6533b820fe1ef96bd1279921

RESEARCH PRODUCT

Whyvery goodin India might bepretty goodin North America

Susanne Wagner

subject

050101 languages & linguisticsLinguistics and LanguageWorld Englishes05 social sciencesLanguage and LinguisticsSoutheast asiaIndian subcontinent030507 speech-language pathology & audiology03 medical and health sciencesGeographyCorpus linguisticsSituated0501 psychology and cognitive sciencesEconomic geography0305 other medical scienceAdjectiveSociolinguistics

description

AbstractSituated 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 fromverytowardssoand possiblyprettyin the future.

https://doi.org/10.1075/ijcl.17063.wag