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1、American Slang and Its Social FunctionsContents1. Introduction12. The Overall Observation of American Slang22.1 The Origin of American Slang22.2 The Definition of American Slang42.3 The Formation of American Slang52.3.1 The Formation of Structure52.3.2 Other Ways of Formation62.4 The Features of Ame

2、rican Slang82.4.1 Informality82.4.2 Brevity92.4.3 Newness92.4.4 Rhetoric103. The Social Functions of American Slang113.1 The Functions of Language113.2 The Social Functions of American Slang123.2.1 Showing Respect123.2.2 Identifying Membership133.2.3 Achieving Solidarity133.2.4 Expressing Feeling143

3、.3 American Slang in Learning English154. Conclusion16Works Cited17American Slang and Its Social Functions1. Introduction Slang used to be regarded as indecent, vulgar language. However, today people have realized its value; more and more people widely use such language form in their daily communica

4、tion. Even some slang terms and expressions have been drafted into the dictionaries. As one of the most powerful countries in the world, the U.S.A is more and more influential. For English learners, learning slang can help them to avoid misunderstanding and enhance language competence. This thesis d

5、iscusses American slang from the relations among society, culture and language. The examples cited in this paper will deepen the understanding of the importance of American slang.Many linguists and scholars have studied American slang in different aspects. John Wintherspoon who studied American slan

6、g from the linguistic perspective pointed out that slang was cant. Probably he is the first people who began to study American slang in the U.S.A. Whitman wrote a short valuable article in American, which discusses the history of American slang and studies slang in a general view. In 1893, Brand Mat

7、thew in The Function of Slang handled the principles in a new suggestive manner. Robert L. Chapman in Dictionary of American Slang analyzed and recorded American slang terms. In the 20th century, Frank Sechrist studied slang in psychological perspective that displays a great insight and enviable kno

8、wledge on slang. Eric Partridges book Slang, Today and Yesterday systematically discusses English slang from every aspect. Irving Lewis Allen discussed slang in the background of modern society and culture. Connie Eble in his Slang and Sociability analyzed the slang of college students and suggested

9、 that slang is changing all the time and speakers use it to establish and consolidate identities in a group. In China, Zheng Lixin has discussed the characteristics of American slang and its social functions in the anthology of Language and Culture in 1990. Feng Jian pointed out that American slang

10、was produced sociologically through his two journals. Ding Lantian analyzed American slang to observe American youth culture and so on.These scholars have contributed a lot to the study of American slang. Some have studied American from linguistic perspective while the others have observed slang fro

11、m social-culture view. However, no one has studied American slang and its social functions from the relations of language, culture and society. This paper aims at studying American slang and its social functions from the sociolinguistic perspective and the relations of language, culture and society.

12、 The second part mainly discusses the overall observation of American slang from its origins, definitions, formations and features. The third part of the paper is located on the social functions of American slang and slang in English study. This part will take the second part as the base to analyze

13、slangs social functions based on the functions of language from society, culture and people. Additionally, some expressions will be taken as examples. The paper illustrates the importance of studying slang in English learning, which calls people to pay more attention to the regularization of the sla

14、ng study. 2. The Overall Observation of American SlangSlang takes up an indispensable part in American English. According to the statistic by American linguists Wentworth & Flexner, the number of the words an average American people has is ranging from 10,000 to 20,000, of which 10 percent are slang

15、 terms (Flexner xx). Slang is widely used by people from different fields. And where is slang from? Who have created it? The following will discuss them.2.1 The Origin of American SlangPartridge thought that slang was almost as old as the concerned speech itself. It is probably safe to assume that a

16、t the first there was speech, then, speech formal and informal; then formal, informal, and slangy; finally, formal, informal, slangy, and canting (2). From above, we can believe that slang must emerge together with the appearance of the colloquial speech. However, the definite origin of slang is unc

17、ertain. In the dictionary of the Oxford Companion of the English language, the origin of the word slang is not certain and maybe it is from sling or a clipping that combines elements in such phrases or a beggars language and rogues language (McArthur 860). That is to say, even the exact origin of sl

18、ang itself is unclear. Other scholars believe that slang first was from French word or Latin word. The two main sources of English are French words and Latin words. And it is possible that slang was from them. However, American slang shares the same origin?America once was one of the British colonie

19、s. American English developed on the basis of British English. Accordingly, American slang first came from British slang. In the early 17th century, new generations living in Virginia and Plymouth began to use slang in their talks. The group of people who settled in the colonies began to criticize t

20、heir younger generations use of vulgar slang terms in their conversations. By then “Goodbye” had replaced “God be with you” with its novelty and vividness. However, at the first, most American slang came from cant. In the U.S.A., John Wintherspoon is one of the pioneers who studied American slang fr

