6 - Adverbs

Summary

General

British and American differ somewhat in form, frequency, and use of adverbs. American has certain characteristic uses, such as some in The wound bledsome and any in That doesn't help usany. The common-core adverbs anywhere, everywhere, nowhere, and somewhere have minority American options anyplace, everyplace, no place (usually spelled as two words), and someplace (CamGEL 423).

The aphetic form most from almost has been used since the sixteenth century. Originally Scottish, it is now limited to American and some British dialects (Burchfield 1996, 504). American nondialectal use is chiefly in spoken English as a modifier of all, always, any, every, and compounds of any and every with body, one, and thing (MW s.v. ⁵most).

The use of “flat” adverbs, that is, adverbs identical in form with corresponding adjectives (such as fast) rather than distinguished by the suffix -ly, is said to be particularly widespread in American colloquial use, as opposed to British (LGSWE 542). Historically, however, flat adverbs are the older traditional form. The ending -ly, which we think of as marking adverbs, is more recent in that function than adverbs like fast. Other adverbial uses of adjectives, such as good, bad, and real, now thought to be characteristic of American (LGSWE 542–3; Peters 2004, 62), developed between the fourteenth and eighteenth centuries in Britain.

Other adverbial forms identified as distinctively American include in back with reference to the rear seat of a car (Burchfield 1996, 85; Peters 2004, 60–1) and pretty much (LGSWE 547).