The lexical parts in the process of forming slang in the english language

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Associate Professor at the Department of Foreign Languages Donbas State Pedagogical University

The lexical parts in the process of forming slang in the english language

Ryzhkova S.V., Candidate of Pedagogical Sciences,

Summary

The article describes the lexical components of English slang. The author emphasizes the continuity of two concepts - “culture” and “slang phenomenon” in English. In the author's opinion, a special place is occupied by the mentality and culture of the people in the process of forming such a phenomenon as slang. Slang, in turn, can characterize the character and behavior of the people. Separately, the notion of a “culturally significant component” in the use of slang is disclosed. The communicative function is one of the most important, basic functions of a language. This function includes, in particular, “the function of preserving and transmitting national consciousness, traditions of culture and history of the people”. In terms of the correlation between language and culture in our study, there is great interest in the transmission of cultural information by the linguistic unit.

The special science of linguoculturology examines the influence of cultural information of linguistic units on the mentality of native speakers. It should be noted that the following principles are characteristic for the culture of the USA, for the Americans - members of the linguistic and cultural community: emphasis on material values, actions, changes, progress; focus on the future; short-term plans; emphasis on personality autonomy; the desire for independent decision-making; focus on immediate rewards.

The author emphasizes that the mentality is reflected in the behavior of people, their clothes, way of life, culture, way of life, etc. To gain a better understanding of the foreign language and culture, one must try to understand the community's mentality.

Due to the fact that one of the tasks of linguocultural studies is to highlight the cultural importance of linguistic units, the examples of English slang show the functioning of the cultural connotation of slangisms and culturally relevant information transmitted by lexical and phraseological slang units. This function of slang units comes from the purpose of the sign itself - to transmit information, since the sign is conditioned by the communicative need of native speakers. Culture, cultural information is indisputably present in the system of values of expressive lexical and phraseological units of English slang.

Key words: slang, culture, community, mentality, information.

У статті характеризуються лексичні складові частини англійського сленгу. Автором підкреслена нерозривність двох понять - «культура» та «феномен сленгу» в англійській мові. Особливе місце, на думку автора, займає менталітет та культура народу у процесі формування такого явища як сленг. У свою чергу, сленг, може характеризувати характер та поведінку народу. Окремо розкрито поняття «культурно-значущої складової частини» під час використання сленгу. Комунікативна функція є однією з найголовніших, базових функцій мови. До цієї функції належить, зокрема, і «функція збереження і передачі національної самосвідомості, традицій культури та історії народу». У плані співвідношення мови і культури в рамках нашого дослідження великий інтерес викликає питання передачі мовною одиницею культурної інформації.

Спеціальна наука лінгвокультурологія розглядає вплив культурної інформації мовних одиниць на менталітет носіїв мови. Зазначимо, що для культури США, для американців - членів лінгвокультурної спільноти характерні такі засади: акцент на матеріальних цінностях, дії, зміни, прогрес; орієнтація на майбутнє; короткострокові плани; акцент на автономії особистості; прагнення до самостійного прийняття рішень; орієнтація на негайну винагороду.

Автор наголошує на тому, що менталітет відзеркалюєть- ся в поведінці людей, їхньому одязі, побуті, культурі, укладі життя і т. д. Для кращого розуміння іноземної мови і культури треба намагатися зрозуміти менталітет спільноти.

У зв'язку з тим, що одним із завдань лінгвокультуро- логії є виділення культурної значущості мовних одиниць, наведені в роботі приклади англійського сленгу показують функціонування культурної конотації сленгізмів і культурно значимої інформації, передану лексичними і фразеологічними одиницями сленгу. Ця функція сленгових одиниць походить із призначення самого знаку - передавати інформацію, оскільки знак зумовлений комунікативною потребою носіїв мови. Культура, культурна інформація безперечно присутня в системі значень експресивних лексичних і фразеологічних одиниць англійської сленгу.

Ключові слова: сленг, культура, спільнота, менталітет, інформація.

Formulation of the problem. The basic lexical composition, as well as the phonetic and grammatical structure of English slang, is of great vitality: a great many tokens of modern slang and a number of its grammatical and phonetic features existed long before the emergence of the literary standard.

Existing side-by-side with other social dialects and literary standards and interacting closely with them, slang has always acted and acted as a distinct language system, although, like other links, it is constantly evolving, replenished with new words and new meanings of words., the basic basis of its lexical, grammatical and phonetic composition, originating in elements of English territorial dialects, remains unchanged.

The subject of the study is the cultural component of English linguistics.

The object of the study is slang, as an integral component of English.

The relevance of the study is not in doubt, as the issue of the connection between slang and the culture of the people is one of the most important in the context of the general study of the phenomenon of slang.

Analysis of research and publications. English slang has been the subject of research by foreign and domestic researchers such as: A. Bo, G. Bradley, O. Espersen, J. Greenock, K.I. Kitgridge, L. Mencken, J. Murray, W. Labov, V. Khomyakov.

Main material. The communicative function is one of the most important, basic functions of a language. This function includes, in particular, “the function of preserving and transmitting national consciousness, traditions of culture and history of the people” [3, p. 563]. In terms of the correlation between language and culture in our study, there is great interest in the transmission of cultural information by the linguistic unit.

The special science of linguoculturology examines the influence of cultural information of linguistic units on the mentality of native speakers. It should be noted that the following principles are characteristic for the culture of the USA, for the Americans - members of the linguistic and cultural community: emphasis on material values, actions, changes, progress; focus on the future; short-term plans; emphasis on personality autonomy; the desire for independent decision-making; focus on immediate rewards. At the heart of such principles is the idea that time is money; it cannot be spent on little things and more. [2, p. 169]. All ofthe above aspects are reflected in the language and culture of Americans.

