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In:Adverbs and Particles at the Form-Meaning Interface
Edited by Marco Coniglio, Kalle Müller and Markus Steinbach
[Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today 292] 2026
► pp. 100–115

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Sentence adverbs and modal particles in Basque

 | University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU
Published online: 23 March 2026
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https://doi.org/10.1075/la.292.05mon
Abstract
This paper investigates sentence adverbs, modal particles, and evidential-epistemic affixes in Basque. While previous studies have often grouped Basque verbal affixes expressing evidentiality and epistemicity under the label of modal particles, this work argues that such elements differ significantly from German modal particles in their morphosyntactic behavior and should instead be classified as evidential-epistemic affixes. The study also offers a first descriptive and syntactic analysis of Basque sentence adverbs, an understudied category. A preliminary classification is proposed, distinguishing between adverbs that function exclusively as sentence adverbs and those that also serve other grammatical roles. Additionally, the paper explores the origins of these adverbs, shedding light on their grammaticalization paths. Finally, it identifies a small set of elements in Basque that align more closely with German modal particles in terms of syntactic behaviour and interpretation.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Basque modal particles are not modal particles
  • 3.On sentence adverbs in Basque: A first approach
  • 4.Are there modal particles in Basque after all?
  • 5.Summary and outlook
  • Notes
  • References
References (46)
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