From Certainty to Probability: Epistemic Weakeningof the Adverb seguramente in the Diachrony of Spanish

Abstract

The diachronic evolution of the adverb seguramente (‘surely’) reveals a shift from its original use as a manner adverb –expressing physical or psychological security– to modal meanings conveying first certainty and later high probability. Drawing on a corpus of more than 2,000 occurrences extracted from CORDE and CREA, this study examines the interaction between several linguistic parameters –including adverbial type, syntactic distribution, degree of integration, and verbal tense, mood, and semantics– in the semantic evolution of seguramente. The findings point to a process of gradual reconfiguration in which multiple factors converge in the consolidation of the adverb as a modal operator. Epistemic weakening (certainty > probability) is interpreted as the outcome of conventionalized pragmatic inferences associated with the reinforcement of assertion, without necessarily entailing a parallel increase in subjectification, contrary to what might be expected.