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Article published In:
International Journal of Corpus Linguistics
Vol. 24:4 (2019) ► pp.445–489

Why very good in India might be pretty good in North America

Amplifier-adjective 2-grams in Global Englishes

| Johannes Gutenberg University

Situated at the interface of several sub-disciplines (corpus linguistics, World Englishes, variationist sociolinguistics), this study investigates patterns of adjectival amplification (very good, so glad, pretty cool) in the Corpus of Global Web-Based English (GloWbE). It highlights regional distributions/preferences of amplifier-adjective 2-grams and the idiosyncratic status of certain bigrams according to their frequency status. Globally, clear regional preferences in amplification patterns as well as possible trends concerning change are identified. Regionally, L1 varieties contrast starkly with some regions (Africa, Indian subcontinent) but – maybe unexpectedly – not with others (Southeast Asia). The results offer insights into current trajectories of change concerning the investigated amplifiers in certain regions and 2-grams: North American varieties are leading a trend away from very towards so and possibly pretty in the future.

Keywords: amplifiers/intensifiers, 2-grams/bigrams, World Englishes/English world-wide, GloWbE
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Adjectival intensification: Trends established in previous studies
  • 3.Data and method
  • 4.Adjective amplification world-wide: A first overview
    • 4.1Overall intensification rates in GloWbE
    • 4.2Type-token ratio of top 10 amplifiers in GloWbE
    • 4.3GloWbE intensifier ranking
  • 5.Focus on: Individual patterns
    • 5.1Identifying 2-grams: Method
    • 5.2 Very world-wide
    • 5.3Frequent vs. infrequent adjectives and their amplifiers: Good vs. sick
    • 5.4Top 10 amplifier-adjective 2-grams world-wide
      • 5.4.1Interregional comparisons (amplifier comparisons across regions)
      • 5.4.2Intra-regional comparisons (regional comparisons across amplifiers)
    • 5.5Going large(r): Regional patterns emerging from the top 100 bigrams (very, so, really, pretty)
  • 6.Discussion & conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 1 November 2019
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/ijcl.17063.wag
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