in keeping with Milsark (1974), who argues that stage level predicates express qualities that can be removed without causing any changes in the essential qualities of the individual, ie in this case the subject Sirkku, whereas individual level verbs express qualities that cannot be removed without causing changes in the essential qualities of the individual. This is exactly where adverbials enter the scene, because many adverbials, although they are not arguments of the verb and are not selected by the verb, seem to contribute something to the essential qualities of the entity, and thus cannot be deleted from the sentence without causing changes in the essential qualities of the individual.