Chapter 12
Realmente, verdaderamente and ciertamente
On the relation between epistemic modality and intensifying adverbs
This paper deals with the historical evolution of three epistemic adverbs in Spanish, verdaderamente, realmente and ciertamente. First, we
describe how these adverbs grammaticalise – or pragmaticalise – as discourse markers and, therefore, widen their structural
scope. Secondly, we show how these words experience a subsequent functionalisation, allowing them to function once again as
adverbs, but now as adjective modifiers and not as verbal adverbs. Finally, we conclude that the fact that verdaderamente, ciertamente and realmente preserve all these different meanings at the same time is not out of line with many other
grammaticalisation processes, a feature defined in the bibliography as “layering” (Hopper,
1991).
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.Methodology
- 3.
Verdaderamente, realmente and ciertamente as verbal adverbs
- 4.
Verdaderamente, realmente and ciertamente as sentence
adverbs
- 5.
Verdaderamente, realmente and ciertamente as discourse
markers
- 6.The development of a new adverbial function:
Verdaderamente, realmente and ciertamente as intensifying adverbs
- 6.1Chronology and distribution
- 6.2Extension of the adjective modifier function
- 7.Conclusions
-
Notes
-
References
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Cited by (2)
Cited by 2 other publications
Ørsnes, Bjarne
2022.
Intensifiers and epistemic adverbials – On the history of German echt ‘really, lit. real/genuine’.
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