论文 浅析英语俚语中的性别歧视现象.docx

论文 浅析英语俚语中的性别歧视现象.docx

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论文浅析英语俚语中的性别歧视现象

（2014届）

毕业论文（设计）

题　目：

浅析英语俚语中的性别歧视现象　

专　　业：

　英语　　　　　　　　

班　　级：

学　　号：

姓　　名：

指导教师：

教　务　处　制

年月日

摘要

性别歧视，主要指的是对女性的歧视。

几千年以来，女性在社会、政治、经济方面都受到不平等的待遇。

男尊女卑是社会中长期存在的客观现象，不可避免的反映到语言和语言使用中来，由此形成语言性别歧视。

本文着重分析了英语俚语中性别歧视现象和产生原因以及今后可能发展的趋势。

首先介绍了何为英语俚语以及英语俚语的特征。

然后从四个方面探讨了英语俚语中存在的性别歧视现象，即它主要体现在特殊俚语上、描述两性的相关俚语表达上、俚语词义的变化过程以及社会公众对两性使用俚语的看法上。

接着在前面几章的基础上分析了英语中性别歧视现象形成的根源。

通过分析，发现英语俚语中的性别歧视归根结底还是由深刻的社会、历史和文化等方面的因素造成的。

接着论述了俚语中的性别歧视在今后的发展趋势。

最后是文章的结论部分，最根本的解决办法还是要彻底改变社会中长期对女性的歧视，进一步提高妇女的社会地位，只有这样，才能消除英语俚语中的性别歧视。

关键词：

英语俚语；性别歧视

Abstract

Thesexismmainlyreferstothediscriminationagainstwomen.Thousandsofyears,womenaretreatedunfairlyinthesocial,political,economicaspects.Theviewthatmenaresuperiortowomenisaneternalphenomenoninoursociety.Itreflectsinthelanguageandlanguageuseinevitably.ThispaperdevotestothestudyofsexismintheEnglishslang,itscauseandthetrendinthefuture.Tostartwith,thethesisintroducesthedefinitionandthefeaturesofEnglishslang.ThenfocusontheanalysisofsexisminEnglishfromfourparts:

insomespecialtypesofslang,inslangtermsofeachgender,inslangmeaningchangesandinsocialattitudetowardtheuseofslang.Then,basedonthepreviouschapters,analyzesthereasonsofthisphenomenon.Throughtheanalysis,Ifoundthat,thesexsexisminEnglishslangismainlycausedbysocial,historicalandculturalfactors.Then,expoundsthedevelopingtrendinthefuture.Finallycomestheconclusivepart,thebestwaytogetridoffsexisminEnglishslangistochangetheprejudiceagainstwomeninsociety,improvewomen’sstatus,onlybythiswaycansexisminEnglishslangbecompletelyeliminated.

Keywords:

Englishslang;sexsexism

1．Introduction

Languageisamirrorofthesociety;itreflectsthecharacteristicsofanation.Sexsexismislong-standingissue.Thiscanbefoundinmanycases,forexample,Easternandwesternwomenatthedisadvantagepositioninsocietyandwomenintheirfamilywithasubordinateposition.Atthebeginningofthe20thcentury,linguistsandsociologistsbecameinterestedinthegenderdiscriminationinlanguage.Withthedevelopmentofsociolinguisticsandthecomingofwomen’srightsmovement,languageandgenderresearchhasenteredintoaperiodofrapiddevelopment.Fromthedevelopmentandchangesofthelanguage,peoplecanconcludethatsexsexismdoesnotonlyexistinChina,butinallthecountries.Therefore,howdoesEnglishslangreflectthissexismphenomenon?

SinceRobinLakoff’sresearch（1975）,manyscholarsandexpertsathomeandabroadhavestudiedsexsexisminlanguagewithvariousresearchmethodsoutofmanypurposes.Forexample,theoutstandingscholarsandexperts,YangYonglin,BaiJiehong,andsoon,havedoneresearchaboutsexistelementintheEnglishlanguage,theyalsohaveputforwardsomepracticalstrategiestoerasethesexism,buttheyjusthavedonetheirresearchfromtheaspectoflanguagestrategy.Someotherexperts,QinXiubai,RenJingshenghavemainlystudiedbothsexes’differenceintheuseoflanguageanditscauseoutofsocialandculturalfactors.

English,asoneofthemostwidespreadlanguages,butthereismassivediscriminationinit.BritishwriterPayne（1935）haspointedout:

Thewisdomofnationsliesintheirproverbs.Theproverbsfromfolkarewidespread,reflectthesocialculture,life,customsandthinkingwiththelanguagefeaturesofconciseandcomprehensive,vivid,profoundandimplication.Byfar,theyhavedoneinnumerableresearches:

macroormicro,greatachievementshavebeenobtained.However,almostallthestudieshavechosenstandardlanguagesastheirresearchmaterials.EnglishslangisaveryspecialvarietyofEnglish.It’susedlimitedinearlierdays,butnowadays,wecanseetheminbooks,newspapersandmagazines.Itisafactthatslangcanbeusedinmanyfieldsinourlife.Thevigorandcolorofslangenrichourdailyspeech.Therefore,theresearchonslangisverynecessary.However,thearticlesonsexsexisminEnglishslangarerare.Owingtoabove-mentionedreason,thisresearchistostudysexsexisminEnglishslang.Thewholethesisisdividedintosixchapters,thefirstchapterisintroduction.ChaptertwointroducesthedefinitionandthefeaturesofEnglishslang.ChapterthreefocusesontheanalysisofsexisminEnglishfromfourparts:

insomespecialtypesofslang,inslangtermsofeachgender,inslangmeaningchangesandinsocialattitudetowardtheuseofslang.Chapterfourbasedonthepreviouschaptersanalyzesthereasonsofthisphenomenon.Throughtheanalysis,Ifoundthat,thesexsexisminEnglishslangismainlycausedbysocial,historicalandculturalfactors.Chapterfiveexpoundsthedevelopingtrendinthefuture.Finallycomestheconclusivepart.

