美国俚语的文化特征毕业论文文档格式.docx

美国俚语的文化特征毕业论文文档格式.docx

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KeyWords:

Americanslang;

feature;

culture

摘　要:

随着社会的发展，俚语越来越多地为美国人所接受。

本论文分析了美国俚语的语言特色等。

此分析反映出了美国人幽默，非正式，反权威，追求时间效率，自信和具有创新意识独特的文化特征。

关键词:

美国俚语;

特点;

文化

Introduction

Englishslangcanbedefinedtocommoncolloquiallanguage,andaccordingtothedefinitionoftheConciseOxfordEnglishDictionary（1985）,slangisusuallyusedascolloquialwordsandphrase.ItcannotberegardedasStandard-English,thusthisshowsthat,slangisNonstandard-English.However,slangisverypopularintheEnglish-speakingcountriesnowadays.Slangisspokenbypeopleindailyspeech,andevenmagazineandliteraryworksmayfindalargenumberofthem.Withthedevelopmentofthesociety,slangiswidelyusedbymoreandmorepeople,especiallyinAmerica,slangcanbefoundfavorableintheAmericans’eyes.Itisacceptedbybothupper-classandlower-class,andespeciallythecollegestudentswhotendtouseup-to-datewordsthatformakindofcharacteristicstyleofthemselves.SlangplaysanimportantpartinAmericanEnglish.ItisreportedthatslangaccountsforoneofthetenthofAmericanaveragevocabulary.

People’sattitudetowardslangvariesfrompersontoperson.Somethinkthatslangcannotbeusedontheformaloccasion,foritisspokenbytheilliteratepeopleonlyandtheslangtermsaresocoarse.Someeventhinkthatslangisthefilthylanguage,andadvocateabandoningusingit.However,othersholdtheoppositeidea.TheythinkthatslangplayanimportantroleinEnglishlanguage,becauseofitsfresh,lifelike,humorandadequateexpressions.Onemustadmittheundeniablefactthatslangisspokenbymoreandmorepeople.

Inmoderntimes,ifoneisnotfamiliarwithAmericanslangheorshecouldnotcapturetheslangexpressionsinthemovieandcommonfictions,and,whatworse,onewouldmakemistakeswhentheyaretalkingwiththeAmericans.Anexamplewillclarifythefact.Aguideasksthetourist“anybodywantstotakealeak?

”（Doesanybodywanttogototherestroom?

）,and,ofcourse,whattheguidesaidwouldmakethetouristsurprise.Itistheuneducatedvulgarityofexpressionatall.Therefore,oneshouldbearinmindthatitisveryimportanttostudylanguageinasocioculturalcontext;

thelanguagehasexistedinclosecontactwithculture.Fromtheexampleonecanknowthatmisusingslangwouldresultinmisunderstandinginthecommunication.ItcannottellothersthatoneisgoodatEnglish.Itisnotthus;

moreoveritshowsthatonejusthashalf-backknowledgeaboutslang.

Americansspeakcolorful,idiomaticEnglishthatmayhavelittleresemblancetothelanguageonestudiedinschool.EvenanativeEnglishspeakermightbeconfusedbythecombinationofslangthatcharacterizesAmericanconversation.SoitisveryimportanttocapturetheAmericanslangexpressioninordertoknowotherscorrectly.

ThisthesisstartswiththeanalysisoftheculturalconditionofAmericanslang,anditspurposeistoprobeintothefeaturesofslangsoastobringtherelationshipbetweenslangandsocietyculturetolight.

Ⅰ.AmericanSlang

Slangisquiteacontroversiallanguage,peoplehavedifferentattitudetowardit.Itisnowonderthatthedefinitionofslangissovariety.However,theslangtermshavetheirowncharacters,and,ofcourse,thedefinitionsofitaremoreorlessdescribedinthesameway.A.TheDefinitionofSlang

Slangisaratherspecialparole.Itisneitherthewordthatbeyondtheregularroleofgrammaticalusage,norruraldialect.Althoughitisquitedifferentfromacrolectwhichusedontheformaloccasion,peoplequiteliketouseitindailyspeech.Asamatteroffact,themeaningofmostslangissimilartothewordsofcolloquialstyle.Someconsideronewordisslang,whileothersmightnotthinkso.Forexample,theoldmaybelievethewordbikeisslang,buttheyouthmightnot.Bicycleistrisyllabic,whilebikeismonosyllabic,itissotroublesometopronouncethewordwithtrisyllabic,andofcourse,theyouthprefertoomitsomeothertwosyllables,andbikeisspokenbytheyouthmoreoften.

Tosomecertainslang,itishardtotellthedifferencesbetweenslangandcolloquialstyle.Oneofthedefinitionsofitis,“thebodyofwordsandexpressionfrequentlyusedbyorintelligibletoaratherlargeportionofthegeneralpublic,butnotacceptedasgood;

formalusagebythemajority”（Flexner,1975:

3）.Anothersaying,“slangisusedtodenotethefrequentlyvividorplayfullexicalusagetypicalofcasualdiscourse,usuallyindicatingmembershipinaparticularsocialgroup”.（Quirketal,1985:

76）

AccordingtoOxfordLinguisticDictionary（2000）,“slangusedespeciallyofvocabularyspecificforexample,toaparticulargenerationofyoungerspeakers;

alsoasinordinaryusage,specifictoagrouporaprofession（e.g.‘armyslang’）,tocolloquialstyle,etc”.

