英语论文正文模板Word格式.docx
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2.2TheDefinitionofAmericanSlang4
2.3TheFormationofAmericanSlang5
2.3.1TheFormationofStructure5
2.3.2OtherWaysofFormation6
2.4TheFeaturesofAmericanSlang8
2.4.1Informality8
2.4.2Brevity9
2.4.3Newness9
2.4.4Rhetoric10
3.TheSocialFunctionsofAmericanSlang11
3.1TheFunctionsofLanguage11
3.2TheSocialFunctionsofAmericanSlang12
3.2.1ShowingRespect12
3.2.2IdentifyingMembership13
3.2.3AchievingSolidarity13
3.2.4ExpressingFeeling14
3.3AmericanSlanginLearningEnglish15
4.Conclusion16
WorksCited17
AmericanSlangandItsSocialFunctions
1.Introduction
Slangusedtoberegardedasindecent,vulgarlanguage.However,todaypeoplehaverealizeditsvalue;
moreandmorepeoplewidelyusesuchlanguageformintheirdailycommunication.Evensomeslangtermsandexpressionshavebeendraftedintothedictionaries.Asoneofthemostpowerfulcountriesintheworld,theU.S.Aismoreandmoreinfluential.ForEnglishlearners,learningslangcanhelpthemtoavoidmisunderstandingandenhancelanguagecompetence.ThisthesisdiscussesAmericanslangfromtherelationsamongsociety,cultureandlanguage.TheexamplescitedinthispaperwilldeepentheunderstandingoftheimportanceofAmericanslang.
ManylinguistsandscholarshavestudiedAmericanslangindifferentaspects.JohnWintherspoonwhostudiedAmericanslangfromthelinguisticperspectivepointedoutthatslangwascant.ProbablyheisthefirstpeoplewhobegantostudyAmericanslangintheU.S.A.WhitmanwroteashortvaluablearticleinAmerican,whichdiscussesthehistoryofAmericanslangandstudiesslanginageneralview.In1893,BrandMatthewinTheFunctionofSlanghandledtheprinciplesinanewsuggestivemanner.RobertL.ChapmaninDictionaryofAmericanSlanganalyzedandrecordedAmericanslangterms.Inthe20thcentury,FrankSechriststudiedslanginpsychologicalperspectivethatdisplaysagreatinsightandenviableknowledgeonslang.EricPartridge’sbookSlang,TodayandYesterdaysystematicallydiscussesEnglishslangfromeveryaspect.IrvingLewisAllendiscussedslanginthebackgroundofmodernsocietyandculture.ConnieEbleinhisSlangandSociabilityanalyzedtheslangofcollegestudentsandsuggestedthatslangischangingallthetimeandspeakersuseittoestablishandconsolidateidentitiesinagroup.InChina,ZhengLixinhasdiscussedthecharacteristicsofAmericanslanganditssocialfunctionsintheanthologyofLanguageandCulturein1990.FengJianpointedoutthatAmericanslangwasproducedsociologicallythroughhistwojournals.DingLantiananalyzedAmericanslangtoobserveAmericanyouthcultureandsoon.
ThesescholarshavecontributedalottothestudyofAmericanslang.SomehavestudiedAmericanfromlinguisticperspectivewhiletheothershaveobservedslangfromsocial-cultureview.However,noonehasstudiedAmericanslanganditssocialfunctionsfromtherelationsoflanguage,cultureandsociety.ThispaperaimsatstudyingAmericanslanganditssocialfunctionsfromthesociolinguisticperspectiveandtherelationsoflanguage,cultureandsociety.ThesecondpartmainlydiscussestheoverallobservationofAmericanslangfromitsorigins,definitions,formationsandfeatures.ThethirdpartofthepaperislocatedonthesocialfunctionsofAmericanslangandslanginEnglishstudy.Thispartwilltakethesecondpartasthebasetoanalyzeslang’ssocialfunctionsbasedonthefunctionsoflanguagefromsociety,cultureandpeople.Additionally,someexpressionswillbetakenasexamples.ThepaperillustratestheimportanceofstudyingslanginEnglishlearning,whichcallspeopletopaymoreattentiontotheregularizationoftheslangstudy.
2.TheOverallObservationofAmericanSlang
SlangtakesupanindispensablepartinAmericanEnglish.AccordingtothestatisticbyAmericanlinguistsWentworth&
Flexner,thenumberofthewordsanaverageAmericanpeoplehasisrangingfrom10,000to20,000,ofwhich10percentareslangterms(Flexnerxx).Slangiswidelyusedbypeoplefromdifferentfields.Andwhereisslangfrom?
Whohavecreatedit?
Thefollowingwilldiscussthem.
2.1TheOriginofAmericanSlang
Partridgethoughtthatslangwasalmostasoldastheconcernedspeechitself.Itisprobablysafetoassumethatatthefirsttherewasspeech,then,speechformalandinformal;
thenformal,informal,andslangy;
finally,formal,informal,slangy,andcanting
(2).Fromabove,wecanbelievethatslangmustemergetogetherwiththeappearanceofthecolloquialspeech.However,thedefiniteoriginofslangisuncertain.InthedictionaryoftheOxfordCompanionoftheEnglishlanguage,theoriginofthewordslangisnotcertainandmaybeitisfromslingoraclippingthatcombineselementsinsuchphrasesorabeggar’slanguageandrogue’slanguage(McArthur860).Thatistosay,eventheexactoriginofslangitselfisunclear.OtherscholarsbelievethatslangfirstwasfromFrenchwordorLatinword.ThetwomainsourcesofEnglishareFrenchwordsandLatinwords.Anditispossiblethatslangwasfromthem.However,Americanslangsharesthesameorigin?
