Pragmatic Functions of Amplifiers as Response
Devices in Spoken American English
: A Corpus-Based Analysis

Lee, Jung-yull

Chodang University

Abstract

The verbal behaviors of amplifiers such as very much, really, pretty, particularly, very, absolutely, totally, quite are frequently represented in descriptions of interactions between speaker and hearer. The input of the main speakers was principally explicated with regard to semantic features, including collocational restrictions, by many linguists in the past. However, this study focuses on the output of hearers in different types of talk, especially elaborating on a wide variety of pragmatic roles of the amplifiers in spoken American English. For example, the amplifiers in hearers' speech play diverse pragmatic functions as bridging devices, by indicating surprise, repair, agreement, reinforcement, enthusiasm, encouragement, satisfaction, and rapport between interlocutors. Throughout the analysis, this study suggests that although these amplifiers do not ostensibly seem to have big meanings, they play significant roles in spoken discourse.

초록

Vol. 40 No. 4 (2022.12)

Journal Abbreviation j. Korea Saf. Manag. Sci.
Frequency Published four times annually in March, June, September, and December
Doi Prefix 10.14353/sjk.
Year of Launching 1993
Publisher The Sociolinguistic Society of Korea

Indexed/Tracked/Covered By