GENDER DIFFERENCES IN THE USE OF INTENSIFIERS IN PAKISTANI ENGLISH CONVERSATIONS

Abstract

This study presents a corpus-based investigation into gender differences in the use of intensifiers in contemporary urban Pakistani English. Drawing on the PakE Informal Corpus (524,618 words, 2022–2024), it analyzes private, unmonitored language from 310 participants (155 women, 155 men), aged 18–40, across Lahore, Karachi, and Islamabad/Rawalpindi. The corpus includes casual speech, WhatsApp voice notes, private chats, social media posts, and informal emails. Results show a strong gender effect: women use 187.5 intensifiers per 10,000 words compared to men’s 136.4 (37% higher; log likelihood = 178.42, p < .0001, Cramer’s V = 0.145). The most striking pattern is the dominance of so in female data (62.8 vs. 31.2), often orthographically stretched (“sooooo”), rising to 94.3 in voice notes. Men prefer very (48.3) and oath intensifiers (bloody, damn, dead, absolutely). Functionally, women intensify affect (so tired, so cute) to build solidarity, while men emphasize evaluation and authority. Regression analysis confirms gender as the strongest predictor (β = +0.68, p = .001). The findings extend female-led intensification to a postcolonial, multilingual context, highlighting how digital practices shape expressive identity and contribute to emerging forms of Pakistani English within World Englishes.