A Pragmatic Analysis of the Use of Intensifiers in Charles Dickens ’ Hard Times Inst

The present study investigates the use of intensifiers as linguisticdevices employed by Charles Dickens in Hard Times. For ease of analysis, the data are obtained by a rigorous observation of spontaneously occurring intensifiers in the text. The study aims at exploring the pragmatic functions and aesthetic impact of using intensifiers in Hard Times.The current study is mainly descriptive analytical and is based on analyzing and interpreting the use of intensifiers in terms ofHolmes (1984) andCacchiani’smodel (2009). From the findings, the novelist overuses intensifiers to the extent that 280 intensifiers are used in the text. These intensifiers(218) are undistinguished emotions constituting 78%,(38)are personalforming 13.5% and (24) intensifiers are specific emotions comprising 8.5%.Also, the analysis shows that 56 different intensifiers are employed in the text with great variety in frequency in the most frequent intensifier is „very‟, used 90 times, followed by „so‟, 82 times, and then „too‟, 15 times as well as other intensifiers such as only, highly, eminently, quite, pretty, most, much and perfectly. The rest of the intensifiers are scarcely used. The study significantly concludes that the use of intensifiers helps contribute to typifying the downside and suffering of people in the JCL Journal of the College of Languages Open Free Access, Peer Reviewed Research Journal http://jcolang.uobaghdad.edu.iq P-ISSN: 2074-9279 E-ISSN: 2520-3517 2019, No.(40) Pg.89-106 Est.1994 Journal of the College of Languages No. (40) 2019 90 Victorian era as such use moves the plot forward so as to discern the way social, economic and political circumstances affect the way the novelist uses intensifiers.This stems from the observation that the very low ratio of personal intensifiers13.5% reflects little subjectivity, if any, and goes in line with the main theme of the novel which is “the people in the Victorian era are like machines without human feelings.” The use ofintensifiers assists in unraveling of the interpretation of Dickens‟ feelings, impressions, emotions and attitudestowards the Victorian society and makes the later apt to be criticized.


Introduction
There are a lot of means to intensify or emphasize what a language user is saying or writing. Meaning can be intensified by adverbs of degree which are referred to by Quirk et al. (1985: 590-1) as intensifiers which, in turn, maximize the meaning of a given word. Peters (1994: 271) indicates that adverbs of degree tend to be so well-known and looked for by the reader(s) in order to boost and fulfill the writer"s desires.
The problem of the study is that literary writers deploy intensifiers in real-life situations in their literary works to express complex human activities. The fact that intensifiersare made use of to achieve certain goals according to the context in which theyare used is worth discussing.Intensifiers in fictional texts are not used randomly, but they are a purposeful means of communication.
The use of intensifiers is basic for tact message delivery. Such use of intensifiers assumes different types and varieties to communicate insightful messages.Intensifiers are used for strengthening or weakening words to achieve pragmatic functions. Ayeleru (2012: 126) emphasizes the bond between literature and language as literature represents the presence of imagination, entertainment and emotion, while language provides the devices (e.g., intensifiers) of expressing feelings and thoughts. Intensifiers can beregardedlike powerful tools by fictional writers to get the audience"s intentions to prompt the feelings of population and achieve their aims and interests.
The study aims at exploring the pragmatic functions of using intensifiers in Hard Times. It also aims at finding out the aesthetic impact behind the use of intensifiers. The data to be analysed for the present study is sourced from Charles Dickens" Hard Times in which he mirrors the suffering and the downside of the Victorian society. The current study may be helpful to teachers of both grammar and literatureas well as translators. Furthermore, it is expected to be an aid to researchers who are interested in pragmatics and pragma-stylistics. There have been a lot of studies on intensifiers in multiple genres,texts and literary works, but, to the best of the researcher"s knowledge, no study to investigate intensifiers in Hard Timesor any of Dickens" literary works has been investigated yet. So, this study has set itself to bridge this gap and to be the first attempt in this regard. Also, the study is confined to analyse only the intensifiers in Dickens" Hard Timesin regard to pragmatics and any other linguistic devices in the novel are excluded from the analysis. It is hypothesized that: 1. Personal intensifiers represent a low ratio in the analysis in regard to the theme of the novel: "the people in the Victorian era are like machines without human feelings." 2. The intensifiers are deliberately employed by the novelist to impact his audience.

Literature Review
Intensifiers are linguistic devices that denote modification, degrees of emphasis and force to other linguistic categories (see : Greenbaum 1996: 142). Alexander (2003: 150) indicates that intensification refers to the process by which an adverb modifies adjectives. Similarly, Milroy and Milroy (1997, 52) add that any conveyed message can be intensified and emphasized by the means of adverbs such as: very, exactly, so, too, only, probably, highly, totally, almost, much, quite, perfectly and many others.Intensifiers tend to develop rapidly to constitute an open class of words (Ito and Tagliamonte, 2003: 257). Radden and Dirven (2007: 151) refer to intensifiers as the modifiers that qualify a given word according to the degree of intensification such as adjectives, adverbs and verbs.
As for the position of intensifiers, Barnfield and Buchstaller (2010: 257)add that intensifiers may occur in more than one position in grammatical categories like: noun phrases, verbs, adjectives and adverbs. As for the function of intensifiers, Konig et al (2013) comment that intensifiers are elements that function as reflexive pronouns because intensifiers can conjecturally beseen to connect a reference in a given sentence. There is a sort of overlap in the terminology of the way a given adverb or adjective is modified. They are intensifiers, degree words, modifiers, degree modifiers, gradational adverbs, amplifiers, downtoners, diminshers, detensifiers and many others (see : Hubler ,1983;Teschner and Evans, 2007;and Bolinger, 1972).The present study prefers to use the term intensifiers to typify and highlight the strengthening and weakening adverbs that add a sort of influential modification to the meaning of meant words.

Hard Times:Themes and Characterization
It is certainly not an easy task to specify the meaning of intensifiers without a reference to the themes and the nature of characters in Hard Times. Albert Thomas Gradgrind embodies the notion of reality and illusion. He tries to prevent his children to improve their imagination and made them practical characters. He wants them to be like him, but he fails. Louisa is Gradgrind"s daughter. She obeys her father blindly. She loves her brother Tom. Tom is Gradgrind"s oldest son. He loves money very much. He robs his master Mr.
Bounderby. Bounderby is Gradgrind"s friend and Louisa"s husband. He is a self-made man. Cecelia Jupe is a daughter of the clown in circus. She is looked after by Gradgrind after her father"sdisappearance. Sissy is the contrast of Louisa. Sissy embodies the Victorian femininity. Unlike Louisa, Sissy is imaginative. Stephen is a poor worker in Bounderby"s factory. He loves Rachel, but he is unable to marry her because he is already married. He is an honest and compassionate person. Rachael is a simple honest poor worker.
She loves Stephen. She is a symbol of purity and domestic happiness. James Harthhouse is wealthy young sophisticated from London. He tries to seduce Louisa.

Research Questions
The present study tries to answer the following questions realistically in order to clarify its purpose: 1. What are the intensifiers employed by Dickens in Hard Times ? 2. What are the pragma-stylistic interpretations and functions behind the use of the intensifiers in the text ?

Figure (2): The Distribution and Types of Intensifiers in the Data
The findings presented in   10. This is a very obtrusive lad.

Frequency and Types of Intensifiers
In sentence (9)