The current research is of great significance from both theoretical and practical perspectives. Theoretically, the motivations and mechanisms in the development of freestanding maximizers are explicated in terms of some novel theories, which can offer new perspectives for future studies on freestanding adverbs. It also casts light on the cross-linguistic study on freestanding adverbs and the classification of degree adverbs in English.
Practically, the freestanding maximizers have been used frequently in spoken discourses. The current study explores different discourse functions of them, which can help language learners carry out smooth interactions. In other words, it contributes to making appropriate choices of the freestanding maximizers by the speakers to achieve particular purposes. Furthermore, the current study provides guidance on English teaching.
2. Literature Review
2.1 Review of Studies on English Adverbs of Degree
A large part of research has been carried out into defining and classifying English adverbs of degree. It is necessary to examine different classifications of English adverbs of degree, by which the proportional features of different freestanding adverbs in English can be distinctive.
2.1.1 Classifications of English Adverbs of Degree Abroad
As a controversial topic, the classification of English adverbs of degree varies on the basis of different classifying standards. In terms of different standards, there are three main avenues to the classification of English adverbs of degree.
Firstly, according to the level of degree scale, they are classified into different subsets by many scholars. Bolinger[7] uses the term “intensifier” for any device that scales a quality, whether up or down, or somewhere between the two. He distinguishes four classes of degree words which are shown in Tab. 2.1.
2.2 Review of Studies on English Maximizers
Within the scope of the 335 English adverbs of degree above, it is manifested that English freestanding adverbs of degree are converged to the maximizers proposed by Quirk et al.[1], which include absolutely, altogether, completely, entirely, extremely, fully, perfectly, quite, thoroughly, totally, utterly, and in all respects. By means of searching the freestanding form of these maximizers in the spoken data of COCA and BNC, it is shown that freestanding maximizers consist of absolutely, totally, quite, completely, entirely, and extremely. In this part, previous studies on English maximizers at home and abroad are reviewed from two perspectives, including synchronic and diachronic studies on maximizers.
2.2.1 Synchronic Studies on English Maximizers
From the perspective of synchronic studies on English maximizers, the studies are devoted to collocational features and semantic prosody of English maximizers. Furthermore, cross-linguistic studies on these synchronic features of maximizers are conducted. With respect of freestanding maximizers, pragmatic functions of them are propounded, such as absolutely and totally.
Firstly, from the standpoint of collocational features of maximizers, Altenberg[16] seeks to summarize the collocational features of intensifiers in spoken English based on the corpus of London-Lund Corpus of Spoken English (LLC). The results show that the adjectives collocated with boosters and maximizers are gradable[16]. Furthermore, maximizer is a closed class, whereas booster is an open cla
