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                        Солошко Яна Александровна,

Зеленцова Людмила Валериановна

Муниципальное Общеобразовательное Учреждение

Средняя Общеобразовательная Школа № 2

г. Кропоткин Кавказский район

Краснодарский край

учащаяся 10-го класса

учитель английского языка

МОЛОДЕЖНЫЙ СЛЕНГ КАК СОЦИАЛЬНЫЙ ФЕНОМЕН АНГЛИЙСКОГО ЯЗЫКА

YOUTH SLANG AS A SOCIAL PHENOMENON  OF ENGLISH

The main purpose of this work is to discover the slang’s essence in modern linguistics and to establish its situation among other languages.

Slang ... an attempt of common humanity to escape from bald literalism, and express itself illimitably ... the wholesome fermentation or eructation of those processes eternally active in language, by which froth and specks are thrown up, mostly to pass away, though occasionally to settle and permanently crystallize.

 Walt Whitman, 1885

                                                   What is slang?

 Slang can be described as informal, nonstandard words or phrases which tend to originate in subcultures within a society. Slang often suggests that the person uses the words or phrases are familiar with the subgroup-it can be considered a different factor of in-group identity. Microsoft Encarta (multimedia encyclopedia) states: "slang expressions often embody attitudes and values of group members." In order for an expression to become slang, it must be widely used by members of the subculture or group. Slang has no societal limits as it can exist in all cultures and classes of society as well as in all languages.

Slang expressions are created in basically the same way as standard speech. As stated in Microsoft Encarta, "expressions may take form as metaphors, similes, and other figures of speech." In addition, it is noted that the words used as slang may be new coinages, existing words may acquire new meanings, narrow meanings of words may become generalized, words may be abbreviated, etc. However, in order for the expression to survive, it must be widely used by the group. Slang is a way in which languages change and are renewed. British slang is English language slang used in Great Britain. While some slang

Words and phrases are used throughout all of Britain (e.g. knackered, meaning "exhausted"), others are restricted to smaller regions.

         Varieties of British slang

1. Rhyming slang

Rhyming slang is a form of phrase construction in the English language, and is especially prevalent in dialectal British English from the East End of London which also gives it the name Cockney rhyming slang. The construction involves replacing the common word with a phrase of two or three words, and then in almost all cases, omitting the original rhyming word, in a process called hemiteleia, making the origin and meaning of the phrase elusive to unfamiliar listeners.

The most frequently cited example, although it is almost never said by current users, involves the replacement of "stairs" with the rhyming "apples and pears"; following the usual pattern of omission this would then be used only as "apples". Thus the spoken phrase "I'm going up the apples" would indicate "I'm going ['up the stairs'/'upstairs']".

In similar fashion, "telephone" is indicated by "dog" (= 'dog-and-bone');

"Wife" by "trouble" (= 'trouble-and-strife');

 "Eyes" by "minces" (= 'mince pies');

"Wig" by "syrup" (= 'syrup of fig");

"Feet" by "plates" (= 'plates of meat').

Thus a construction of the following type could conceivably arise: «It nearly knocked me off me plates: he was wearing syrup! So I got straight on the dog to me trouble, and said I couldn't believe me minces...»

2. Back slang

Back slang is an English coded language in which the written word is spoken backwards. It is thought to have originated in Victorian England, being used mainly by market sellers, such as butchers and greengrocers, to have private conversations behind their customers' backs and pass off lower quality goods to less observant customers. Some back slang has entered standard English.

For example the term 'yob' was originally back slang for 'boy' or "ecilop” for "police", but it was simplified for slop.

Occabot   -   tobacco

Tib           -   bit

     "Have you a bit of tobacco?”  - "Have you a tib of occabot?” (Не найдется ли немного табака?)

          3. Polari

 Polari was a form of slang used in Britain by actors, circus and fairground showmen, and criminals. It was popularized in the 1960s by camp characters Julian and Sandy in the popular BBC radio show Round the Horne. There is some debate about its origins, but it can be traced back to at least the 19th century, and possibly the 16th century. There is a longstanding connection with Punch and Judy street puppet performers who traditionally used Polari.  For example:

    1. "So bona to vada...oh you! Your lovely eek and your lovely riah."

Translation: "So good to see...oh you! Your lovely face and your lovely hair."

Why People Use Slang?

According to the British lexicographer, Eric Partridge (1894-1979), people use slang for any of at least reasons:

1)           In sheer high spirits, by the young in heart as well as by the young in years; 'just for the fun of the thing'; in playfulness or waggishness.

2)           As an exercise either in wit and ingenuity or in humor. (The motive behind this is usually self-display or snobbishness, emulation or responsiveness, delight in virtuosity).

3)           To be 'different', to be novel.

4)           To enrich the language. (This deliberateness is rare save among the well-educated, Cockneys forming the most notable exception; it is literary rather than spontaneous.)

5)           For ease of social intercourse. (Not to be confused or merged with the preceding.)

6)           To induce either friendliness or intimacy of a deep or a durable kind. (Same remark.)

