<i>Well</i> weird, <i>right</i> dodgy, <i>very</i> strange, <i>really</i> cool: Layering and recycling in English intensifiers

Abstract

This article examines variable usage of intensifiers in a corpus from a socially and generationally stratified community. Using multivariate analyses, the authors assess the direction of effect, significance, and relative importance of conditioning factors in apparent time. Of 4,019 adjectival heads, 24% were intensified, and there is an increase in intensification across generations. Earlier forms (e.g. right and well ) do not fade away but coexist with newer items. The most frequent intensifiers, however, are shifting rapidly. Very is most common, but only among the older speakers. In contrast, really increases dramatically among the youngest generation; however, the effects of education and sex must be disentangled. The results confirm that variation in intensifier use is a strong indicator of shifting norms and practices in a speech community. Studying such actively changing features can make an important contribution to understanding linguistic change as well as to discovering current trends in contemporary English.