  The proton light output function in electron-equivalent energy of various
scintillators based on linear alkylbenzene (LAB) has been measured in the
energy range from 1 MeV to 17.15 MeV for the first time. The measurement was
performed at the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) using a neutron
beam with continuous energy distribution. The proton light output data is
extracted from proton recoil spectra originating from neutron-proton scattering
in the scintillator. The functional behavior of the proton light output is
described succesfully by Birks' law with a Birks constant kB between (0.0094
+/- 0.0002) cm/MeV and (0.0098 +/- 0.0003) cm/MeV for the different LAB
solutions. The constant C, parameterizing the quadratic term in the generalized
Birks law, is consistent with zero for all investigated scintillators with an
upper limit (95% CL) of about 10^{-7} cm^2/MeV^2. The resulting quenching
factors are especially important for future planned supernova neutrino
detection based on the elastic scattering of neutrinos on protons. The impact
of proton quenching on the supernova event yield from neutrino-proton
scattering is discussed.
