Intensification with Very, Really and So in Selected Varieties of English

Abstract

The present study is concerned with comparing the intensifiers very, really and so modifying adjectives on the basis of comparable corpora representing the English spoken in Britain, the US, New Zealand and Singapore. The analysis is both quantitative and qualitative. The results of the quantitative comparison showed that there were differences both with regard to the overall frequency of the intensifiers and the distribution of the individual intensifiers in the varieties. The three intensifiers had a higher overall frequency in Singapore English. On the other hand, American English speakers used intensifiers less frequently suggesting that they use other strategies for intensification or can do without them. Singapore English stood out because of the frequency of very, while really had a higher frequency than both very and so in New Zealand English. The study also confirmed earlier research that so is on the rise in American English. The qualitative analysis was concerned with the type of adjectives the intensifiers collocated with. The intensifiers were used most frequently with evaluative adjectives indicating states, judgement of properties and appreciation. However, the intensifiers differed with regard to whether the modified adjective had positive or negative connotations. The differences between the varieties were explained with regard to political factors such as the educational system in the country, developmental stage in terms of Schneider’s (2003, 2007) developmental model and foundation history.

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