Hengeveld classifies English as a ‘differentiated’ language that uses two morphological word-classes for adjective and (manner) adverb. The paper shows that English is instead a language where ‘differentiation’ coexists and competes with ‘flexibility’ (one word-class for adjective and adverb). English shares this feature with Romance, whereas it is distinctive with regard to other Germanic languages. The paper therefore aims at investigating the parallels that can be seen between English and Romance in both, synchrony and diachrony. It will be shown that variationist data are crucial for the understanding of this situation. Shared traditions of linguistic standardization in English and Romance explain common features that cannot be reduced to the typological and functional aspects.

Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen:Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden.Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen.Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. We examine ownership patterns of German university-invented patents before and after the abolition of the 'professors' privilege' in 2002 to explore how the legal change affected patenting activities. Our data show a shift from individually-owned and firmowned patents to university-owned patents, which becomes increasingly strong over the years. Differences in the patent experience of inventors and universities further help explain the variance in ownership patterns. Both experienced and inexperienced inventors are affected by the legal change. Terms of use: Documents inJEL Classifications: O33, O34, O38

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