2016/09/30 by Susan Reichelt, Mercedes Durham · 55 citations
Arts and Humanities · Mathematics · Psychology · Social Sciences · #Adjective #Artificial intelligence #Character (mathematics) #Characterization (materials science) #Computer science #History #Language, Discourse, Communication Strategies #Linguistic Variation and Morphology #Linguistics #Mathematics #Natural (archaeology) #Noun #Philosophy #Physics #Psychology #Swearing, Euphemism, Multilingualism #Vampire
paper · doi:10.1177/0075424216669747
published in Journal of English Linguistics 45(1), 60-87 (SAGE Publishing)
openalex publication_date 2016/09/30 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/26
This paper examines the use of intensifiers on the television show Buffy the Vampire Slayer in order to establish the ways in which they can be used for characterization. We found that the male and female characters used intensifiers differently (similarly to what is found in natural speech), but also that intensifier choice was related to changes in social networks for several of the female characters on the show ( so and totally). Furthermore, intensifiers were also used to distinguish the British characters on the show from the American ones ( extremely, terribly, and bloody). By comparing our results to findings for other television shows ( Friends) and for natural speech, we were able to establish the extent to which the show makes use of (then) innovative linguistic features for characterization. These findings underline the extent to which scriptwriters and/or actors were able to use linguistic features to index specific types of character.