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Part of
Developments in English Historical Morpho-Syntax
Edited by Claudia Claridge and Birte Bös
[Current Issues in Linguistic Theory 346] 2019
► pp. 269–286

Further explorations in the grammar of intensifier marking in Modern English

Picking up on earlier analyses, this paper explores a number of further issues bearing on the replacement of unmarked intensifiers by suffixed ones. While the evolutions of individual intensifiers may vary enormously, almost all grammatical constraints on intensifier marking can be accounted for in terms of a verbality cline: Structures displaying a high degree of verbality promote the establishment of suffixed intensifiers whereas less verbal structures tend to delay the process. The major findings supporting this generalization include the following:
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Past participles, which virtually always function as predicatives, represent one of the earliest categories to implement the change. In this respect, they contrast with present participles, which tend to behave like ordinary adjectives.
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Compared with predicative adjectives, attributive adjectives have been slow to replace unmarked intensifiers by suffixed ones.
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The establishment of the suffix is further advanced with complemented (non-attributive) adjectives than uncomplemented ones.
Keywords: unmarked/suffixed intensifiers, verbality, grammatical constraints, predicative/attributive/complemented adjectives, past/present participles, predicatively used prepositional phrases
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Past and present participles
  • 3.Predicative and attributive adjectives
  • 4.Two kinds of adverbs
  • 5.Prepositional phrases and NPs
  • 6.Manner adverbs and adjectives
  • 7.Concluding remarks
  • References
  • Electronic sources
Published online: 27 May 2019
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/cilt.346.13roh
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Cited by (1)

Cited by one other publication

Vosberg, Uwe & Günter Rohdenburg
2019. The rivalry between far from being + predicative item and its counterpart omitting the copula in Modern English. In Developments in English Historical Morpho-Syntax [Current Issues in Linguistic Theory, 346], ► pp. 287 ff. DOI logo

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