21、om the linguistic perspective. He suggested that slang is cant. “In its earliest occurrence in the 18th century, the word slang referred to the specialized vocabulary of underworld groups and was used fairly interchangeable with cant, flash and argot” (Fowler 622). It can be assumed that slang to so

22、me degree can interchange with cant and argot. With the time passing, new cant has appeared from all walks of lives. More and more people have accepted them.Modern American slang comes from different ways. But this paper divides them into two main sources. America is a melting pot, where gathers dif

23、ferent people from various nations. Some foreign slang has become American slang because of immigration, intermarriage, business co-operation and so on. For example, smashing is from English slang; burger is from Germanic slang; butt is from Dutch slang. The others are from different social classes

24、in America. “To the ordinary man, of average intelligence and middle class position, slang comes from every direction, from above, from below, and from all sides as well as from centerIt is impossible to quantify the amount of slang extant at the present time, but every one agrees that it is found a

25、t all levels of society” (Partridge 4). American slang is influenced by its politic, economy, culture, etc. Some slang terms come from those fields, for example, baby kisser (the politician who takes part in the general election) is from the politic field; couch potato (person who kills time by watc

26、hing TV programs in the sofa) is from the entertainment. Also some are from the different subculture groups of the society, for instance, the drug addicts have invented slang terms such as nose candy, shooting gallery for drugs. Gradually, the slang terms of the subculture groups are adopted by comm

27、on people and even become popular, e.g. buck and big one that once were only used by the gamblers are widely employed by the whole society. Besides, people who want to show their dissatisfaction with the society create some slang terms and expressions. “.slang is not used merely as a means of self-e

28、xpression; it connotes personalitysome slang originates in an honorable discontent with the battered or bleached phrases in far too general use” (Partridge 4).However, no matter where slang is from and who has created it, it is clear that “it is nearly always respectable; it is devised not by the st

29、upid populace, but by individuals of wit and ingenuity; as Whitney says, it is a product of an exuberance of mental activity, and the natural delight of language-making” (Partridge 5). 2.2 The Definition of American SlangNow that the origin of slang is respectable, how to definite slang? The definit

30、ions of slang are varied. Some are negative; some are neutral; and the others are positive. “They are the lowest words only which are used by the dangerous classes and lowest grades of society,” wrote Partridge (5). “A particular kind of vagabond language speech, but continually straying or forcing

31、its way into the most respectable company, is what we call slang” (Geenough and Kitteredge 55). Slang is a new kind of speaking style considered as a language “without reason or order” (Thorne 23). Moreover, “slang is in itself neither good nor bad. It is part of the natural growth of language. A li

32、ving language must continually change, and some of the changes first appear as slang.” (Fowler 622). No matter the definitions are good or bad, positive or negative, slang itself is not good or bad.In addition, some definitions of slang are very expressive. Sandburg wrote that “Slang is language whi

33、ch takes off its coat, spits on its hand - and goes to work” (Fan 26). It suggests that slang is very practical and convenient. Slang is “The grunt of the human hog (Pignoramus intolerabilis) with an audible memory. The speech of one who utters with his tongue what he thinks with his ear, and feels

34、the pride of a creator in accomplishing the feat of a parrot. A means (under Providence) of setting up as a wit without a capital of sense” (Bierce 52). Slang is “The diction that results from the favorite game among the young and the lively of playing with words and renaming things and actions; som

35、e 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 622). Those expressive definitions reflect the different aspects of slang and also show the various attitudes of people towards slang.Actu

36、ally, some dictionaries give out the more objective definitions of slang. The Oxford English Dictionary definites slang as “language of a highly colloquial type, considered as below the level of standard educated speech, and consisting either of new words or of current words employed in some special

37、 sense” (Simpson 651). And in C.O.D (4th ed 1966), slang is “words and phrases, or particular meanings of these, that are in common informal use, but generally considered not to form part of standard English, and often used deliberately for picturesqueness or novelty or unconventionality” (Brook 122

38、). Historical Dictionary of American Slang definites slang as informal, nonstandard words or phrases (lexical innovations) which tend to originate in subculture within a society (63). These dictionaries all give the comparatively more objective definitions of slang.Slang is used in every field of th

39、e society, which is easy to use but hard to definite. Though there are many definitions but no one can exactly give slang an exact definition. We just say they are objective or not. In my point of view, slang is a kind of informal language quintessence which carries peoples thoughts and the developi

40、ng tendency of the society; it is the product of the society; it is the result of the language development in the human world.2.3 The Formation of American SlangSince slang is a very special part of language. Its origins are various and definitions different. How is slang formed? As a language varia

41、tion slang actually shares the same formation methods with Standard English though it is highly colloquial and unsuitable to be widely used on very formal occasions. On the other hand, why slang is so popular is that some of its formation ways are special. Therefore, the paper will discuss the forma

