从文化和语言视角探讨美国俚语文档格式.docx

从文化和语言视角探讨美国俚语文档格式.docx

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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