So weird, so cool, so innovative

Who wrote this paper?

• Jennifer Anniston

• Joey Tribiani

• Courteney Cox

• Sali Tagliamonte & Chris Roberts

Which of these words is NOT an intensifier?

• extremely

• kind of

• very

• totally

Answer explanation

"adverbs that boost or maximize meaning"

"adverbs that scale the quality of an adjective or adverb up"

Why are intensifiers interesting to observe in a sitcom ?

• Speakers use intensifiers in order to be "new" and creative

• Intensifiers are more frequent on TV than in "real life"

• Intensifiers change quickly

• Intensifiers change slowly

Answer explanation

"Intensifiers are a particularly good place to tap into linguistic change because they change quickly."

"A speaker’s desire

to be original or to enhance the novelty of his or her expressions requires

versatility and color in order to hold the audience’s interest."

Which of these tokens was NOT included in the data?

• I am so so sorry.

• Oh, dude I’m so sorry!

• I’m sorry, man.

• Are you alright?

Answer explanation

The variable context or envelope of variation

Count:

adjectives that can take an intensifier

Non-count:

negatives, questions, names, comparatives/superlatives, intensifiers modifying a verb or adverb of variation

True or false? The rate of intensification in Friends is about the same as in "real life" speech data.

• True

• False

Answer explanation

Friends = 22%

Contemporary British English = 24%

True or false? The 3 most frequent intensifiers in Friends are the same as in "real world" data

• False

• True

Answer explanation

British English:

very (38.3%)

really (30.2%)

so (10.1%)

Which of these statements is false?

• So is the most frequent intensifier in Friends

• Young English speakers use so more than older speakers

• So is more recent than very and really

• Male characters on Friends use so more frequently than female characters.

Answer explanation

True or false? The frequency of so, very and really increases across the 8 seasons analyzed.

• True

• False

Answer explanation

"the use and proportion of the two major intensifiers—really and very—are quite stable."

"Real time" = data is language use over a period of time or the actual past

vs.

"Apparent time" = data is synchronic and language change is inferred by proxy (e.g. age differences)

In Friends, so collocates with...

• cool

• weird

• bad

• nice

Which of these facts indicate that so is delexicalizing in Friends?

• Gender differences become less important

• So is used with more diverse adjectives

• So increases consistently in frequency over the 8 seasons

• Friends' ratings decline over the 8 seasons

Answer explanation

Words begin to be used as intensifiers with a limited number of adjectives, then propagate to others