From the perspective of construction grammaticalization (TRAUGOTT, 2003, 2009), this paper analyzes the multifunctionality of the Portuguese adverb realmente (really) by characterizing its different usages and defining the way its constructional network would be built up. Based on a panchronic analysis, which used corpora between the 13th century and the contemporary Portuguese, it is shown that this adverb multifunctionality reveals a grammaticalization cline on which an extension of usage in more subjective contexts is attested. It is thus considered that grammaticalization is a process of subjectification in which constructions change from expressing concrete/lexical/objective meanings to expressing - based on the reiteration of their usage patterns - abstract/pragmatic/interpersonal functions that code speakers' beliefs (TRAUGOTT, 1995, 2010; TRAUGOTT; DASHER, 2005). The study results indicate that realmente is used as an epistemic marker for factual and subjective evidence and is grammaticalized from a factual to a subjective usage.
Construction grammaticalization; Subjectification; Constructional network; Epistemic modality
