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On the history of downright1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 July 2008

BELÉN MÉNDEZ-NAYA
BELÉN MÉNDEZ-NAYA*
Affiliation:
Departamento de Filoloxía Inglesa, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Facultade de Filoloxía, 15702 Santiago de Compostela, [email protected]
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Abstract

Using data retrieved from a variety of diachronic corpora and the OED quotation database, this diachronic study sheds light on the origin and development of the degree function of a low-frequency intensifier, English downright, both as an adverb (it's downright rude) and as a reinforcing adjective (downright nonsense). The history of downright illustrates the interplay between lexicalization and grammaticalization in the evolution of a single item and provides a good example of the crucial role of context and inferencing in semantic change, and of two different trajectories in the development of intensifiers (adjunct > degree modifier, and descriptive adjective > affective adjective > intensifier).

Type
Research Article
Information
English Language & Linguistics , Volume 12 , Issue 2 , July 2008 , pp. 267 - 287
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2008

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