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In:Cross-linguistic Register Variation
Edited by Sylvi Rørvik and Marlén Izquierdo
[Studies in Corpus Linguistics 125] 2026
► pp. 237–263

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Chapter 10
English absolutely, French absolument, and Dutch absoluut in contrast and in translation

ORCiD logo with link | University of Mons
ORCiD logo with link | University of Mons
ORCiD logo with link | University of Mons
Published online: 20 February 2026
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/scl.125.10ghe
Abstract
This study examines three adverbs — English absolutely, French absolument and Dutch absoluut — across registers and translation data. In doing so, this research expands on prior studies by including less-researched languages and addressing translation dynamics. Results show that all three adverbs are more frequent in spoken than written language, with English absolutely being the most frequent in the corpora consulted, followed by French absolument and Dutch absoluut respectively. Register analysis reveals that absolutely and absolument occur most frequently in informal spoken registers, such as spontaneous conversation, whereas absoluut shows a higher frequency in formal discourse contexts, notably in parliamentary debates that are written to be spoken. Functionally, degree and response marker uses are observed for all three adverbs, with the amplifier degree function prevailing in all languages and registers. Interestingly, translation findings highlight cognates as the preferred option, but maximizers like totally as alternatives.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Absolutely, absolument, and absoluut: What we already know
    • 2.1Manner adverb uses
    • 2.2Degree modifier uses
    • 2.3Emphasizer uses
    • 2.4Response marker uses
  • 3.Methodology
  • 4.Preliminary frequency and register analysis
  • 5.The adverbs in informal spoken language
    • 5.1Amplifier uses
    • 5.2Response marker uses
  • 6.The adverbs in formal written-to-be-spoken language and in translation
    • 6.1Comparing registers: Modality and polarity
    • 6.2Comparing source and target texts
  • 7.Conclusions
  • Notes
  • Corpora
  • References
References (58)
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EuroparlExtract — Comparable Corpora Extracted from the European Parliament Proceedings Parallel Corpus (2021). Version 1. [Dataset (Text corpus)]. Source: European Language Grid, [URL]
Le Corpus d’Etude pour le Français Contemporain — CEFC. Available at [URL]
OpenSubtitles parallel corpora 2018 — OpenSubtitles2018 — Available at [URL]
Spoken British National Corpus 2014 — Spoken BNC2014. Available at [URL]
2014 — Spoken BNC2014. Available at [URL]
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