How a “lawful wedded wife” differs from a “lawfully wedded wife”

[Joe Carillo]

Question e-mailed by Stephen Monsanto (September 21, 2014):

It has been bothering me. Why is it grammatically correct to say “lawful wedded wife” instead of “lawfully wedded wife”?

My reply to Stephen Monsanto:

Both “lawful wedded wife” and “lawfully wedded wife” are actually grammatically correct, and to think that the difference is between a wife wed in a church wedding and another in a civil wedding definitely would be way off the mark.

The word “lawful” is, of course, the adjective that means legal, legitimate or licit—in short, in harmony with the law; it modifies a noun—the subject—to indicate that it is in harmony with the law. On the other hand, “lawfully” is the adverb indicating that a particular action was done or performed in accordance with the law; it modifies a verb—the action—to indicate that it has been done or performed in conformity with the law.

             IMAGE CREDIT: MAGMANEWS.COM

Now, when someone describes a woman as a “lawful wedded wife,” the sense is that she is the legal or legitimate wife of her husband by virtue of an authentic marriage. In grammatical terms, the word “lawful” here is an adjective modifying the whole term “wedded wife” as a noun form. In contrast, when someone describes a woman as a “lawfully wedded wife,” the sense is that the marriage of the woman to her husband was legally or legitimately officiated, in contrast to a marriage that has been performed fraudulently. In grammatical terms, the word “lawfully” is an adverb modifying only the word “wedded” as a past-tense verb rather than the whole term “wedded wife.”

[stockbrokers]

I agreed with your opinion

[Mwita Chacha]

I agreed with your opinion

'Wedded' in 'wedded wife' is not acting as a past-tense verb as Jose Carillo has stated. It's rather acting as an adjective in the form of a participle--a past participle to be specific.

[Joe Carillo]

I'm delighted to hear from you again, Mwita Chacha!

Your grammar analysis is correct but only insofar as it applies to “wedded wife” as a stand-alone term. As such, “wedded wife” is indeed a noun form where “wedded” is a past participle functioning as an adjective. The situation is not grammatically the same though for the terms “lawful wedded wife” and “lawfully wedded wife.” As I explained in my reply to Mr. Stephen Monsanto, the word “lawful” in “lawful wedded wife” is an adjective modifying the whole term “wedded wife” as a noun form, where “wedded”—as you have correctly pointed out—is indeed a past participle acting as an adjective. On the other hand, in the case of the term “lawfully wedded wife,” the words “lawfully wedded” is a composite adverbial modifier of the noun “wife.” That adverbial modifier consists of the adverb “lawfully” modifying the past-tense verb “wedded”; what’s being modified here is the past action “wedded”—not the subject’s attribute of being “wedded” (which is the sense of that word as a past participle working as an adjective)—and the modification is done by the adverb “lawfully.” This adverbial form of modification is what makes the term “lawfully wedded wife” yield the distinct sense that the marriage of the woman to her husband was legally or legitimately officiated rather than done fraudulently.

I trust that I have adequately clarified this matter for you.

[Cagebreinne01]

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