AmericaoncewasoneoftheBritishcolonies.AmericanEnglishdevelopedonthebasisofBritishEnglish.Accordingly,AmericanslangfirstcamefromBritishslang.Intheearly17thcentury,newgenerationslivinginVirginiaandPlymouthbegantouseslangintheirtalks.Thegroupofpeoplewhosettledinthecoloniesbegantocriticizetheiryoungergenerations’useofvulgarslangtermsintheirconversations.Bythen“Goodbye”hadreplaced“Godbewithyou”withitsnoveltyandvividness.However,atthefirst,mostAmericanslangcamefromcant.IntheU.S.A.,JohnWintherspoonisoneofthepioneerswhostudiedAmericanslangfromthelinguisticperspective.Hesuggestedthatslangiscant.“Initsearliestoccurrenceinthe18thcentury,thewordslangreferredtothespecializedvocabularyofunderworldgroupsandwasusedfairlyinterchangeablewithcant,flashandargot”(Fowler622).Itcanbeassumedthatslangtosomedegreecaninterchangewithcantandargot.Withthetimepassing,newcanthasappearedfromallwalksoflives.Moreandmorepeoplehaveacceptedthem.
ModernAmericanslangcomesfromdifferentways.Butthispaperdividesthemintotwomainsources.Americaisameltingpot,wheregathersdifferentpeoplefromvariousnations.SomeforeignslanghasbecomeAmericanslangbecauseofimmigration,intermarriage,businessco-operationandsoon.Forexample,smashingisfromEnglishslang;
burgerisfromGermanicslang;
buttisfromDutchslang.TheothersarefromdifferentsocialclassesinAmerica.“Totheordinaryman,ofaverageintelligenceandmiddleclassposition,slangcomesfromeverydirection,fromabove,frombelow,andfromallsidesaswellasfromcenter…Itisimpossibletoquantifytheamountofslangextantatthepresenttime,buteveryoneagreesthatitisfoundatalllevelsofsociety…”(Partridge4).Americanslangisinfluencedbyitspolitic,economy,culture,etc.Someslangtermscomefromthosefields,forexample,babykisser(thepoliticianwhotakespartinthegeneralelection)isfromthepoliticfield;
couchpotato(personwhokillstimebywatchingTVprogramsinthesofa)isfromtheentertainment.Alsosomearefromthedifferentsubculturegroupsofthesociety,forinstance,thedrugaddictshaveinventedslangtermssuchasnosecandy,shootinggalleryfordrugs.Gradually,theslangtermsofthesubculturegroupsareadoptedbycommonpeopleandevenbecomepopular,e.g.buckandbigonethatoncewereonlyusedbythegamblersarewidelyemployedbythewholesociety.Besides,peoplewhowanttoshowtheirdissatisfactionwiththesocietycreatesomeslangtermsandexpressions.“...slangisnotusedmerelyasameansofself-expression;
itconnotespersonality…someslangoriginatesinanhonorablediscontentwiththebatteredorbleachedphrasesinfartoogeneraluse”(Partridge4).
However,nomatterwhereslangisfromandwhohascreatedit,itisclearthat“itisnearlyalwaysrespectable;
itisdevisednotbythestupidpopulace,butbyindividualsofwitandingenuity;
asWhitneysays,itisaproductofanexuberanceofmentalactivity,andthenaturaldelightoflanguage-making”(Partridge5).
2.2TheDefinitionofAmericanSlang
Nowthattheoriginofslangisrespectable,howtodefiniteslang?
Thedefinitionsofslangarevaried.Somearenegative;
someareneutral;
andtheothersarepositive.“Theyarethelowestwordsonlywhichareusedbythedangerousclassesandlowestgradesofsociety,”wrotePartridge(5).“Aparticularkindofvagabondlanguagespeech,butcontinuallystrayingorforcingitswayintothemostrespectablecompany,iswhatwecallslang”(GeenoughandKitteredge55).Slangisanewkindofspeakingstyleconsideredasalanguage“withoutreasonororder”(Thorne23).Moreover,“slangisinitselfneithergoodnorbad.Itispartofthenaturalgrowthoflanguage.Alivinglanguagemustcontinuallychange,andsomeofthechangesfirstappearasslang...”(Fowler622).Nomatterthedefinitionsaregoodorbad,positiveornegative,slangitselfisnotgoodorbad.
Inaddition,somedefinitionsofslangareveryexpressive.Sandburgwrotethat“Slangislanguagewhichtakesoffitscoat,spitsonitshand--andgoestowork”(Fan26).Itsuggeststhatslangisverypracticalandconvenient.Slangis“Thegruntofthehumanhog(Pignoramusintolerabilis)withanaudiblememory.Thespeechofonewhoutterswithhistonguewhathethinkswithhisear,andfeelstheprideofacr