现代美国俚语的特点及社会功能The Characteristics and Social Functions Of Modern American Slang30

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1、 毕 业 论 文 现代美国俚语的特点及社会功能The Characteristics and Social Functions Of Modern American Slang毕业论文独创性声明本人声明所呈交的毕业论文是本人在导师指导下进行的研究工作及取得的研究成果。据我所知，除了文中特别加以标注和致谢的地方外，论文中不包含其他人已经发表或撰写过的研究成果，也不包含为获得 大学或其他教育机构的毕业证书而使用过的材料。与我一同工作的同志对本研究所做的任何贡献均已在论文中作了明确的说明并表示谢意。论文作者签名（手写）： 签字日期：2010年4月9日ContentsAbstract.Introduc

2、tion.1.The Background of Modern American Slang.1.The Source of Modern Slang.23.1Sub-culture of the infiltration to the mainstream culture.23.2The promotion of socialites activities.23.3The large numbers of new things and new concepts.3.the basic characteristics of modern American slang.34.1 Humorous

3、.34.1.1 The expression of speech sounds.34.1.2 The expression of vocabulary.34.2Convenient and concise.34.3Updating rapidly.4. The social functions of modern American slang.45.1 Reflecting the discrepancy of social identity.45.2 Reflecting the Americans ordinary life .55.3 Attitudes reflecting the a

4、ttitude to the reality.55.4 Overcoming the communicational barrier.5. The respecting of modern American slang.6.Conclusion.7BibliographyAcknowledgement目 录摘要第一章 引言.1第二章 现代美国俚语产生的背景.1第三章 现代美国俚语的来源.23.1 亚文化项主流文化的渗透.23.2社会名流的积极推动.23.3新事物 新概念的大量涌现.3第四章 现代美国俚语的基本特征.34.1 幽默风趣.34.1.1 语音的体现上.34.1.2 词汇的体现上.34

5、.2 简洁简练.34.3 更新迅速.4第五章 现代美国俚语的社会功能.45.1语言身份差异的反映.45.2反映美国人的日常生活.55.3态度：反映美国人对于社会现实的态度.55.3克服交流障碍.5第六章 现代美国俚语的前景.6第七章 结束语.7参考文献致谢AbstractModern American slang is a rather special form of language，which has a unique expression and a long history. Westward Movement occurred on American continent in the

6、 19th century has promoted the formation of the American slang; while the 20th century was a rapid development period time of American slang. As for its source the penetration of sub-culture to the mainstream culture, the promotion by social celebrities and the emergent of new concepts and new thing

7、s has greatly conduced the development of slang .In the course of development, the American slang gradually formed its own style and features: humorous, funny, vivid, convenient and concise, updated rapidly. At the same time, role can reflect in many sides: The slang reflects the discrepancy of soci

8、al identity and the life of ordinary people. At the same time, it reflects a kind of attitude by which the people treat the reality. Its usage function includes overcoming the communicative barrier and so on. For the modern American slang, scholars cast different views, but its no doubt that the eme

9、rgence of modern American slang and its development meet the demand of the society and the times. Now, get clear, concise and with the standard language of mutual penetration of modern American slang has become a major trend.Key words: Modern American Slang; characteristics; social functions 摘 要现代美国

10、俚语是一种相当特殊的语言形式，具有独特的语言表现力和悠久的历史。19世纪美洲大陆的“西进运动”促使了美国俚语的形成，然而到了20世纪则是美国俚语迅猛发展的时期。从其来源来看，亚文化向主流文化的渗透到社会名流的推动再到新事物新概念的大量涌现，产生了大量的俚语。在发展的过程中美国俚语逐渐形成了自己的风格特点：幽默风趣、形象生动、简洁简练、更新迅速等。同时，它在社会中的作用则体现在:它反映了一种现实包括语言的身份差异，普通民众的真实生活。同时它还反映了一种态度：人们通过语言而表明自己对现实的态度。它的使用功能则包括了在使用中克服语言交际障碍等等。对于现代美国俚语，学者的观点褒贬不一，但不可否认，现代

11、美国俚语的出现与发展是社会和时代的要求。如今，变得简洁明了及与标准语互相渗透成了现代美国俚语的主要发展趋势。关键词：现代美国俚语；特点；社会功能9.Introduction American slang is a very complex language. In general, the definition of slang in the dictionary ,it is a highly colloquial and variable extremely un-normal style, with new words, new meanings and some figures, co

12、nstitute with vivid, image and colorful, acerbic humor .Modern American slang is a very complex linguistic phenomenon. In fact, it refers to some particular class, such as industries, gangs and jargons. Some of them are common people; it is difficult to express something presentable and acceptable,

13、even simple and clear. “The vocabulary of an ordinary America generally is estimated at 10,000-20,000 wordsaccording to my conservative estimation about 2,000 words are slang.”(Chapman, R.ed.4)1 And there are also American slang frequently used in daily life. Therefore, some linguists think that, if