Fromallabove,eventhoughpeoplehavedifferentideaaboutslang,onestillcanfindoutsomecommoncharacteristicsofit.AndwhataboutAmericanslang?

Itisfoundthatslangcanberegardedaswordsandphrasesorparticularmeaningsofwordsincommoninformaluse,butgenerallyitisnotseenasstandardinalanguagethatusedbyspecifiedexpressionorclass.Itisnaturaltoreferitasthewordsthatarecommonlyused,andcanbeunderstoodbyallpeopleinAmerica.

B.TheOriginationofAmericanSlang

Actually,manypeopledonotknowexactlywhenslangcameintouse,butitwasverylongagowhenitappearedinAmericans’life,forinstance,cuckoohasbeenusedbefore1600,enthusehasbeenusedsince1825,andbikesince1880.Mostlinguisticsbelievethatslanghasahistoryaslongaslanguage.Slangvocabularyexpressionscamefromawiderageofsources.Mainlyfromthepracticeofpeople’slife,someslangwasborrowedinto.Sub-cultureinAmericansocietyinpartcontactandmustbetakenintoaccountwhenweconsidertheoriginoftheAmericanslang.Becausesub-cultureinAmericansocietylaidfoundationforthegenerationofslang.MostspeakersofStandardEnglishhavealwaysbeenavoidingusingslang,becausethekindofslangthattheyhavebeenfamiliarwitharethoseoriginatingtheso-calledcantingtalkofthecriminalworld.Forexample,“onthelam”isargot;

theywerespokenbythecriminalsyndicateandtheembezzlinggroup.Drugsmokerreferredtonosecandy,blackstuff,shootinggallerytoillegaldrug.

Withthedevelopmentofsocialeconomy,thechangingofpeople’slanguageisbecomingfasterandfaster.SlangflourishedontheAmericanContinentsincethetwentiethcentury.Itwascreatedandusedbypoliceman,politicianandbusinessman,especiallycollegestudents,wordslikeneatawesome,vicious（verygood）wasverypopularamongtheyouthin90s,andlikewordsbread（money）,blood（man）,coolhot（verygood）atlastwereacceptedasStandardEnglish.

Therewerefrequentcontactamongthepeopleofdifferentgroups,slangeventuallyspreadtothelimitsofthesphereofinfluenceoftheplaceinwhichtheyarise,andbringaboutwithinthatareaagreaterdegreeoflinguisticconformity.Thereisstillsomeslangwedonotknowwhentheycameintobeing.Thenatureoftheevidenceisthatonecaninferthatanewformhasemerged,butonearegivennoideawhostartedthenewwordorwhy.

Ⅱ.FeaturesofAmericanSlang

Inthefollowingpassage,wewillfocusourstudyofAmericanslangfromamacroaspect:

itsfeaturessuchasplayfultones,artisticpossibilities,andabundanceofsynonyms,itshierarchynatureandothercharacteristicsmanifestedintheprocessofdevelopment.Throughthefeaturesofslang,onecaninfersomecharactersoftheAmericans.

A.TheGeneralFeaturesofAmericanSlang

TherearecertaingeneralfeaturesembodiedinAmericanslang.

Firstly,Americanslangoftenconveysanacerbic,evenoffensiveattitudeandlendsitselftopokefunatpretentiousness.ThefeatureofslangliesintheraritywithwhichitobeysproprietyanditisintheareaoffundamentemotionsthatAmericanslangismostchangeableandmostproductive.TherearemanyAmericanslangtermsforwomeninvolvingpeople’semotionandjudgment.Americancallagood-lookingwomanskirt,biscuitorswan,whichmanifestpeople’spositivefeelings.Incomparison,anuglyfemaleisnamedsillyduck,cloud,blackmonkey,whichcontainspeople’snegativeemotions.

Secondly,Americanslangisalsonotedforitsartisticpossibilities,whicharemanifestedbyfourmastersofitsuseforliterature:

ArtemusWard,O.Henry,GeorgeAde,andWalterWinchell.Americanslangisextraordinarilyrichinsynonyms;

ithasaveritablesynonymy.InAmericanslang,theideasmostfertileinsynonymyarethoseofdrinking,money,andthe***ualorgansandetc.InHall,BH.’sSlangDictionary（1986）mayfindnumeroussynonymsformildintoxication,which“beery”“bemused”,“bosky”,“buff”,“corned”,“elevated”,“foggy”“fresh”,“hazy”,“kisky”,etc.

Thirdly,thereisalmostahierarchyofAmericanslangaccordingtothedifferenceinthevulgarityofslangexpressions.Thelowersocialclassesinwhichslangtermsoriginated,themoreconcreteand‘immediate’theyare.Ittendstobethoughallslangwhatsoevertendstobeobjective.

Next,brevitymaynotbethesoulofAmericanslang,butitisperhapsoneofthechieffeatures.Brevityisattainedeitherbyapocopate,asinvampforvampire,muttformuttonhead,fanfor