从文化和语言视角探讨美国俚语.docx
- 文档编号:4208648
- 上传时间:2022-11-28
- 格式:DOCX
- 页数:15
- 大小:33.21KB
从文化和语言视角探讨美国俚语.docx
《从文化和语言视角探讨美国俚语.docx》由会员分享,可在线阅读,更多相关《从文化和语言视角探讨美国俚语.docx(15页珍藏版)》请在冰豆网上搜索。
从文化和语言视角探讨美国俚语
StudyonAmericanSlangfromtheCulturalandLinguisticPerspectives
ABSTRACT
Americanslangisaspeciallinguisticform,andisanindispensablepartofAmericanlanguage.Americanslangreflectsthattheinternalfunctionoflinguistichasbeeninfluencedbycultureandendowedwithuniquecharacterthatotherwordsdoesnotpossessordoesnotcompletelypossess.AmericanslangisakindofwordsthathasrichculturalmeaningandspecialcarrierofAmericanculture.ThisthesisanalysesfeaturesofAmericanslangonculturalandlinguisticperspective.Bydoingthis,wemayknowmuchaboutAmericanculture,andinturngetbetterunderstandingofslangbylearningtheculturalbackgroundbehindthem.
KeyWords:
AmericanslangAmericancultureLinguisticfeatureCulturalcharacteristics
从文化和语言视角探讨美国俚语
摘要
摘要:
美国俚语是一种特殊的语言形式,是美国语言不可缺少的重要组成部分,它反映了文化影响语言的内在作用,还具有其他词汇层所无或不全具备的独特风格,是一种极富文化涵义的词汇,是美国文化的特殊载体。
要深入研究美国文化,俚语是重要的手段之一。
对于美国俚语的研究可以帮助我们对美国英语及美国文化有更深的理解。
该论文将从文化和语言学的角度对美国俚语进行探讨。
通过美国俚语透视美国文化及形成该文化的社会土壤。
关键词:
美国俚语美国文化语言特征文化特点
Contents
ABSTRACTI
摘要I
1.Introduction1
1.1TheDefinitionofSlang1
1.2TheNatureofSlang1
1.3theCharacteristicsofAmericanSlang1
1.3.1Brevity1
1.3.2Novelty1
1.3.3Instability1
1.3.4PluralSynonym1
1.4TheEmergenceofSlangintheUnitedStates1
2.TheLinguisticFeaturesofAmericanSlang1
2.1.RhetoricFeatures1
2.1.1.Euphemism1
2.1.2FigureofSpeech1
2.1.3Hyperbole1
2.2SemanticFeatures1
2.2.1PhoneticHumor1
2.2.2LexicalHumor1
3.AmericanSlangasaMirrorofAmericanCulture1
3.1TwoCharacteristicsofAmericanSlangEmbodiedinAmericanDominantCulture1
3.2SlangasanInsightintoaCulture1
3.3DominantAmericanCulturalPatterns1
3.4ThreeAmericanSlangMappingAmericanSubcultureandCounterculture1
3.4.1IntroductionofSubcultureanditsRelationshipwithAmericanSlang1
3.4.2IntroductionofCountercultureanditsRelationshipwithAmericanSlang1
4.Conclusion1
Bibliography1
Acknowledgements1
1.Introduction
InAmerica,moreandmorepeoplearepartialtousingslangintheirdailylifecommunicationandwritingtechnique.Inthepast,people’simpressionofslangmaybethatslangisrude,dirty,andindecent;buttoday,asahighlycolloquialspeechwhichhasbecomethemostcolorfulandvividmemberofthefamilyoflanguages.“ThevocabularyofanordinaryAmericaisgenerallyestimatedat10,000-20,000words…about2,000wordsareslang,accordingtothesurveyconductedbytheOxfordUniversity”ThenumbershowstheimportantstatusofslanginAmericanEnglish,thereforeweshouldeliminatethetraditionalbiasofslang.SlangispopularinAmericabecauseofitsfreshness,lifelikeness,humor,anditisaneffectivewayofcommunication;atthesametime,italsocarriesstrongculturalimplicationsofAmericabecausemostslangwordscomefromeachsub-culturalgroup,whichreflecttheiractuallife.“itisimpossibletoacquireathoroughknowledgeofEnglishwithoutbeingfamiliarwithslangandvulgarism.ItisnoexaggerationtosaythatEnglishlearnercan’tcommunicatewithforeignersattheirpleasurewithoutmuchunderstandinginAmericanslang.Fromthispoint,slangisabridgeforEnglishlearnerstomakeuptheculturalgap,soweshouldknowandtreatslangwithacorrectattitude.Thereisnosuchthingasgoodorbad,rightorwronginlanguage.Asaspecialformoflanguage,itsexistenceisakindofoutcomeofcultureandhistory.
