In spite of its empirical and conceptual scope, Cinque's (1999) universal hierarchy does not include dedicated positions for focusing AdvPs of different (semantic) classes. The general Linguistics literature (QUIRK et al., 1976; RICCA, 1999; ADORNO, 2000; CESARE, 2010; among others) recognizes at least the following classes of focusing adverbs: (a) exclusive adverbs (only) (b) non-scalar additives (also), (c) scalar additives (even), (d) inclusion adverbs (including) and (e) particularizers

more »

... nly). Given this acknowledgment, one should ask, assuming the cartographic point of view regarding the Theory of Principles and Parameters, which position(s) these different (semantic) classes of focusing adverbs would occupy in terms of functional hierarchies. The study attempts to answer this question by assuming, with the Cartography Program, that each different class of focusing adverb would have a distinct position of Merge, in accordance with the "One Feature, One Head" principle (KAYNE, 2005). Based on transitivity tests involving two focusing adverbs in the same sentence in two possible orders, applied to Brazilian Portuguese and American Spanish data, this paper proposes a hierarchy for the five classes of the mentioned focusing AdvPs, also establishing the position of each focusing adverb regarding the other adverbs in Cinque's hierarchy.