14、 the person is not familiar with American slang, they can not take part in the American society to communicate with people as many as possible, and sometimes even read books and newspapers will be very difficult, because the modern American slang has frequently appeared in newspapers and books. “it

15、is impossible to acquire a thorough knowledge of English（or of any other language, for that matter）without being familiar with slang and vulgarism. Whoever is uninitiatedwill be at a loss to understand many of the masterpieces of English literature? Nayhe will scarcely be able even to understand an

16、English newspaper.” (Partridge.73)2The modern American slang is a very non-standard language variants, in contemporary American society, the social function performed will be increasingly important, such special language innovation, has been gradually integrated into the standard of English language

17、 category .Also it has become an indispensable means of expression of the standard language to add. This paper will generally research its background, characteristics and social function.II. The background of modern American slangThe Westward Movement occurred on American continent in the 19th centu

18、ry, many Americans are a large number of immigrants who are immigrated to the west. Through this way, all the local dialects, as well as various social stratum of the jargon, the black, after another, people pass by each other. Because the U.S. government did not emphasize the standard language and

19、language purification, thus emerging jargon and sayings, such as a different form of language through the use of non-stop to spread, it became a slang used by Americans today. Meanwhile, the United States is not only a mixture of multi-ethnic immigrant country, these immigrants brought their own lan

20、guage, but also continuously create merged with the new American English vocabulary, so that slang ever increasing .With the rapid development of American slang, something will be different .The two world wars, the Vietnam War, Korean War, the Cold War era have produced a lot of slang words, as well

21、 as in the “American society, emerging social issues such as: racial discrimination, the civil rights movement, family disintegration, the younger generation of alcohol and drug abuse, anti-war movement, sexual freedom, homosexuality and even more American slang sprung up.”3 For access to economic d

22、evelopment, science and technology development in the 80s and 90s, modern American slang is full of vitality, While computer slang, sports slang, campus slang, emerging slang have a significant increase in Americans daily life.III. The source of modern American slang3.1 Sub-culture of the infiltrati

23、on to the mainstream cultureModern American Slang has become the important mainstream culture. But in the argot, jargon, they cannot create a plethora of wonderful slang, such as “the U.S. criminals out of the society ,they were regarded as the street (street), according to their argument, the world

24、 of the prison was divided into two parts: within and outside the prison, whiles the street of outside the prison, as long as they are not in custody, the street can be control by their activities, hence the slang in the street time was used to refers parole period”.4Another example is to kick the b

25、ucket” (which means dead, to die or pass away), this expression is very popular because in the 7th century in England, when the death penalty for death row inmate must be in the buckets (bucket), the executioner put the noose on the cover in the prisoners neck, and then kicked away buckets, the pris

26、oners would be a result of the noose tightening and suffocation. Now this expression has been widely used to refer to any kind of death. 5 The military, the police, the students, the workers, the unemployed homeless, the drivers, the prostitutes, the criminals under the subculture of a variety of so

27、cial groups to the slangs contribution is enormous, they created a large number of slang ,which the slang constantly updated and have their own characteristics. Although some jargon or some slang words relate with the sex are macabre, but it is undeniable that they are a major source of modern Ameri

28、can slang.3.2 The promotion of socialites activities.The mainstream of todays slang was dominating the U.S. mainstream culture and the creation of upper-class .As U.S. cultural center, New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago and other large cities through the media contribute to the United Sta

29、tes culture. The upper class includes these cities, such as politicians, businessmen, television show, host, columnist and entertainment industry stars, etc. Most of them are higher education, full of talent, and strong communicational skills; they are a major rank to create the daily slang. Such as

30、 the much-rocker slang refers specifically to gather personal privacy and political scandals of the people, the term in social life and political life of the frequent, has entered the scope of the spoken language. It has been defined as difficult to convince something presentable and acceptable in t

31、he U.S. Slang has frequently appeared in newspaper, famous, celebrity biographies, or even the U.S. Presidents official speech. Therefore we can say the U.S. slang has been become the “blood” and integrated into the mainstream culture. 3.3 The large numbers of new things and new concepts In recent y

32、ears, the rapid development of economy and science and technology, a large number of new slang came into being and to express new things and new concepts. Such as: hot line (hotline), fall out (radioactive fallout), one of the most classic and most familiar of the slang is cool, and intended to cool

33、”, now as slang, it means touching, wonderful. The development of these slang emerging industries and emerging things, IT industry, entertainment, and sports industries, emerging in todays slang occupy almost half of the country. Pop music often appears as rock and roll, it formerly refer to rock an

34、d roll. “Groove intended to record the lines, and later evolved into slang. Groove (excellent, popular), because the pop star. If something goes wrong, individual broadcasters would be scrambling to sing songs with their record released. By the resulting in the groove, this idiom is used to describe