7)           To show that one belongs to a certain school, trade, or profession, artistic or intellectual set, or social class; in brief, to be 'in the swim' or to establish contact.

        The youth slang is an interesting linguistic phenomenon which is limited not

Only which age frames but social frames as well. It exists among young people as

Well as in separate more or less closed referent groups.

    But what is the difference between the youth slang and some other types of slang?

     The main idea of the youth slang is that it serves for people’s communication of the same age. The peculiarity of the youth slang is that it is based on the realities of young people. Due to the knowledge of this specific language, the young people consider themselves to be members of some closed society. Slang making is widely spread among young people because they want to be independent. They want to stay aside from the world of grown-ups "coding” their own language.

   They sometimes want to disturb the respectable Queen’s English. Although not everything is suitable in slang, it makes the English speech more vivid flexible and witty.

   Professor S.K. Boyanus speaks about slang as a trap-language which hangs over the literary language but is not able to enter the higher society.

 We сan compare:

                                        A Foxy Girl (slang)

        Mary is sure a fox. Doesn’t she have some boss rags? She looks like she got a lot of soul. She is cool, man, out-of-sight. Her shoes are clean, and her hair is real boss. Man, is she fine!

                                       A Beautiful Girl (literary)

        Mary is surely a nice-looking girl. Doesn’t she have beautiful clothes? She looks as if she has a lot of understanding. She is up to date and beyond comparison. Her shoes are attractive, and her hair style is really contemporary. John, she is really good-looking.

     More early every American student used following slang-words: groovy-nice or interesting; hot and heavy-aggressive or passionate; peachy-excellent, all right, fair; real-really, very, indeed. Now students wide use bummer-anything bad or unpleasant:        That show was a bummer–Тот спектакль был неинтересный.

                          I lost my job; what a bummer! –Я потерял работу, какая досада!

     Let’s study a word BEAR (медведь) which is used by teenagers nowadays.

    1. «Josef's roommate Patrick is a real bear. He just stays in the room all the time, never participating in anything» (Буквально: «Сосед Джозефа Патрик – настоящий медведь. Он все время сидит в комнате, никогда ни в чем не участвует»).

   2. The exam was a real bear – Экзамен был очень тяжелым.

This problem is a real bear — Этот вопрос не так-то легко решить.

This is a bear of a job — Работенка не из легких.

  3. Mama bear: «As we came around the corner we saw a mama bear sitting in a pig mobile» — «Когда мы завернули за угол, то увидели женщину-полицейского в патрульной машине».

  4. Baby bear: «Some baby bear tried to arrest me for speeding but I conned him out of it» — «Один начинающий полицейский хотел арестовать меня за превышение скорости, но я уломал его этого не делать».

   5. Lady bear: «That house is staked by those two lady bears»— «Эти две женщины из полиции ведут наблюдение за домом».

  6. Bear cage (видимо, русский аналог – «обезьянник»): «I sat for two hours in that stinking bear cage.» — «Я просидел два часа в полицейском участке».

  7. Bear trap - «медвежья ловушка», полицейский радар для определения скорости.

                                       Conclusion.

The use of slang usually involves deviation from standard language, and tends to be very popular among young people. However, it is used to at least some degree in all sectors of society. Although slang does not necessarily involve neologisms, it often involves the creation of new linguistic forms or the creative adaptation of old ones. It can even involve the creation of a secret language understood only by those within a particular group. As such, slang sometimes forms a kind of aimed at excluding people from the conversation. The use of slang is a means of recognizing members of the same group, and to differentiate that group from society at large. In addition to this, slang can be used and created purely for humorous or expressive effect.

                                              Literature

1. Andersson, L.G. and P. Trudgill "Bad Language” London: Penguin Books, 1990.

2. Beglar, D. and N. Murray "Contemporary Topics 3” New York: Longman, 2002.

3. Crystal, D. "Language Play” London: Penguin Books, 1998.

4. Dumas, B. and J. Lighter "Is slang a word for linguists?”

5. Eble C. "Slang and Sociability”, London and Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1996.

6. Eckert, P. Jocks and Burnouts: Social Categories and Identity in High School.New York: Teacher’s College Press, 1989.

7. Halliday, M.A.K. (1978), Language as Social Semiotic: The Social Interpretation of Language and Meaning, London: Edward Arnold.

8. Kramsch, C. (1997), ‘The cultural component of language teaching’ in Wadham-Smith (ed) British Studies Now 8, London: British Council

9. Labov, T. (1982), ‘Social structure and peer terminology in a black adolescent gang’, in Language and Society 2, 391 – 411

10. Rampton, B (1995), Crossing: Language and Ethnicity among Adolescents, Harlow and New York: Longman

11. Rodriguez Gonzalez, F. (2002), Communication cultural juvenile, Barcelona: Ariel

          12. Sornig, Karl (1981), Lexical Innovation: A Study of Slang, Colloquialisms and Casual Speech, Amsterdam: Benjamins

14. Thorne, T. (1998), The Dictionary of Contemporary Slang (New Edition), London: Bloomsbury.

15.Wierzbicka, A. (1997), Understanding Cultures through their Key Words, Oxford: Oxford University Press