美国俚语.docx

美国俚语.docx

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美国俚语

TheDominantFeaturesandSocialFunctionofAmericanSlang

Abstract

Americanslangbelongstocolloquialspeechgenerallyusedoninformaloccasions.InmodernAmericansociety,everyfieldhasitsownspecialslangwordsaswellasdifferentclasses,vocationsandraces.Theslangwordsaccountforonetenthofthevocabularyusedbycommonpeople.

Furthermore,languageisthecarrierofcultures,soitispracticallyimportanttostudyAmericanslang.Withouttheunderstandingofslang,itisimpossibletofullyunderstandAmericancultures.ResearchesonAmericanslangwillcontributedirectlytocolloquialcommunication,translation,education,eveneconomicdevelopmentandotheraspectsofsociallives.

Eventhoughthecurrentresearchesonslangareabundant,mostofthemhavefocusedonclassifyingandexplainingcertainslangwordswithoutgivingfurtherlinguisticanalysis.Thisthesiswillmakealinguisticanalysisbyapplyingtheoreticaltoolsandlinguisticstudymethods.

Therearefivechaptersinthisthesis.Thefirstchapterisanintroduction,describingtheresearchbackgroundandthesignificanceofit,theresearchmethodsandtheoreticaltoolsused.Thesecondchapterconcernsthedefinitionofslang,originofit,andtheattitudestowardsslangindifferenttimes.Thethirdchaptertalksaboutthecommonfeatureslikebeingvivid,creative,ephemeralandhumorous.AnditalsoconcernsthelinguisticfeaturesofAmericanslangfromtwoaspectsofrhetoricandword-formation.ChapterFourdiscussesthegeneralsocialfunctionsofAmericanslang.Chapterfiveisconclusion.

Thisthesisisbasedonthefullunderstandingofabundantresearchachievementsbyformerscholars.Besidesbasedontheexistingtheories,thisthesisbringsupafewnewideasandconclusionswhichstillwaittobeexaminedbyfurtherresearches.

Keywords:

Americanslang;linguisticfeatures;socialfunctions

Contents

AbstractI

ContentsIII

Chapter1Introduction1

Chapter2LiteratureReview3

2.1Definitionofslang3

2.2Theoriginofslang3

2.3Theattitudestowardsslangindifferenttimes4

Chapter3DominantFeaturesofAmericanSlang6

3.1CommonfeaturesofAmericanslang6

3.1.1Creativeness/vividness6

3.1.2Ephemeral/humorous7

3.2LinguisticfeaturesofAmericanslang9

3.2.1RhetoricfeaturesofAmericanslang9

3.2.2Word-formation12

Chapter4SocialFunctionofAmericanSlang15

4.1Showingthestatusofthespeaker15

4.2Strengtheningtherelationshipamongmembers15

4.3Showingthepersonalityandsatisfyingpeople’snovelty16

4.4Informalityeffect16

4.5Humorouseffect18

Chapter5Conclusion20

Bibliography21

Acknowledgements23

Chapter1Introduction

Slangwasnottakenseriouslyasanacademicsubjectforalongtimeinthepast.Mostintroductionstothescientificstudyoflanguagementionslangonlyverybriefly.Bloomfield（1933）,Hockett（1958）,Gleason（1961）andLehamnn（1976）alltogetherdevotedfewerthanfivepagestoslang.ThehistoricalstudyofEnglishlanguagegiveslangabitmoreattention.Yetsomeconveyvaluejudgmentbasedonculturalattitudesratherthanonlinguisticevidence.Schlauch,callsslangexpressions“aberrations（失常，越轨行为）fromStandardEnglish”（1959,52）.CharlesHockettwrites,“Wemustnotthinkofsuchusesoflanguageasinanywayinferiortoitsuseinwritingtreatiesonbacteriologyordeliveringlecturesoncivillaw”（1958,294）.BaughandCableconcedethat“someuseofslangistoleratedinthelightconversationofmosteducatedspeaker”（1978,314）.

StuartBergFlexner’sprefacetothe“DictionaryofAmericanSlang”,editedwithHaroldWentworthandfirstlypublishedin1960,hasbecomeastandardandhasbeenreprintedinsubsequenteditionsofthedictionaryaswellasinanthologiesforlinguistsandslanglearners.ThebestgeneraldiscussionofAmericanslangtodateisJonathanLighter’stwenty-seven-pageintroductiontovolume1ofhis‘RandomHouseHistoricalDictionaryofAmericanSlang’.（1994）

MoreandmorescholarstendtostudyslangfrommanyotheraspectsnowadaysbecauseofitswideuseinAmericansociety.Althoughtheliteraturesconcerningtheresearchofslangareabundantinadequaciesstillexist.Mostoftheworksfocusonwordsclassificationandexplanationwithoutafurtherlinguisticanalysis.Asaresult,thestudyjuststaysonthesurfacesothatthelearnersorforeignerscannotgetafullyunderstandingofAmericanslangandalsoAmericancultures.TheaimofthethesisistodoaseriouslinguisticstudyofAmericanslang.Byusingtheresearchmethodsofdescriptiveandsociallinguisticsanalysis,thisthesisaimstoprovideamorecompletepictureofthedefinition,generalfeaturesofAmericanslangandsocialfunctions.

