Corpus-Based Analysis of the Vague Quantifier “All” in the Presidential Inaugural Speeches of President Biden

Abstract

This study examined the role of the vague quantifier (henceforth, VQ) “all” in the presidential inaugural speech of President Biden Jr. with the following objectives; to identify the occurrence of the VQ, “all” in the inaugural speech and to analyse the roles of this VQ in the inaugural speech. The study made use of the concept of elasticity of vague language (henceforth, VL) as its theoretical framework and applied the ex post facto research design. The generated data were analysed using Antcon concordance while the data were presented in tables. The study among other things revealed that Biden employed the VQ “all” in different ways to express commitments, collective responsibility and challenges among others. The study concluded that Biden’s use of the VQ “all” has brought to the fore his political goals, contexts and style. The study recommended that presidents, governors and speech writers need to be aware of the major roles VQs play and the need to explore the immense benefits of these VQs in speeches.