Проект "The study of slang as a phenomenon of modern English"

The study of slang as a phenomenon of modern English

The goal of the project is:

• To study slang as a phenomenon of modern English and create a dictionary of popular slang expressions.

The tasks of the project are:

• To find out what slang is

• To understand what slang is used for

• To identify ways of forming slang

• To study the influence of slang on the language environment

• To create a classification of slang by user groups

• To create a dictionary of popular slang expressions

Introduction

The peculiarity of the phenomenon of slang is that, being an integral part of the language, it develops and evolves with it, and therefore will be an urgent problem of lexicology as long as the language itself exists.

Slang is an informal type of language in which words and phrases are used in new or unusual ways. Many slang terms are expressive, humorous and vivid. Some of them are rude and offensive.

People use slang more often in conversation than in writing, and more often with friends than with strangers. Thus, slang resembles colloquial expressions that are used in everyday conversation, but are considered suitable for formal speech or writing. However, unlike colloquial expressions, most slang has only been around for a few years.

It is impossible to count the number of slang units in use today. However, it should be noted that slang exists in all strata of society. Moreover, once appeared, some slang units are moved to the literary standard language. Appearance of a new words and expressions in the slang associated with changes in society, as slang - is "alive", part of the language and further than literary language absorbs new trends, ideas and surrounding world news.

Slang in English plays a rather important role, which determines the development of the entire language as a whole, its uniqueness and difference from other languages of the world. In addition, slang in English allows you to communicate on a completely new level, without using classical sentence constructions and grammatical foundations. And this suggests that people can communicate more freely and understand each other at a glance.

what is slang used for?

A large encyclopedic dictionary gives two definitions of this term: "slang is 1) the same as jargon, mainly in English-speaking countries; 2) a variant of colloquial speech (including expressively colored elements of this speech) that does not coincide with the norm of the literary language." In English (Cambridge dictionary), this concept is interpreted as follows. “Slang is words or expressions that are very informal and are not considered suitable for more formal situations. Some slang is used only by a particular group of people». It should be noted that the exact formulation of this concept has not been revealed by linguists. Thus, slang is recognized as the antipode of literary language and is identified partly with jargon, and partly with professionalism and with spoken language.

Currently, slang is not associated with the criminal world, but acquires its new form and is enriched under the influence of various cultures and technological innovations, which has led to the emergence of a wide variety of variations of slang. Slang expressions often embody the views and moral values of members of social groups, which contributes to the formation of a sense of belonging of each person to the group, and also indicates his social origin. Slang words are always synonymous with commonly used words, and not the only way to express a concept. Using them, the speaker always feels that he has chosen not an ordinary, but a sharper, more expressive, joking or rude word.

The main features of slang that are conducive to its use include:

Brevity. Often new colloquial phrases and words come to replace longer and more difficult to pronounce constructions. Young people like to speak briefly and succinctly. For example, the popular slang word "Watcha", which translates as "How are you?" or "How are you?", was collected from the phrase "What are you?".

Emotionality. Youth speech is expressive and expressive, there is practically no emotionally neutral vocabulary in it. So, the word "Noob" (Newbie) means not just a beginner, but a person who does not know how to do something, pesters with questions and constantly complains about his failures, without making any attempts to learn a specific business.

Popularity. Thanks to the Internet, English colloquial vocabulary is spreading around the world at an incredible speed. Once a new phrase is heard in a popular movie, song, video on YouTube or TikTok, the very next day it is used with pleasure on all continents.

The largest modern researcher of English slang E. Partridge and his followers J. Greenock and K.I. Kittridge define slang as existing in the conversational sphere "fragile, unstable, not codified in any way, and often completely random sets of lexemes reflecting the public consciousness of people belonging to a certain social or professional environment." " Slang is considered as a conscious, deliberate use of elements of a general literary dictionary in colloquial speech for purely stylistic purposes:

1. to create the effect of novelty, unusual;

2. differences from recognized samples;

3. convey a certain mood of the speaker;

4. give the statement concreteness, liveliness, expressiveness, clarity, accuracy, brevity, imagery;

5. avoid cliches.

These stylistic goals are achieved through the use of such stylistic means as metaphor, metonymy, synecdoche, litota, euphemism.

Ways of forming slang in English

Let's consider some features of word formation that clearly reflect the general trends in English slang.

• Reverse word formation: to crack wise – "wisecrack";

• Borrowings from other languages: "swami guy" – divine man (from "swami" – Hindu god);

• Attraction: "gottum" - caught it, caught them;

• Abbreviations: "pen" – penetrating, "prowlie" – patrol car, "knicks" – no, "dick" – detective, "competitive" – competition, "rep" - reputation, "pixels"= "pix" – photos,

• Word composition, telescopic formation is a way of word formation in which a part of one word merges to form a single word with a part of another word or with a whole word. Young people really like words formed in this way, words that are not found in any dictionary, but can be recognized by the presence of two original words: "snail-mail" – an old–fashioned way of transmitting information; "flatworm" - an underscore; "user–friendly" - a system with convenient means of communication, etc.; "cyberbuddy" – an interlocutor on the Internet.

• Metaphorization is one of the most productive ways to replenish the vocabulary of slangisms. The presence of metaphors and metonymies in the youth language is explained by the attraction to expressiveness and the desire for specific images: "hold on to your socks" – so hold on; "to put a blow-torch" – to give a magic kick; "stay kind" ("be healthy") – be healthy; "to peak career-wise" – to pursue a career; "to shake a bit" – to dance; "to bust out some moves" – to show class in dance.