Besides,throughoutthethesis,theauthorputsemphasisongeneratingnewideasandtheories.Onthebasisoffullyunderstandingfromtheformerresearchachievements,theauthortrytoputforwardsomenewideasandconclusionswhichstillwaittobetestifiedbythefutureresearch.

Chapter2LiteratureReview

AsstatedbyPapin:

“Thedefinitionofalanguagecan’tbefullyunderstoodwithouttrackingitsorigins”（Papin&Liliane,1992:

1253-65）.Inthischapter,wewillsummarizethedefinitionandoriginofslangonthebasisofformerconclusion,andalsothedifferentattitudestowardsslangindifferenttimes.

2.1Definitionofslang

Slangisakindofcolloquialspeechwhichisusedoninformaloccasion.Itgeneratedbysubculturegroupswhosearchfornovelty,individualityandgroupsolidarity.Slangisusedbydifferentsocialgroupsandindifferentsocialcontexts.Itisthemostvividformoflanguage;itconstantlyrenewsitself,interactswithothercolloquialspeechesandplaysdifferentroleatdifferenttimeperiods.

2.2Theoriginofslang

Anewslangtermisusuallywidelyusedinasubculturebeforeitappearsinthedominantculture.Afteranewslangtermwasinvented,iftheothermembersofagroupfindthatthenewslangprojectstheemotionalreactionofthegrouptowardanidea,person,orsocialinstitution,thenewslangwillbeacceptedandcontinuetobeused,orelsethenewexpressionwillquicklydisappear.Slangisoriginatedbecauseofitsuniquefeaturesratherthanaccordingtosomescientificlaws.Theconvenience,vivacityandintimacyprovidedbyslangareindispensableandirreplaceablebyotherkindofspeechandoffergoodreasonsforitsoccurrence.Besides,oneimportantreasonforthecreationofslangasameansofself-expression,slangconnotes.Finally,theproductionofslangisfortheindividual’spursuingofnovelty.

Slangwasgeneratedbecauseoftworeasons.First,apersonalreason:

human’sphysicalandpsychologicalcharacteristicsrequireavividlanguagetodescribeit.Second,anexternalsocialreason:

socialpressures,differenteconomicandgeographicalconditionsgiverisetoaparticularandvariedlanguagetomanifestandtorepresent.AsstatedbyPartridge“Whateverthesource,personalityandone’ssurroundings（socialoroccupational）arethetwoco-efficient,thetwochieffactorsandthedeterminingcausesofthenatureifslang.”（EricPartridge,1970:

5）

2.3Theattitudetowardsslangindifferenttimes

Linguists,authors,educatorsandliterarycriticswhofocustheirattentionontheuseoflanguageholdvariousattitudestowardsslang.AmbroseBierce,inhisdictionary,calledEnglishslang‘thegruntofhumanhog’EvenTheOxfordEnglishDictionary’s1989editiondefinesEnglishslangasthespecialvocabularyusedbyanysetofpersonsofalowordisreputablecharacter;languageofalowandvulgartype.Othersholdamorescientificandfaireropiniontowardslang.Thefollowingexaminestheattitudestowardsslangheldbypeoplewhoconstantlydealwithslangintheirprofessions.

Firstly,differenttheologiansandlinguiststhroughoutthehistoryhelddifferentopinionstowardsslang.Fowlerandalltheotherearlynativestudentsofthelanguagegenerallyhaveanegativeopinionconcerningslang.Heremarked:

“Inreallife,slangisthegreatcorruptingmatter;itisperishableandinfectswhatisroundit”（Fowler,1965）.

Second,thepracticingauthorsofthecountry,likethelinguistsandtheologians,havealwaysshownagingeryandsuspiciousattitudetowardsslangwhilehighlyrespectstandardlanguage.“Wemaysaythatinliteraryworld,StandardEnglishisthemoreconventionalanddignified,moreaccurateandlogical,sometimesthemorebeautifulandrhythmical;itislikeeveningdress,forimportantoccasions”（Crystal,1995:

601）.

Finally,literaturecriticshelddifferentviewsaboutslang.SuchcriticsasHotten,Mencken,NiceforoandGeraldParshalarealmostgenialintheirattitudetowardsslang.GeraldParshalina1994articleforU.S.News&WorldReportdescribesslangasproletarianpoetry.Othercriticsaremorescornful.Asearlyas1825,J.P.Thomas,inMyThoughtBook,inveighedthus:

“Thelanguageofslangistheconversationofthefools.Menofdiscretionwillnotpervertlanguagetotheunprofitablepurposesofconversationalmimicry···Thefriendsofliteraturewillneveradoptit,asitisactivelyopposedtopureandgrammaticaldiction.”

Chapter3DominantfeaturesofAmericanslang

AmericanslangusedbyAmericans,occupiesalargepartofEnglishslang.Inthefollowingpartsofthethesis,weshallfocusourstudyonAmericanslangbyfirstlydiscussingitscommonfeaturesandthenthenewideasaboutthelinguisticfeatures.

3.1commonfeaturesofAmericanslang

LinguistsPhilosopherWittgenstein:

“Languageisacitywhichcouldbestudiedinbothamacrowayandamicroway.”（Wittgenstein,2005）Inthefollowingpassage,we’llfocusourstudyofAmericanslangfromamacroaspect.

Thereare