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lakrecia
Slang is a world of mask and mirror.
Irving Lewis Allen
Slang is language which takes off its coat, spits on its hands,
and goes to work.
Carl Sandburg.
1.1. Controversial Points of Slang Definition and Different Approaches Toward It.
Much has been said and written about slang. This is probably due to the uncertainty of the concept itself. No one has yet given a more or less satisfactory definition of the term. Nor has it been specified by any linguist who deals with the problem of the English vocabulary. The fact is that no other European language has singled out a special layer of vocabulary and named it slang, though all of them distinguish such groups of words as jargon, cant, and the like. The distinctions between slang and other groups of unconventional English, though perhaps subtle and sometimes difficult to grasp, should nevertheless be subjected to a more detailed linguistic specification.
In Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language it is registered that in 1756 slang was specified as a noun and defined as the language peciliar to a particular group as a: argo; b: jargon an informal nonstandard vacabulary composed typically of coinages, arbitrarily changed words, and extravagant forced, or facetious figures of speech.
In 1828 the dictionary fixed the usage of the verb to slang: in intransitive senses it meant “to use slang or vulgar abuse” and in transitive one – “to abuse with harsh or coarse language.
In 1959 the entry rhyming slang was added defining as follows: "slang in which the word intended is replaced by a word or phrase that rhymes with it (as loaf of bread for head [Webster’s Dictionary, 1999].
When introducing the phenomenon the Thesaurus dictionary pays special attention to its socio-cultural roots. Belonging to the most informal register and characteristic of spoken English slang often originates in the cult language of a particular socio-cultural group. Not sufficiently elevated to be used in most writing (aside from dialogue), although often found in the popular press and frequently heard on popular radio and television [The Oxford Thesaurus dictionary, 1993].
Linguistic explanatory dictionaries bring in a more extended definition of the term slang. For instance, Webster`s New World Dictionary of the American Language gives the following meanings of the term:1. originally, the specialized vocabulary and idioms of criminals, tramps, etc. the purpose of which was to disguise from outsiders the meaning of what was said; now usually called cant.
2. the specialized vocabulary and idioms of those in the same work, way of life, etc.; now usually called shoptalk, argot, jargon. 3. colloquial language that is outside of conventional or standard usage and consists of both coined words (blurb, whoopee) and those with new or extended meanings (rubberneck, sap); slang develops from the attempt to find fresh and vigorous, colorful, pungent, or humorous expression, and generally either passes into disuse or comes to have a more formal status” [Dictionary of Contemporary Slang, 1997].
Encyclopaedia Britannica one can read that slang is unconventional words or phrases that express either something new or something old in a new way. It is flippant, irreverent, indecorous; it may be indecent or obscene. Its colourful metaphors are generally directed at respectability, and it is this succinct, sometimes witty, frequently impertinent social criticism that gives slang its characteristic flavour [Encyclopedias Britannica, 2002].
As is seen from these quotations slang is represented both as a special vocabulary and as a special language. This is the first thing that causes confusion. If this is a certain lexical layer, then why should it be given the rank of a language? If, on the other hand, slang is a certain language or a dialect or even a patois, then it should be characterized not only by its peculiar use of words but also by phonetic, morphological and syntactical peculiarities.
British linguist E. Partridge writes in his monograph "Slang To-day and Yesterday" that slang is easy enough to use, but very hard to write about with the facile convincingness that a subject apparently so simple would, at first sight, seem to demand. But the simplest things are often the hardest to define, certainly the hardest to discuss [Partridge E., 1979].
H.W.Fowler comments on slang as the diction that results from the favourite game among the young and lively of playing with words and renaming things and actions; some invent new words, or mutilate or misapply the old, for the pleasure of novelty, and others catch up such words for the pleasure of being in the fashion [Fowler H.W., 2001].
The well-known Soviet linguist I.R. Galperin who remained on the front line of this branch of science during the second half of the last century is refused to give the proper definition to the term slang. He points out that there is hardly any other term that is as ambiguous and obscure as the term slang because it seems to mean everything that is below the standard of usage of present-day English. These different and heterogeneous phenomena united under the vague term of slang cause natural confusion and do not encourage scholars to seek more objective criteria in order to distinguish the various stylistic layers of the English colloquial vocabulary because it never grows stale. If a slang word or phrase does become stale, it is replaced by a new slangism. It is claimed that this satisfies the natural desire for fresh, newly created words and expressions, which give to an utterance emotional colouring and a subjective evaluation.
I.R. Galperin considers that the term slang should be used for those forms of the English language which are either mispronounced or distorted in some way phonetically, morphologically or lexically. The term slang should also be used to specify some elements which may be called over-colloquial. As for the other groups of words hitherto classified as slang, they should be specified according to the universally accepted classification of the vocabulary of a language. But this must be done by those whose mother tongue is English. He states that only the native speakers of the English language are its masters and lawgivers. It is for them to place slang in its proper category by specifying its characteristic features [Galperin I.R., 1971].
Some linguists of the first half of the last century, like J.C. Hotten, M.A.Hiceforo etc, were almost genial in their attitude towards slang, but others were scornful. Their contemporary J.P. Tomas, in My Thought Book, inveighs that the language of slang is the conversation of fools. Men of discretion will not pervert language to the unprofitable purposes of conversational mimicry. The friends of literature will never adopt it, as it is actively opposed to pure and grammatical diction [Tomas J.P., 1995].
Perhaps a fairer conception is that of H.W Fowler who calls slang the great corrupting matter which infects what is round it [Fowler H.W., 2001].
With the rise of naturalistic writing demanding realism, slang began to creep into English literature even though the schools waged warfare against it, the pulpit thundered against it, and many women who aspired to gentility and refinement banished it from the home. It flourished underground, however, in such male sanctuaries as lodges, poolrooms, barbershops, and saloons.
By 1925 a whole new generation of and European naturalistic writers was in revolt against the Victorian restraints that had caused even Mark Twain to complain, and today any writer may use slang freely, especially in fiction and drama. It has become an indispensable tool in the hands of master satirists, humorists, and journalists.
So, though it is very difficult, just impossible to define the term slang properly it is now socially acceptable, not just because it is slang but because, when used with skill and discrimination, it adds a new and exciting dimension to a language. At the same time, it is being seriously studied by linguists and other social scientists as a revealing index to the culture that produces and uses it.
Кусочек из теорчасти моего диплома
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Date: 2009-10-05 08:59 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-10-06 05:38 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-10-06 05:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-10-06 06:07 pm (UTC)http://lacrecia.livejournal.com/2415.html
ну и дальше еще несколько постов. Про самих хаккеров могу сейчас запостить - пусть лежит:)
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Date: 2009-10-06 06:42 pm (UTC)Занятный блог
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Хороший блог!
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Date: 2012-02-12 12:00 pm (UTC)Что такое бесплатная программа для продвижения сайта
Date: 2012-02-18 05:35 pm (UTC)