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Modality and Diachronic Construction Grammar
Edited by Martin Hilpert, Bert Cappelle and Ilse Depraetere
[Constructional Approaches to Language 32] 2021
► pp. 123–147

The diachrony of Galician certamente and seguramente

A case of grammatical constructionalization

 | Instituto da Lingua Galega University of Santiago de Compostela
This paper addresses the evolution of two Galician adverbs, certamente and seguramente. Data from three different periods show that they had similar manner, modal and discourse functions in the Middle Ages, as opposed to their distinct functional profiles in more recent days. The theoretical analysis is based on Traugott and Trousdale’s (2013) framework, and shows that several instances of grammatical constructionalization occurred since the emergence of -mente adverbs out of a Latin instrumental construction until the appearance of (inter)subjective markers. The current study also reveals that certamente has become a strengthener and, to a lesser extent, a certainty marker, whereas seguramente expresses probability. The semantic evolution of the adverbs, from manner, through strengthening, to epistemic modality, is in contradiction with the unidirectionality of (inter)subjectification, whereas the loss of intersubjective functions in seguramente is a case of deintersubjectification. Previous research shows that this is a recurrent pattern for epistemic and evidential expressions.
Keywords: epistemic adverbs, grammatical constructionalization, (inter)subjectification, unidirectionality
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Data and analytical categories
    • 2.1Manner uses
    • 2.2Epistemic uses
    • 2.3The strengthening use
    • 2.4The pragmatic use
    • 2.5A note on syntax
    • 2.6Ambiguities
  • 3.Corpus findings
  • 4.A constructionalization approach
    • 4.1The emergence of (inter)subjective adverbs
    • 4.2Seguramente: A new probability marker
  • 5.Final remarks
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 12 October 2021
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/cal.32.05mig
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