A Pragmatic Analysis of Intensifiers in Political Interviews

Abstract

In human communication, intensification is regarded as a common phenomenon, and there are numerous devices used to achieve the effect of intensity. According to Labov (1985), there are various linguistic devices of intensity, including adverbs of intensity, superlative forms, metaphors, aspects to express intensity, quantifiers used intensively, repetition, prosodic contrast, negative concord, inversion, etc. Intensifiers are the best means for the intensification. In a broader sense, the term intensifier is used as an adverbial modifier of adverbs, adjectives, verbs, participles, quantifiers, prepositional phrases, and nominal expressions (i.e., nouns, noun phrases, and pronouns), which scale downwards and upwards from the assumed norm. Quirk et al. (1972: 438) define intensifiers as a set of adverbs which ―have in common a heightening or lowering effect on some unit in the sentence‖.