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Semantic change of robust

Recent development from an adjective to a quasi-intensifier

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 February 2025

Sayaka Ogasawara Open the ORCID record for Sayaka Ogasawara [Opens in a new window]
Sayaka Ogasawara*
Affiliation:
Faculty of Intercultural Studies, Department of Intercultural Studies and Tourism, Bunka Gakuen University, Tokyo, Japan
*
Corresponding author: Sayaka Ogasawara; Email: sayaca.423@gmail.com
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Abstract

This paper aims to demonstrate that robust is currently undergoing a semantic shift, transforming itself into a quasi-intensifier of nouns, conveying positive evaluative meanings. The etymology and semantic development of robust is traced using information from the Oxford English Dictionary Online. In addition, examples from the British National Corpus up to the 1990's are used to analyse the semantic development of robust and to examine the origins of the intensifying or evaluative use of robust. It is argued that there are several patterns in the usage examples where robust behaves like a quasi-intensifier: involving noun gradability, repetition of adjectives and modal meaning of nouns. The final means of intensification is evaluative uses, where there is a multi-layered positive nuance that can be read into robust, making robust a versatile term. While the evaluative role of intensifiers has not been discussed in detail in previous studies, the present study shows that the language users often add positive evaluative meanings to their remarks, which can often be tantamount to an intensification.

Keywords

semantic changeintensifierquasi‑intensifiernoun intensificationevaluative meaningrobust
Type
Research Article
Information
English Today , First View , pp. 1 - 12
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press

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