英语论文正文模板.docx

英语论文正文模板.docx

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英语论文正文模板

Contents

1.Introduction1

2.TheOverallObservationofAmericanSlang2

2.1TheOriginofAmericanSlang2

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,andfeelstheprideofa