42、tions of slang in two aspects.2.3.1 The Formation of StructureMost of slang words are created or formed by the same ways as other kinds of words in English. Here are several ways of word-formation.One way that we often use is clipping. “Slang delights to curtail words, as in monk for money, flu for

43、influenza, biz for business, varsity for university, vent for convert or pervert.” (Partridge 26). Clipping can be divided into four methods: the first one is clipping the front part of the word, e.g. amp for ampere or amplifier, champ for champion, bro for brother; the second is clipping the middle

44、 part, e.g. flu for influenza, tec for detective; the third is clipping the front part of the first word in a phrase, e.g. pop for popular music, intercom for intercommunication system; the last one is clipping the front part of each word, e.g. bs for bull-shit, ID for Identification Card, G-man for

45、 Government man, etc.Blending also is a popular way to form slang words, which invents a word by gathering parts of other words: one is combining the initial part of the first word with the end of the second one, for example, mingy (mean + stingy) means “mean, stingy or narrow-minded”; smog (smoke +

46、 fog) means” mixture of smoke and fog”. The other is combining the initial parts of two words, for instance, sitcom (situation + comedy) means” the radio or TV series that are very humorous”; brunch (breakfast + lunch) means “late morning meal eaten instead of breakfast and lunch ” and sci-fi (scien

47、ce + fiction).Another way is reduplication. We can see many slang words are formed in such way. However, reduplication is different in various situations. Some slang words are invented by combining two words of the same spelling, e.g. dum-dum (stupidity, fool), no-no (taboo, prohibition). Some are c

48、reated by two words different in one letter, e.g. tip-top (great or excellent), fiddle-faddle (nonsense, uselessness). The words created by reduplication are very rhythmic and easy to be remembered.The last major way is compounding, a process of word-formation, by which two independent words are put

49、 together to form a word (Lu 309). There are many slang terms formed by compounding, such as baby-sit from baby, sit; feedback from feed, back; baby-kisser from baby, kisser; career boy from career, boy; dropout from drop, out; awesome from awe, some; copycat from copy, cat (someone that copies the

50、words or behavior of others). Many young people like to call their friend homeboy or homegirl, which is formed in the same way, too. Some popular ones also are without exception, for example, party-pooper from party and pooper means “the person who refuses to enthusiastically take part in some recre

51、ational activities of a group”.2.3.2 Other Ways of FormationBesides the formation of structure, there are some other special ways to create the slang terms. Three ways are introduced: the first one is borrowing which is a way that borrows the words from other languages. In the part of the origin of

52、American slang, we already have discussed that many slang terms have come from the foreign cultures. Accordingly, it is called borrowing in formation. America is an immigration country of which 86 percent of the population is immigrants. Americans adopt so many foreign words. For example, kaput (fai

53、l), hamburger (bit someone black and blue), blitzkrieg (sudden intensive military attack, especially from the air), and so on, are borrowed from German; pariey-voo (speak and understand one language), solitaire (suicide), twiggez-vous (understand?), etc, are French words; boss, dignus (stuff or peop

54、le), schenter (suspicious) are Dutch words; vamoose (go away quickly) is a Spanish word; dolce vita (sweet life) is an Italian word. Besides, many words have been borrowed from other nations. The second one is changing meaning. America is an imaginative and creative nation. In order to keep novelty

55、and vivacity, some old words or expressions are given new meanings. For example, fewer people use “good, great, excellent” and the like because they can not keep up with the tide of the times and the demand of the fast life style. Instead, people use some other words, e.g. Wow, Kens new ride is dope

56、.The band that played at the party was totally tight!You got a new car? Cool!That was a sweet play! (Zheng and Gu 235)Dope (narcotic), tight (fixed together firmly), cool (not hot or warm), sweet (tasting like honey) are all used with the new meaning “good or great” in this short conversation. Also

57、some standard words have turned to be slang for giving a new meaning. Chin originally refers to part of the face below the mouth but being the slang word, it now means “chatting freely”; real bad turns to the opposite meaning “good, great or excellent”; deep-six in the past referred to “bury the dea

58、th below the depth of six fathoms under the sea”. Instead, being slang, it means “abolished”, for example, the project was deep-six, which means the project was cancelled. The last one is creation. With the development of the society, the change of the life, peoples minds are renewed quickly so that

59、 new slang terms appear. For example, oomph “sexy, charming” is created according to onomatopoeia; kook means “strange or eccentric people”.All these ways are very special which not only enlarge the slang vocabulary but also reflect the characteristics of American people or even American nation, so do the features of American slang.2.4 The Features of American Slang“The reason why many Englishmen tend to equate slang and