ABSTRACT
According to the proposal defended here, intensifiers are polysemous and exhibit three types of usage. It is possible to distinguish between one adnominal and two adverbal intensifiers. This differentiation can be motivated on syntactic and semantic grounds. As for syntax, Chapters 3 and 4 have shown that adnominal intensifiers (ANS) are endocentric expansions of an NP whereas adverbal intensifiers (AVS) are endocentric expansions of the VP. The subsequent chapters will demonstrate that, on the semantic level, adnominal SELF only interacts with an NP, but that adverbal SELF interacts with an NP and the VP. From a closer perspective, it becomes apparent that adverbal intensifiers further subdivide into an inclusive and an exclusive variety. Provided that intensifiers are analysed as focus particles, as done here, the former unites focus and alternatives with regard to the remaining open sentence, the latter separates them. Table 5.1 depicts the present analysis.
