A Brief Analysis on the Features And Functions of English Slang20.docx
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A Brief Analysis on the Features And Functions of English Slang20.docx
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ABriefAnalysisontheFeaturesAndFunctionsofEnglishSlang20
ABriefAnalysisontheFeaturesAndFunctionsofEnglishSlang
Outline
Thesisstatement:
Englishslangisoneofthemostactiveandsensitivepartsoflanguageandaneffectiveweaponincommunication.
.Introduction
.AnoverviewonEnglishslang
.FeaturesofEnglishslang
.ThefunctionofEnglishslang
4.1.RhetoricalfunctionsofEnglishslang
4.2.PragmaticfunctionsofEnglishslang
4.3.SocialfunctionsofEnglishslang
.Conclusion
Abstract:
EnglishslangplaysanimportantroleinmodernEnglishcommunication,whichisanindispensablepartofEnglishlanguageandamirrorofsub-culture.Theslangisappliedmoreandmoreinoralandwrittencommunicationwithitsexpressivenessandvitaliyhighlyvalued.Inthispaper,theoriginandfeaturesofEnglishslangwillbediscussed,andtheanalysesofexistencevalueofEnglishslangfromtheaspectsofrefractionfunctionandusagefunctionwillbepresentedaswell.
Keywords:
Englishslang;feature;function
.Introduction
Everylanguageintheworldshareonecommonsimilarity,thatis,theexistenceoftheslang.ThereisnoexceptionofEnglish.ThecomposerofAmericanSlangDictionary,StuartBergFlexnerthinksthatthereare10000or20000wordsusedbyaverageAmericans.Amongthem,aboutonetenthisslang,whichisusedmoreoftenbyeveryAmerican.The“hi”,and“bye-bye”areallslangwords.Andthisshowsthatslangcanbeusedwidelyinpeople’sdailylife.ThemodernEnglishslangisconcise,straightforwardandincisive.JustasHaroldWervtworth,theEnglishlinguistssaid:
“Slangismorestraightforward,morerefinedandhavemorecharacteristicsthanstandardEnglishincommunication”(Catherine,1985:
35).ItcantransfernewelementstostandardEnglishwordsandgenerallyspokenwords,andtakeanimportantpartinkeepingthestandardwordsflowingcontinuously.Inthefollowingparts,Iwillanalyzeslangintheaspectsofitsorigin,itssocialfunctionsandsoon.
.AnoverviewonEnglishslang
Slangisquiteacontroversiallanguage,peoplehavedifferentattitudestowardit.Itisnowonderthatthedefinitionofslangissovarious.However,theslangtermshavetheirowncharacters,and,ofcourse,thedefinitionsofitaremoreorlessdescribedinthesameway.
Slangisakindofspeciallanguageformation.Duringalongperiod,thereisnounitedstandardruletodefineslang.LongmanContemporaryDictionarydefinesslangas:
veryinformallanguagethatincludesnewandsometimesrudewords,especiallywordsusesonlybyparticulargroupsofpeoplesuchascriminals,schoolchildren,orpeoplewhotakedrugs.ConciseOxfordDictionarydefinethewordslangas:
thespecialword,theinferiorandvulgarlanguagethatareusedbycertaincommunitieswhichareborninanylowerlevels;acertainclassoracertainperiod’sterm;akindofmoreinferiorspokenlanguagethatoftenusedinacertainkindofgroupwhichincludenewwordsorgenerally-usedwordsthatcontainspecialmeanings(Hornby,2005:
79).
Seenfromtheabove,slangbelongstothesociologycategoryratherthanapurelinguisticnotion.Byputtingitintheframeofmodernsocietyandculturaltheory,wecanunderstanditscoreconnotationbetter.Wemustpayattentiontothatitisusingslangthatmarksthesocialdiversity.Theunderstandingandusageofslangwordsnotonlysurpassitsoriginalmeaningorspecialmeaningofthissub-culturalgroup,butalsohaveadefinitesocialpurpose.
TheEnglishslangatfirstoriginatedinthecollectedplacewhereassembledvarietyofpeopleintheancientcountiesandtowns,anditflourishedinthemid-centurycitieswheremanykindsofworkco-existeddependently.Inthe19thcentury,forthesimilarbutmorecomplicatedreasons,slanghadbeenapartofmoderncitylife.Moreexactly,now,slangmainlyhasbeenapartofmodernsociallives.Seenfromtheessence,slangrootedfromvarietyofsocialorganizations,andatthesametime,itcanbeusedtoprotectandchangetheprivilegerelationshipofsocialstructureorsocialgroupinacertaindegree.Slangisamany-faceted,complicatedanddynamicterm,whichistheunavoidableculturalproductionmadebythehighlyco-existedmodernsociety.Attheprimarytime,slangmeanscantorusedasanexclusivetermbytheinferiorsandcriminalcommunitymembers.Astimegoeson,theconceptofslangisgraduallyevolvedtoallkindsofsub-culturalgroups’term.Aftermiddle19thcentury,themainuseofslangistolimittheusageofwordsofcertainkindofsub-culturalgroupmembersininternalgroups,sothattheycandifferthemselvesfromothergroups.Forthisreason,peoplewhodonotbelongtothisgroupcanhardlyunderstandthosespecialterms.
