Variable use of intensifiers in Ottawa English

Abstract

This research paper investigates the variable use of intensifiers in Ottawa English. Following the key tenets of the variationist approach, we analysed data from Ottawa English Corpus in order to check the correlation between a number of social (age & gender) and linguistic (syntactic position, semantic class, positive/negative and emotional/non-emotional values of the intensified adjectives) factors and the choice of intensifiers. The findings reveal that “really,” “so,” “very,” and “pretty” are the most commonly used intensifiers in this English variety, demonstrating specific associations with certain types of adjectives. These patterns show that such intensifiers are delexicalized. and the frequency of intensifier usage, with women and younger speakers utilizing intensifiers more frequently than men and older speakers, respectively. the research highlights a connection between the diachronic recycling and renewal of intensifiers and their frequency over time.

Keywords

• Ottawa English
• Intensifiers
• Variation
• Diachronic recycling
• Delexicalization