Asahighlycolloquialspeech,itisespeciallyeffectiveoncasualandintimateoccasions.Theattitudestowardslangarealsoverycontradictoryamongcommonpeopleespeciallyscholars.Nowadays,moreandmorepeoplebegintheirresearchonslangforitswidespread.Inthispaper,IintendtotrytoanalyzeitfromvariousaspectsinordertogetbetterunderstandingofAmericanslang.
1.1TheDefinitionofSlang
Thesocialandpsychologicalcomplexitiescapturedinslangvocabularymakethetermdifficulttodefine.Slangiseasytousebutperhapsthesimplestthingisoftenthehardesttodefine.Somepeopleevensayitisnearlyimpossibletodefineslang.Therehavebeenvariousdefinitionsofslangitsappearance,whichareasvividasslangitself.Someofthemareveryimpressive:
“Slangislanguagewhichtakesoffitscoat,spitsonitshands,-andgoestowork”.(CarlSandburg).“Slangisthespeechofhimwhorobstheliterarygarbagecansontheirwaytothedumps”(AmbroseBierce).“APeculiarkindofvagabondlanguage,alwayshangingontheoutskirtsoflegitimatespeech,butcontinuallystrayingorforcingitswayintothemostrespectablecompany,hereisaquestionwehavetothinkbeforelearningtheAmericanslang,thatiswhatshouldwecallslang”.“Thedictionthatresultsfromthefavoritegameamongtheyoungandlivelyofplayingwithwordsandrenamingthingsandactions;someinventnewwords,ormutilateormisapplytheold,forthepleasureofnovelty,andotherscatchupsuchwordsforthepleasureofbeinginthefashion”.SlangisdefinedintheSCDas“language,wordsorphrasesofavigorous,colorful,facetious,ortaboonature,inventedforspecificoccasions,oruses.orderivedfromtheunconventionaluseofthestandardvocabulary.”Asslangisusedbyeveryclass,andasthisfactisnoweverywhererecognized,thestigmaonceattachedtothewordhaslongsincebeenremoved.ThemoreobjectivedefinitionisofferedbyTheOxfordEnglishDictionary,“languageofahighlycolloquialtype,consideredasbelowthelevelofstandardeducatedspeech,andconsideringeitherofnewwordsorofcurrentwordsemployedinsomespecialsense.”
Liketheproverbialblindmendescribinganelephant,allcorrectly,nonesufficiently,thescholarstenttostressoneaspectofanotherofslang.Anyway,it’sobviousthattheattitudestendtobecomemoremoderate,moreconsiderateandmorepositive,whichisbeneficialtothedevelopmentofslang.Frommyownperspective,Itendtoagreetheideathatslangisakindoflanguage,whichismadeofwordsorphrasesofavigorous,colorful,facetious,ortaboonatureforpeopletouseinspecificoccasions,meanwhile,itisalsoakindofculture.
