Adjective Boosters in the English of Young New Zealanders

Frequencies & collocations of adverbial adjective intensifiers are examined in the speech of New Zealand children aged 11-12 (N unspecified), with primary focus on the subcategory of boosters, defined by Randolf Quirk et al (1985) as amplifiers that denote a high submaximal point on a scale. Data consist of teacher's written records of Ss' responses to a questionnaire read aloud in class that asked what Ss would say in different scenarios; 150 schools throughout New Zealand participated in the study. Results show significant differences from the adult intensifier usage attested by the Wellington Corpus of Spoken New Zealand English, particularly in the high frequency of sweet as & other adjective + as constructions; so displaces really as the booster of choice, & very is quite infrequent in Ss' speech. 3 Tables, 3 Figures, 4 References. J. Hitchcock