The influence of slang on the language environment

Information technologies are continuously developing in the modern world. A significant part of the time people communicate on the Internet. Thanks to the advent of the Internet, slang has become popularized, because social networks have a direct impact on the speech culture of people, especially young people.

There are many reasons for using slang:

• speech encryption

• creating the effect of novelty

• introducing more emotional coloring into speech

• showing individuality

• joining a group

• striving to make speech more concise and succinct

• following fashion trends

Advantages of using slang:

• imagery, emotional coloring

• rapid variability

• the ability to express yourself

• promoting mutual understanding within individual groups of people

• It is fashionable and modern

• the ability to express yourself more concisely and succinctly

Cons of using slang:

• thematic limitations

• simplify the language

• incomprehensible to the older generation

• reduces the level of literacy

• many slangisms are borrowed from foreign languages and displace native words

Classification of slang by user groups

Professionalisms are words or whole expressions that are often used by representatives of a certain industry, specialty. These speech constructions are designed to simplify and speed up communication. Usually, such jargon does not become commonly used, continuing to circulate only in a certain environment.

Police slang.

These jargonisms can usually be heard in reports or detective series in English.

- MISPER (missing person) — "missing person".

- DOA (dead on arrival) — by the time the police arrived, the victim had died.

-House mouse is a law enforcement officer engaged mainly in office work, a "staff rat". - Wood shampoo — a blow to the head with a stick or bat.

Medical slang.

Medical slang is well known to fans of TV series on a medical topic. But not all viewers immediately understand what is at stake when they turn to watching movies in the original.

- Bounceback (bounce + back) — "reverse bounce", a patient who returned to the hospital shortly after discharge with the same problem.

- GSW (gunshot wound) — "gunshot wound".

- Stream Team — a team of urologists (stream — "flow, flow")

Slang in the IT industry.

This professional jargon is actively used not only by programmers, but also by ordinary computer users.

- Hacker — a "cracker", a specialist capable of circumventing software protection, a cybercriminal.

- Feature — "feature", an unexpected and useful feature of the program.

- Wizard is a "wizard", alpha geek is a "chief smart guy" employee capable of solving even the most difficult tasks.

- Patch — "patch, patch", correction of an error that was found in the software product after the release.

- Avatar — "incarnation", an image or object that is the "face" of the user.

- Bps (bits per second) — the number of bits transmitted per second.

Esports slang.

Among the users of these professional expressions are not only esports players, but also ordinary fans of computer games.

- Boss — "boss, boss", a particularly strong monster that usually waits at the end of the level.

- AFK (away from keyboard) — "away from the keyboard", a message that the player briefly leaves the place at the computer.

- B2K (back to keyboard) — "back to the keyboard", a message about the player's return to the computer.

Slang in the field of politics.

Such professional words are often used by politicians or journalists of foreign media.

- Left-wing — "left wing", right-wing — "right wing", the designation of liberal and conservative figures, respectively.

- Lame duck is a "lame duck", an ineffective politician.

- Frankenfood — "Frankenstein's food", genetically modified products.

- Greenwashing — "green washing", methods of fictitious concern of politicians or parties about the environment.

Common corporate slang expressions.

Consider the professional jargon that is often used in modern companies (mostly foreign), regardless of their field of activity.

- Casual — "casual, casual", freelance staff [6].

- Two-way — "two-way", interview. - Appetite — "appetite", an indicator of interest.

- Idea shower — "shower of ideas", brainstorming.

- Keep your powder dry — "keep your powder dry", be ready and store your resources for future use.

Youth slang.

- Hype — literally translates as hype. Hype — doing something for show to promote yourself;

- Creepy – scary, terrible;

- Posh — pretentious, chic - Props (English — props) "respect", that is, an expression of recognition, respect;

- Diss — to express disrespectfully, offensively or disparagingly about someone;

- For sho (for sure) — absolutely, of course, exactly;

- Obvi (obvious) — obviously;

- Bublin brook – gossip girl;

- Cramazing (crazy + amazing) – cool, great;

- Selfiecidal (selfie+ suicidal) – a person taking selfies in dangerous conditions;

Slang words and expressions are a very complex and multifaceted topic, not always understandable even to a native speaker. In English-speaking countries, the process of forming a new vocabulary is almost continuous.

Conclusion

Slang in English plays a rather important role, which determines the development of the entire language as a whole, its uniqueness and difference from other languages of the world.

Slang is contrasted with other non-standard varieties of language, it is neither a dialect nor a register, and cannot be attributed to the concepts of Kant, argot or jargon.

Slang is changing rapidly, so it can be considered as a short-lived ephemeral lexicon that can quickly become obsolete, or can be adopted in a standard language. Thus, slang, being an integral part of the language and developing with it, is characterized by a certain set of expressions and words used in various social groups. Slang differs from the literary, generally accepted language and is used as an attribute of informal communication in the modern world.

English slang is peculiar and unique. It was born and is being born in the depths of the English language itself, in different social spheres and age groups as a desire for brevity, expressiveness, sometimes as a protest against a boring or long word, as a desire to christen an object or its properties in its own way.

Slang doesn't stay constant. With the change of one fashion phenomenon by another, old words are forgotten, others come. This process is very fast. If in any other slang a word can exist for decades, then in youth slang only over the past decade of rapid world progress an incredible number of words have appeared and gone down in history.