.FeaturesofEnglishslang
EnglishSlang,asapartofEnglishwords,fullofexpression,color,imaginationandhumor(戴小冰,2003:
57).Itshowsthatontheonehand,Americanyouthswanttobethemselvesanddesiretodisplaytheirowncharacteristics;ontheotherhand,theuseofslangcandisposetheirvanityofpurchasingtrendandtheirfragilesouloffollowingthepopularblindly.
Foronething,slangcanshowthelivingconditionandvalueorientationofyouthsinacertainperiod,soithasdistinctivetimefeature,suchasgroupie,whichappearedin1960sinAmerica.Thiswordwasonlyusedtodescribethefantasticfansfollowingthepopularphilharmonicwhentheymadetheircircuittourofperformances.Foranother,slang’sepidemicjustindicatesitstransientandchangeablefeatures.Thisexpressionmaybepopularinthistime,butitwillbeoutdatedsomeyearslaterortensofyearslater.Forexample,in1960s,therepresentativecharactersarehippies,theyworeraggedclothes,purchaseddrugsandadvocatesexualliberation;in1980s,therepresentativecharactersareyuppies,theyworewestern-styleclothes,preferredwealthandmaterialenjoyment;whilenow,yettiesteponthegrandstages.Theiruniquedressingstylesmakethemselvesdistinctfromothers:
theywearleisurestyle,mobilephones,andskateboard.Andtheyalsoexpresstheirownindependentvalueview–putthetechnologyatthetopplaceandthinkscienceandtechnologycanbringhumanmorefreespace.
Americansarenotpunctiliousandsometimesdissipated,sotheydaretoshowtheirlikesordislikesandalwaysuseslangwithstrongcolorinemotion,andexaggeratespeechaspossibleastheycan.Forexample,theworddirty(脏的),donotmeanitsoriginalintentioninthefollowingsentence:
Ihearthatit’sadirtymovie.Inthissentence,dirtyisexaggeratedandintensifiedandmeansfilthy.
Wecanseemanyharshmocksandruthlesshumiliationsinslang.Forexample,highfalutinmeans“standhighandlookdownuponothers”.Thiswordismadebyadaptinghigh-floatingtoreachatoneofironic.Anotherwordgross,whichmeansuncouthanddisgustedisnowusedbyyouthsinanydissatisfactoryoccasions.Fromthefirstyears’strictlimitationandprescriptiontoslang,tothefrequentlyusebynow,wecanseethegrowingpopularityandvitalityinAmericanslangculture.
.ThefunctionofEnglishslang
4.1. RhetoricalfunctionsofEnglishslang
Slangismainlyusedinspokenlanguage.Withitsrichandplentifulofconnotationcolorandexpression,itcanarisethespeakingatmosphere.Throughtherhetoricalmethodssuchasmetaphor,euphemism,exaggeration,metonymy,etc,wecanconveyourimplicitintentionmorelifelikebyusingslangwords,sothattoreflectthebanter,ironic,mock,pejorationandvulgarconnotation.
UsingmetaphoricslangwordsproperlyinspokenEnglishorliteraryworkscanenrichthestandardlanguage,enliventheatmosphere,andatthesametimeavoidtherigidandstiffsituation.Forexample,worddish,whichmeansplateoriginally,canbeanalogizedtoabeautifulgirl.Forexample,Iwasthinkingthiswasgoingtobemyfavoritedish.Anotherexample,rug,whichmeanscarpet,canbeanalogizedinslangtowig(假发)(邓炎昌,1991:
43)。
Insomeconditions,peopleneedakindofconservativewaytoexpressthemselves,toavoidsayingsthdirectlybyusingordinarywords.Euphemisticslangcanjusthelppeopletosolvethisproblem.Therearenotfewwordstoexpress“pregnancy”inslang,e.g.tobeinthefamilyway,tobeinadelicatecondition,toweartheapronhigh,etc.Todescribeafatperson,wecanuseportliness.TheuseofeuphemismcannotonlyenrichtheEnglishvocabulary,butalsomakethespeechjocularandhumorous,livelyandimplicit.
Theuseofslangcanalsointensifytheintentionofironyorstrengthenthepowerofexaggerationsoastoexpressthespeaker’sstrongfeelingandtoshocktheaudience.Forexample,peoplecallcowardmanaschicken;andnon-sexyanduglywomanadog.
Speakercanusesomebrandnameorotherthingstosubstituteforwhathemeanstoreachthesuccincteffect.Asyouseeinthefollowing:
Coke,thebrandnameofCocaCola;awheelmeanscar,forexample:
thosewhocannotaffordwheelsmusthitcharide.
4.2PragmaticfunctionsofEnglishslang
Atfirst,slangmustexistinthesub-culturegroups.Thosemembersinthosegroupsconveytheirinformation,andexpresstheirvalueviewsbyusingtheirownspecialcommunicationmethodstointensifytheircohesion.So,whenslangisusedinacertaingroup,apartfromexpressingitspropermeaning,italsohasapragmaticfunction,thatis:
thespeakerswanttoprovethattheybelongtothatsub-culturegroup.Whensomeslangwordspenetrateintotheleadingcultureandareappliedbypeople,besidestheirliteralmeaning,slangalsohasspecialpragmaticfunctions.Thatcanbereflectedinthefollowingaspects:
Whenpeoplehavedistantrelationshiptotalkwitheachother,they
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