Adverb's role in sentences with clauses?


In a given example sentence: いつも音楽を聴きながら勉強します, I was surprised the translation
for the sentence is "I always study while listening to music".

いつも is referring to 勉強します since it's the main verb? So the clause is 音楽を聴き, is
that still an adverbial clause? Can this sentence not be translated as "I
always listen to music while studying" as it's contextually about the same
thing?




In the most straightforward interpretation, いつも modifies the whole of
音楽を聴きながら勉強します, in which the adverbial clause 音楽を聴きながら modifies the main verb
勉強します.

This is because いつも is an adverb of frequency, and this kind of adverb tends
to work on the whole sentence. Thus, the sentence is talking about the
frequency of your habit, and your habit in this case is to study while
listening to music.

It would have been different if the adverb were ずっと.

> ずっと音楽を聴きながら勉強します。  
>  I study while always (≈ constantly) listening to music.

ずっと is an adverb of manner and it would most likely be associated with
音楽を聴きながら to describe how you listen to music because 音楽を聴きながら is closer in
position than 勉強します.

Interestingly, it could go either way with ときどき.

> ときどき音楽を聴きながら勉強します。  
>  a) I sometimes study while listening to music. [frequency]  
>  b) I study while sometimes (≈ intermittently) listening to music. [manner]

The English translations attempt to contrast the difference in the function of
each adverb by its position only. Some might sound awkward.

By the way, I thought your question was confusing because of the alternate
translation you provided (and your own statement that “it’s contextually about
the same thing” as the original translation) and left a comment about it
hoping you would clarify. If your focus was on the function of an adverb as
the title suggests, I think the alternate translation should have been “I
study while always listening to music,” rather than “I always listen to music
while studying.”




In the most straightforward interpretation, いつも modifies the whole of
音楽を聴きながら勉強します, in which the adverbial clause 音楽を聴きながら modifies the main verb
勉強します.

This is because いつも is an adverb of frequency, and this kind of adverb tends
to work on the whole sentence. Thus, the sentence is talking about the
frequency of your habit, and your habit in this case is to study while
listening to music.

It would have been different if the adverb were ずっと.

> ずっと音楽を聴きながら勉強します。  
>  I study while always (≈ constantly) listening to music.

ずっと is an adverb of manner and it would most likely be associated with
音楽を聴きながら to describe how you listen to music because 音楽を聴きながら is closer in
position than 勉強します.

Interestingly, it could go either way with ときどき.

> ときどき音楽を聴きながら勉強します。  
>  a) I sometimes study while listening to music. [frequency]  
>  b) I study while sometimes (≈ intermittently) listening to music. [manner]

The English translations attempt to contrast the difference in the function of
each adverb by its position only. Some might sound awkward.

By the way, I thought your question was confusing because of the alternate
translation you provided (and your own statement that “it’s contextually about
the same thing” as the original translation) and left a comment about it
hoping you would clarify. If your focus was on the function of an adverb as
the title suggests, I think the alternate translation should have been “I
study while always listening to music,” rather than “I always listen to music
while studying.”

