| 英文摘要 | 第1-4页 |
| Chinese Abstract | 第4-5页 |
| Abbreviations and Symbols | 第5-8页 |
| Chapter 1 Introduction | 第8-18页 |
| 1．1 The Significance of Linguistic Studies on MTE | 第8页 |
| 1．2 Aim, Nature, and Methods | 第8-9页 |
| 1．2．1 Aim of the Study | 第8-9页 |
| 1．2．2 Nature of the Study | 第9页 |
| 1．2．3 Tools and Methods | 第9页 |
| 1．3 The Language Data and Linguistic Corpora | 第9-10页 |
| 1．4 General Considerations on Intensifiers | 第10-16页 |
| 1．4．1 DitTerent Definitions and Categories by Some Grammarians | 第10-12页 |
| 1．4．2 Criteria for the Definition of Intensifiers | 第12-15页 |
| 1．4．3 Divisions of Intensifiers | 第15-16页 |
| 1．4．4 Rise and Fall of Intensifiers | 第16页 |
| 1．5 The Organization of the thesis | 第16-18页 |
| Chapter 2 Linguistic Content of Adv-intensifiers | 第18-42页 |
| 2．1 The Category of Adv-intensifiers | 第18-22页 |
| 2．1．1 Adv-intensitfiers and the Adverb Class | 第18页 |
| 2．1．2 Definition of Adv-intcnsifiers | 第18-21页 |
| 2．1．3 Adv-intensifiers Covered in My Study | 第21-22页 |
| 2．2 Semantics of Adv-intensifiers | 第22-26页 |
| 2．2．1 Degree with Scale Words | 第23页 |
| 2．2．2 Degree with Limit Words | 第23-24页 |
| 2．2．3 Degree with Both Scale Words and Limit Words | 第24-25页 |
| 2．2．4 Semantic Classification | 第25-26页 |
| 2．3 Syntax of Adv-intensifiers | 第26-35页 |
| 2．3．1 Syntactic Roles | 第26-30页 |
| 2．3．2 Placement of Adv-intensifiers | 第30-32页 |
| 2．3．3 Syntactic characteristics | 第32-35页 |
| 2．4 Adv-intensifiers in Modal Environment | 第35-42页 |
| 2．4．1 Modality and Modal Auxiliaries | 第35-36页 |
| 2．4．2 Combination of Modals with Adv-intensifiers | 第36-42页 |
| Chapter 3 Central and Peripheral Intensifiers | 第42-62页 |
| 3．1 Distinction between Central and Peripheral Intensifiers | 第42-43页 |
| 3．1．1 Criterion for Distinguishing Central from Peripheral Intensifiers | 第42页 |
| 3．1．2 Features | 第42-43页 |
| 3．2 Restrictions on the Use of Adv-intensifiers | 第43-49页 |
| 3．2．1 Grammatical Restrictions | 第43-44页 |
| 3．2．2 Semantic Compatibility Restrictions | 第44-47页 |
| 3．2．3 Register | 第47页 |
| 3．2．4 Prosodic Restrictions | 第47-49页 |
| 3．3 The Use of Central Intensifiers | 第49-58页 |
| 3．3．1 ALTOGETHR． ABSOLUTELY． COMPLETELY etc | 第49-50页 |
| 3．3．2 VERY． FAR． HIGHLY． GREATLY． DEEPLY | 第50-52页 |
| 3．3．3 ALMOST． NEARLY． VIRTUALLY | 第52页 |
| 3．3．4 FAIRLY． RATHER． PRETTY． QUITE． ENOUGH | 第52-56页 |
| 3．3．5 SOMEWHAT | 第56页 |
| 3．3．6 LITTLE． HARDLY． SCARCELY． BARELY | 第56-58页 |
| 3．4 The Use of Peripheral Intensifiers | 第58-62页 |
| 3．4．1 Expansion of Peripheral Intensifiers | 第58-59页 |
| 3．4．2 Disjunct-converted Intensitiers: amazingly, surprisingly, etc | 第59-60页 |
| 3．4．3 Manner-related Intensifiers: bitterly, strongly, mildly, etc | 第60-62页 |
| Chapter 4 Statistical Analysis and Linguistic Discussion | 第62-92页 |
| 4．1 General Frequency and Distribution of Adv-intensifiers | 第62-69页 |
| 4．2 Semantic Distributions and Usage | 第69-89页 |
| 4．2．1 Distributton and Analysis of Maximizers | 第69-75页 |
| 4．2．2 Distribution and Analysis of Boosters | 第75-83页 |
| 4．2．3 Distribution and Analysis of Approximators | 第83-85页 |
| 4．2．4 Distribution and Analysis of Compromisers | 第85-87页 |
| 4．2．5 Distribution and Analvsis of Diminishers | 第87-89页 |
| 4．2．6 Distribution and Analvsis of Minimizers | 第89页 |
| 4．3 Distribution and Analysis of Central and Peripheral Intensifiers | 第89-92页 |
| Chapter 5 Conclusion | 第92-94页 |
| References | 第94-96页 |
| Appendix | 第96-98页 |
| Acknowledgements | 第98页 |
