ConclusionWith the possible exception of technology-related jargon, young people’s coinages are now probably the richest source of new language in the English-speaking world. The slang of pre-teens, teenagers, students and young adults uses all the techniques of the world’s most influential language in a riot of creative exuberance. Their codes are used to create in-groups and to keep out the too-old and the terminally uncool, but also just to celebrate being young, gifted - and slack. Youth’s poses, fads and fashions are not just comical, provocative and innovative, but since the 1950s have been a sort of ‘social laboratory’ in which new ways of thinking and behaving are experimented with. There is a serious side to analysing young people’s slang. Latest research suggests that what was once a passing fad may be evolving into a genuine dialect, dubbed ‘multiethnic youth vernacular’, with its own vocabulary, accent and intonation. This new form of English, heavily influenced by Black and Asian speech, may actually displace what used to be known as the Queens’ English. The forms and functions of any language vary systematically, not only according to geography, but also in synchrony with social levels, cultural uses, and various communicative functions. Linguistic signs that encode social phenomena are seen as belonging to a specific register (a variety determined by degree of formality). If they are associated with an educated and high-class register, they are considered to be part of jargon. A slang form may be a new word coined for a specific reason, such as glitz (gaudiness) or hype (advertising that relies on gimmicks). Or it may be an old word with a new meaning, such as fly (stylish) or issues (problems). People use slang more often than they realize. And it has a very high level of appeal (even if a secretive appeal). This is so because it is a type of poetry, bespeaking of friendliness, commonality, and inbuilt musicality; jargon, on the other hand, is not. And this poetic basis of slang might explain why many slang expressions become colloquialisms, passing into everyday conversation and blending perfectly with it. In this paper I have tried to reveal the essence of slang in modern linguistics. So, slang is multifunctional. First of all, it gives an ironic effect - is in the way of word formation it is designed specifically for slang. Thus, one could argue that the slang - it is an integral part of American speech. Slang makes speech more concise, specific, emotionally expressive, and also serves as a sign of membership in a particular social environment. A significant difference from the jargon of slang is slang sensibility, tendency "compactness" in the word, as well as the fact that slang, "caters to" the narrowest circle of people.
|