35、 a singers success and popularity, but to engage in other occupations, once the cause of the success of the Albertan straight up that they are often said to be in the groove, the meaning of this term was “extended down”.6 “Another example is “ankle biter”: biting heel of the person (die immediately

36、after one person.).”7IV. The basic characteristics of modern American slang Energetic, cheerful and lively, non-legalistic and innovation are all Americans proud of the national identity.8 These characteristics of communication in their daily conversation with ways and words or sentences have been f

37、ully reflected slang precisely the characteristics of the national characteristics with the Americans, in line for make it even more unique and more prominent.4.1 Humorous4.1.1 The expression of speech soundsA lot of American slang words utilize the euphony of pronunciation in order to be easily und

38、erstood and remembered. Particularly, many slang words adopt the approach of rhyme which makes the effect of language more expressive, humorous. A kind of rhyme is alliteration .For example, tick-tack (a ticking or taping beat like that of a clock or watch), tip-top (of the highest equality).But ano

39、ther kind of rhyme is the end rhyme such as funny-money (the substitute of money), razzle-dazzle (be lost in), This approach can make the people feel that the language is so lively rhyme and sweet-sounding. So we can think that these formations of slang words could be easily remembered and spoken, w

40、hich is helpful to the widespread circulation and smooth communication of language.4.1.2 The expression of vocabulary Modern American slang of the humor mainly through the acronyms, truncated, duplicate and other methods are embodied. Many American Slang is constituted by the first letter of the acr

41、onym, such as the well-known NATO is the North Atlantic Treaty Organizations first letter, but enrich in innovation and humor of Americans, have naturally It has developed into another completely different slang meaning: No Action Talk Only (lip), thus successfully ridiculed the real NATO one. There

42、 are other acronyms, such as: VIP (VIP, very important person), V. D (venereal disease, venereal disease, and venereal disease), D & D (drink to disturb public order, Drunk and Disorderly), BC (birth control, birth control).”9These usages of slang words are not only humorous but also lively. The Ame

43、rican is enriching their spare time and bringing more entertainment to their cultural life. 4.2 Convenient and conciseGenerally speaking, everyday Americans exchanges interpersonally, using the standard language seem serious, even some dull and boring, but it appears that the use of slang are fast,

44、concise, vivid, more rich in personality and expressive. For example, “hop (slang) and lance (the standard language) have a dancing in Italy, comparison, hop more dynamic, more reminiscent of grass hopper (grasshopper) on the grass leap and vivid form, it is feeling happy, more joyful color and lanc

45、e is more formal, solemn, that people will go there for beautiful dance, exquisite costumes and so on. Therefore, everyday peoples communication of slang is more preferred because of its precise image of the insidiously catchy, simple and concise, bold powerful.4.3 Updating rapidlyThe vitality of mo

46、dern American slang to a large extent depends on the freshness. The newly created slang after repeated non-stop after the inevitable has become commonplace, and even become boring. It has been abandoned or replaced by new words. Therefore, according to the length of life, slang can be divided into t

47、wo parts, short-lived, fleeting, was eliminated out; the other one is over a period of time, has been absorbed or upgrade the standard spoken language. For example: skidoo (away), peach (girl), skirts (women) have been flourishing, such as slang slowly should be forgotten. There is no need. And if g

48、uy (man, boy), fan (obsessed person), yes-man (yes-person), cop (police) so are enduring, the extension of the present; while others, such as have a ball (enjoy merry), have had it (enough to eat bitterness), get with it (note or busy) and others into verbal expressions, and even our most familiar w

49、ith OK is also slang originally, but now has become fashionable standard language, almost everywhere have could be heard. “Generally speaking, slang life only a few years to several decades and then gradually withdraw from the ranks of terms.”10But that does not mean that all of the slang is the cas

50、e, character, function is different from their destiny .It is not the same.V. The social function of modern American slangMay be in our personal opinions, American slang just regard as a kind of language, it has no real meaning, even some people just think it doesnt matter of using correct or meanin

51、gful .So understand its social function become more important .But what is social function? It means the direct reflection of people to the social views and attitude .Absolutely, it can definite a lot of aspects, but in the using of slang, the social function can include these sides.5.1 Reflecting t

52、he discrepancy of identityThe appreciation rate of slang could be the basis that measures the man and his social status. Therefore we could judge the speakers identity throughout his oral words. The same language mode can emphasize the cultural attitude of a man or a group. Various society and profe

53、ssion has its own slang, so the slang can hint the career and status of the speaker. If a person usually uses such words “metal, disco, which indicates the speaker may be the member of jazz band or addict to the jazz. The slang of youth and college students always show a kind of strange humor. When you meet a person who high-frequently use cut class, apple-polishing, bears (male teacher), Mickey mouse (the courses which easy to learn), you can assure that he is a college student. “In the mind of a speaker, slang is neither vulgar nor low, but