1.2TheNatureofSlang
Ithasbeensaidthestandardlanguagehasenduringnature,butthenatureofslangisevanescent.Anyway,theactivity,vivacityandvividnessofslangareundeniable.“Theessenceoflanguage,”saidJespersen“isactivity”.OlesenandWhittaker,hadthistosayaboutthenatureofslang:
“acentralattributeofslang,mostwritersagree,istherapidlychangingcharacterofthosenewwords,oldwordswithnewmeanings,andhalfwordsthatsometobethoughtofasbelongingtothiscategoryoflanguage”,GreenoughandKittedgenotedthatslang,sofarfrombeinganovelty,isthemostvitalaspectoflanguage,theonlyspeechinwhichlinguisticprocesscanbeobservedinunrestrictedactivity.
IntheopinionofMencken,theessenceofslangisthatitisofgeneraldispersion,butstillstandsoutsidetheacceptedcanonofthelanguage.Moreover,theveryessenceofslangisitseffectivepungency.Itis,saidMcKnight,“aformofcolloquialspeechcreatedinaspiritofdefianceandaimingatfreshnessandnovelty,butpreservedinfixedphraseswhichhavebecomethepropertyofcurrentpopularspeech,andevidentlyitmustbeephemeralincharacter.Likenovelmodesofdressadoptedbycurrentfashion,ithasitsfleetingday,neverthelessastheformofthemostinterestingphenomenaoflanguage.Initsdaringfiguresofspeechanditscreationofnewwordsoftransformationofoldones,initsadaptationofforeignmaterial,itexemplifiesinactiveoperationnaturalprocesseswhichenableonebettertounderstandtheprocesseswhichhaveservedinthecreationandshapingoflanguagenowacceptedasstandard”.
Sinceslangisaveryparticularpartoflanguage,itsnaturealsohassomepeculiarities.AsMenckensaid,“itistheuserthatdeterminesthematter,andparticularlytheuser’shabitualwayofthinking”.AndNiceforohadsuchcomment,“sometimesitisfeelingorsentiment,sometimesone’sprofessionortradewhichdeterminesthenatureofone’sspeech,whetheritbestandardunconventional…thespecializationthatcharacterizeseveryvacationleadsnaturallytoaspecializedvocabulary…whateverthesource,personalityandone’ssurroundingsarethetwoco-efficient,thetwochieffactors,thedeterminingcausesofthenatureofslang,astheyareoflanguageingeneralandofstyle”.
Sowemayassumethatthenatureofslangisnoteasilydetermined.Butit’ssuchcertaintythatitisthecolorfulandmysteriouslanguage,whichatleastpossessesactive,novel,witty,pungentandlivelynature.
1.3TheCharacteristicsofAmericanSlang
1.3.1Brevity
JustasFlexner(1975)remarks,brevitymaynotbethesoulofAmericanslang,butitisperhapsthechieffeature.Itisdifficultnowtoimaginehowwegotonsolongwithoutthewordstunt,howtheyexpressedthecharacteristicssoconvenientlysummedupindope-fiendorhigh-brow,oranyotherpossiblewayofdescribingthatmixtureofthecheappatheticandtheludicrouswhichisnowuniversallylabeledsobstuff.Oneslangtermcanbrieflyexpressthemeaningwhichcan’tbedonebyonestandardusagesuchasdoodle(scribbleabsent-mindedly)andfrisk(makeabodysearch-especiallyreferstopattingortouchingsomeone’spocketsorplaceswheresomethingcanbehiddenandcarriedabout).AsTheDictionaryofAmericanSlangdemonstrates,slangseemstoprefershortwords.Manysuchformationsareamongtheirmostfrequentlyusedslangwords.Aslistedinit,bughas30nounmeanings,shot14nounand4adjectivemeanings,can11nounand6verb,fish14noun,andsack6noun,1adjectivea
- 配套讲稿:
如PPT文件的首页显示word图标,表示该PPT已包含配套word讲稿。双击word图标可打开word文档。
- 特殊限制:
部分文档作品中含有的国旗、国徽等图片,仅作为作品整体效果示例展示,禁止商用。设计者仅对作品中独创性部分享有著作权。
- 关 键 词:
- 文化 语言 视角 探讨 美国 俚语