Resumen de Attribution in Romance: Reconstructing the oral and written tradition

Martin Hummel

• The article seeks to demonstrate that the diachrony and synchrony of Romance languages are marked by the coexistence of two major types of adverb with attributive (modifying) function. Both are based on adjectives: Type A takes the unmarked adjective (e.g. Sp. trabajar duro ‘to work hard’), whereas Type B is derived (Sp. trabajarduramente ‘to work hard’). In contrast to studies which focus on -ment(e), the article highlights the neglected synchrony and diachrony of Type A adverbs. Moreover, the diachrony and synchrony of both Type A and Type B are considered as related phenomena that have to be placed at the interface of the oral and the written traditions. A combination of written diachronic data with written and spoken variationist data from the twentieth and twenty-first centuries provides evidence for the reconstruction of the oral and written tradition in Romance.