@inproceedings{01JXMCGWZ7JY5MZ57GC1WPZCH9,
  abstract     = {{The study presented here investigates the phenomenon of intensification in two speech communities in the U.S. (Miami, Florida and El Paso, Texas) characterized by high degrees of English-Spanish bilingualism. Intensification (e.g. supernice, buenísimo) constitutes a conflict site between English and Spanish grammar. Whereas English mostly uses lexical-analytic items to intensify (Quirk, Greenbaum, Leech, & Crystal, 2007), Spanish additionally has a rich paradigm of morphological-synthetic intensifying affixes (Lázaro Mora, 1999). Additionally, intensification can express a broad richness of semantic-pragmatic meanings, of both quantitative and qualitative natures. Moreover, the use of specific intensifiers is related to speakers’ need to convey their social identity (Roels, 2024). The current study maps the choices bilingual speakers make in terms of the intensifying strategy (analytic vs. synthetic) and the language in which they express the intensifier (English vs. Spanish). A comparison is made between Miami and El Paso to investigate not just the social identity of individuals, but also of each speech community as a whole. The communities are seen to exhibit both similarities and differences; the latter are related to the origins of the speakers (diverse, largely Cuban vs. overwhelmingly Mexican), the dominantly-spoken language (English vs. Spanish) and the prevalence of contact-induced phenomena such as codeswitching (formation of codeswitching isolect in Miami), which influence the intensifying strategies used in both communities. Consequently, intensification can partially be seen as an indicator of community identity.}},
  author       = {{Claassen, Simon A. and Enghels, Renata}},
  booktitle    = {{15th International Symposium on Bilingualism, Book of Abstracts}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  location     = {{San Sebastián, Spain}},
  pages        = {{683--683}},
  title        = {{Intensification in Miami and El Paso : structural differences in profile and identity of two southern US communities}},
  url          = {{https://www.bcbl.eu/events/files/galeria/files/ISB15_BookOfAbstracts_v1.pdf}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}