<p>Our exam paper is about young adults’ use of intensifiers in school papers. The theoretical background includes previous research about intensifiers in the Swedish language and above all young adults’ use of intensifiers. We have chosen to focus on all intensifying expressions which young adults’ use, because we did not want to limit our research material. We made a comparing study of 25 student papers from year 1999 and 25 student papers from year 2009 to find similarities and differences. Our result answers our four main questions: “How has the frequency of intensifiers changed from year 1999 to year 2009?”, “Which new intensifiers have been added?”, “In which contexts are intensifiers used?” and “Are there any differences in the use of intensifiers between boys and girls?”. The result shows that the number of intensifiers has increased during the 10 year period but that the selection of used intensifiers has decreased. Furthermore is a change in which intensifiers that are used and in which contexts they are used illustrated. The result also shows that boys in year 1999 use intensifiers more frequently than the girls, but in year 2009 the result was opposite.</p>

Our exam paper is about young adults’ use of intensifiers in school papers. The theoretical background includes previous research about intensifiers in the Swedish language and above all young adults’ use of intensifiers. We have chosen to focus on all intensifying expressions which young adults’ use, because we did not want to limit our research material. We made a comparing study of 25 student papers from year 1999 and 25 student papers from year 2009 to find similarities and differences. Our result answers our four main questions: “How has the frequency of intensifiers changed from year 1999 to year 2009?”, “Which new intensifiers have been added?”, “In which contexts are intensifiers used?” and “Are there any differences in the use of intensifiers between boys and girls?”. The result shows that the number of intensifiers has increased during the 10 year period but that the selection of used intensifiers has decreased. Furthermore is a change in which intensifiers that are used and in which contexts they are used illustrated. The result also shows that boys in year 1999 use intensifiers more frequently than the girls, but in year 2009 the result was opposite.

Det övergripande syftet med undersökningen har varit att studera etableringen och användningen av morfemet jätte i skrivna elevtexter och tidningstexter idag, med fokus på jätte som förstärkande prefix. Frågeställningen lyder: ”Hur, av vem och i vilken utsträckning används morfemet jätte i elevtexter och tidningstexter?”.För att besvara ovanstående har två korpusundersökningar genomförts, en på tidningstexter och en på elevtexter. Resultatet visar att jätte förekommer i relativt stor utsträckning jämfört med andra förstärkande prefix som till exempel tok- och super-. Vanligast är att jätte används i sammansättningar med adjektiv, både i tidningstexterna och elevtexterna. I tidningstexter förekommer det oftast vid direkt talspråksåtergivning men det har också tagit sig in i mer formella delar såsom ledare. I elevtexterna används jätte oftast vid berättande inslag. När jätte förekommer i sin grundform används det aldrig i betydelsen ”en övernaturlig varelse”.Språkbrukarna i tidningstexterna kan delas in i två grupper, intervjuade och journalister. Spridningen bland användarna är stor då det används av både kvinnor och män i olika åldrar och med olika yrken. I elevtexterna används jätte främst av flickor. Jätte används också inom flera olika ämnesområden men är något vanligare inom sport- och nöjesjournalistiken. Den breda användningen av jätte tyder på en språklig förändring där jätte nu är accepterat i skriftspråket, det används dock fortfarande främst i mer informella sammanhang. / The aim of this study has been to see the conventionalisation and use of the Swedish word jätte (giant) in newspapers and texts written by pupils in the Upper Secondary School, primarily when used as an intensifier in compound words. The question forming the basis of the study is: “How, by whom and to what extent is jätte used in newspapers and texts written by pupils?”To answer the question two corpora have been analysed. The results show that jätte is quite common compared to other Swedish intensifiers as “tok” and “super”. Usually it is used together with adjectives. When used in newspapers it is most commonly used in direct speech, but it is also used in more formal parts of the paper as the editorial. In the texts written by the pupils it is mostly used in sections with narrative elements.The people who use jätte in newspapers can be divided into two groups, journalists and interviewees. The word is widely spread among people and it is used by both women and men of different ages and with different socio-economical backgrounds. Among the pupils it is mostly used by girls. The word is used in different subject areas, although it is more common in sports and entertainment. The wide range of subjects and users indicate that the word is accepted to use in the written language, although it is more common in informal contexts.