2.Definitionandcharacters

2.1DefinitionofEnglishslang

AccordingtoOxfordLinguisticDictionary（2000）,“slangusedespeciallyofvocabularyspecificforexample,toaparticulargenerationofyoungerspeakers;alsoasinordinaryusage,specifictogrouporaprofession（e.g.‘armyslang’）,tocolloquialstyle,etc”tosomecertainslang,itishardtotellthedifferencebetweenslangandcolloquialstyle.Hereisoneoftheitsdefinition,thebodyofwordsandexpressionfrequentlyusedbyorintelligibletoaratherlargeportionofthegeneralpublic,butnotacceptedasgood;formalusagebythemajority”（Flexner,1975:

3）

Few linguists havemadeeffortstoclearlydefinewhatconstitutesslang. Attemptingtoremedythis,BethanyK.DumasandJonathanLighterarguethatanexpressionshouldbeconsidered"trueslang"ifitmeetsatleasttwoofthefollowingrules:

●Itlowers,iftemporarily,"thedignityofformalorseriousspeechorwriting";inotherwords,itislikelytobeconsideredinthosecontextsa"glaringmisuseof register."

●Itsuseimpliesthattheuserisfamiliarwithwhateverisreferredto,orwithagroupofpeoplewho are familiarwithitandusetheterm.

●"It'satabooterminordinarydiscoursewithpeopleofahighersocialstatusorgreaterresponsibility."

●Itreplaces"awell-knownconventionalsynonym".Thisisdoneprimarilytoavoiddiscomfortcausedbytheconventionalsynonymordiscomfortorannoyancecausedbyhavingtoelaboratefurther.

2.2CharactersofEnglishslang

2.2.1Highlycolloquial

Generallyspeaking,slangisasortofvocabulary.Itdoesn’thaveitsowngrammarunlikestandardlanguage.Mostslangissimplythesubstitutionofmoreforceful,emotionalorhumorousformsforstandardwordsonesamemeaningmaybeexpressedinvariouswaysbythespeaker,that’stosay,asingleslanghasquiteafewsynonyms.Onthewhole,thelifeexpectancyofslangisshort,besidesthosecanriseintostandardlanguageastimewentby,mostslangdisappearedveryquicklyandsoonforgottenbypeople.

Slangwordsareusedin socialsituations,mainlyintheoralcommunicationbetweenfriends,acquaintancesandpeopleofthesamesocialgroupandwhenchatting on-line.Onsomefriendlyoccasions,ifyoutalkinaveryformalway,itwillgiveothersafeelingthatyouaretalkingwiththeminarequestedtone.Suchfeelingwillmakeyouhardtomakefriendswiththem.Ifyouaddsomenecessaryslanginyoutalking,youcanhavethetalkingatmospheremoreeasily.

Forexample,ifyouwanttogetyourfriends’agreement,thefriendcanunderstandyourfeeling,hemaysaythefollowingsentences:

“Iwilldrinkthatsentence.”Itmeans:

”Idefinitelyagreewithyou.”Itisalsoundeniablethatwiththeriseofnaturalism,slangbegantoenterintoEnglishliterature.Moreandmorewritersmakegooduseofslangforvividcharacterization.Forexample,J.D.Salinger’sworkthecatcherintheryeusesalargenumberofcontemporaryslangofteenagers.

2.2.2Abundanceofsynonyms

Slangisabundantofsynonyms.Bythephrase“abundantofsynonyms”,werefertotwophenomena.Firstisthatslangalmostexistsbythesidewithanothermoregeneraltermforthesamething.Taking“chick”asanexample,tosomespeakers,theyuse“chick”withthemeaning“girl”or“youngwoman”.Thedifferencebetween“girl”and“chick”canbeaccordingtothepersonwhousesthisword.Somesay“thisgirlismysister”,others“thischickismysister”.“Girl”isthegeneraltermfor“chick”.Secondisthatthereismanyslangwords,whichhavethesamemeaning.Thischaracteristicofslanggreatlyhelpsenrichvocabulary.Accordingtoresearch,thereareover300wordsreferringtothemeaning“drunkenness”.Someoftheseslangwordsorphrasesrefertotheintoxication,somedescribetheheavinessandstillnessandothersthelightnessafterdrinking.Theserevealvividimagesofadrunkardfromdifferentaspects.

2.2.3Transienceofslang’slife

Generallyspeaking,slangistransient.Itspreadsveryquickly,also,itisunstableandtemporary.SlangistheunstableelementofEnglishanditslifeexpectancyisgenerallyshort.UsuallyapopularslangofthisyearmaynolongerbeheardnextyearorsomeslangonceusedbyonegenerationmaysoundGreektothenext.Theuseofslangiscloselyrelatedtothecircumstanceswhereitisused.Ifthecircumstanceschange,theslangwilldisappeartoo.Withoutcircumstancesinwhichitisinitiated,itcannotbewellunderstood.Withoutspecificcircumstances,slanglosesitssensecorrespondentlyorwillbecomeunintelligible.Butnotalltheslangdisappearssoonafteritsbirth.Someexistdecadeafterdecade,centuryaftercentury,neverbecomingdyingoutsoon.Forexample,theword“booze”,itformedasearlyasintheMiddleAges,nowitisstillrankedinsomeslanginsomedictionaries.Itisoftensaidthataslangtermsto