Elite Writing Styles: Zero and ‐ <i>ly</i> Adverbs in <i>The Mary Hamilton Papers</i>

Abstract This article explores adverbs in The Mary Hamilton Papers , examining the factors which may influence correspondents' decisions as to whether or not to use the ‐ ly suffix (e.g. exceedingly / exceeding ). While the use of ‐ ly forms is generally well established in the dataset, tendencies differ depending on the specific adverb. This study investigates some factors determining the choice of forms — e.g. the nature of the word that the adverb modifies — arguing that linguistic factors are more influential than extra‐linguistic factors in the data examined. Mary Hamilton's own writings exhibit a slightly delayed adoption of ‐ ly compared to the overall trend in the entire dataset, suggesting possible linguistic conservatism that warrants further research.