Here are some examples of transmitting culturally meaningful information through slang units, for example: culturally meaningful slang information “Kangaroo court” that means unlawful trial, neglect of the principles of justice; is embodied in denotative aspect of meaning: in this expression it is emphasized that the “court” bypasses the law as easily as the kangaroo jumps over obstacles, for example:

“The judge held Fred in contempt for calling the proceedings in Kangaroo court” [4, p. 209].

The sentence means as follows: “The judge punished Fred for contempt of court, calling the hearing a “kangaroo court”.

The slang of “Mickey Mouse” has several meanings, of which there are two: “senseless or boring activity”; “A small, timid, not important person”:“The Army is also seeking to make military life more attractive by eliminating regulations that are sometimes called “Mickey Mouse” - rules likely to cause more irritation than they are worth №” [5, p. 6].

The cultural connotation of such a unit comes from the name of the cartoon character W. Disney. “In a sense, Mickey Mouse is a symbol of America, one of the most original creations of American culture” [4, p. 594].

The lexical slang unit of groovy - “pleasant, calm, excellent, exhilarating”, usually dates back to the 1960s. and the hippie movement. In fact, this unit originated in the mid-1930s among black jazz musicians, making the culturally meaningful information of the word easily established according to the expression in the groove - calm; nice, lovely, in great shape. This unit can also make a difference - stylish, trendy, for example:

This was surely the grooviest moment I'd had in many years. What a groovy family we're going to have!

Thus, the above slang units carry some specific information, including cultural ones, thus reaffirming the already well-known thesis of the close connection between language and culture.

Equally important to our study is the phenomenon of linguocultural studies as a slang place name. They also carry some cultural information. As an example we take the slang unit “podunk” - an imaginary rural village where everything is old- fashioned and bad (used in language since the 1900's). This expression comes from an Algonquin place-name with the meaning “corner of the earth”, which was used to nominate several settlements in New England:

“I do not want a job in Podunk” [4, p. 287].

Knowledge of a foreign language implies knowledge of the culture, life and life of the people who are native speakers of that language. For example, in the US, Americans are passionate about baseball, it is a national sport, a favorite entertainment game of the country.

Baseball has many bat a thousand slang expressions associated with it (knocking out a thousand / reaching the pinnacle of success); in baseball (special player achievements). It should be noted that “knocking out a thousand” is absolutely impossible, purely theoretical achievement in baseball [4, p. 77].

For example: bat zero to be completely & chronically unsuccessful, bat five hundred to be halway successful achieve half success.

Equally interesting is the slang expression “grandstand play” - a “spectator game” that also comes from baseball: that's what they say about a player trying to get the viewer's attention and break the applause.

When learning a language, particular attention should be paid to the specifics of communicative behavior at the verbal level in different languages, reflecting the particularities of the culture of the people concerned. As an example, some phrase-reflexes can be cited, according to VG terminology. Hooks [1], such as “Delicious!”, “Easy Steam!”, Which are not in English, and the American “Break a leg!” - “No fluff, no feathers!” (literally: “Break your leg!”) (the traditional wish of good luck to a theater actor before going on stage, as using the phrase “Good luck!”) is considered a bad omen.

Plenty of slang that gained instant popularity at the time of its use has since disappeared. Trends in language often work in the same way all trends do: some stick around and flourish into new norms, while some do not. These words and phrases come into existence because they mark a significant cultural change in their time.

There are countless examples of slang terms that could have been at the height of fashion in the 1920s but would earn some odd looks when used in conversation today. In the early 20th century, for example, someone might tell you to “23-skidoo,” meaning they would like you to leave.

Telling someone that today would likely be met with confusion. Other slang terms have carried enough weight throughout history that they remain easily understood in the modern world, although they are not necessarily still in popular use.

An American in the 1950s could call his friend a “square” for refusing to go out on a Saturday night; while that word's definition is more or less common knowledge, using the same term colloquially today would certainly strike many as odd or antiquated.

In English, “Dutch” comes from “Deutsch” (German). This is due to the fact that much of the population of Pennsylvania in the colonization years were colonists from Germany. Thus, this unit in English not only retained the nuances and corresponding phraseology of the English language, but also created new phraseological units such as:

to beat the Dutch - do something wonderful. Widespread use in the XIX-XX centuries. That beats the Dutch, that beats everything (it's incredible, it's terrific, it's hard to believe);

to do a Dutch - to desert; escape, leave;

to talk Dutch or talk double Dutch - speak foreign or speak unclear; nonsense;

Dutch auction or sale - an imaginary auction or sale at face value, especially after the goods have been offered at a high price;

Dutch or wet bargain - an agreement concluded with a bottle of wine;

Dutch comfort - “Thank God it is no worse” ; - weak comfort;

Dutch concert - “cat concert”, who is in the wood, who is on firewood;

Dutch feast - a party where the host gets drunk before the guests;

Dutch treat - a treat for which everyone pays for himself;

talk to a person like a Dutch uncle - “to command”, “to dispose of”, to speak sharply and from above;

I'm a Dutchman if I do - Never in my life!;

in Dutch (with) - to be in a difficult situation; in disgrace.

Some of the FDs listed above have a humorous and slightly

derogatory tone: It beats the Dutch, It's all Dutch to me, and so on.

In the above American slang expressions, there is a culturally meaningful meaning for a given linguocultural community - they carry information about unhappiness, dislike, dislike, meanness, cheapness, insincerity, etc.

In these examples we can observe the influence of a cultural factor in English on the mentality of the people of the United States - the native speaker of this language. Therefore, we can state the inextricable link between the mentality of the people and their culture and language. Therefore, we agree with the researchers' assertion that “language is a mirror of mentality, as well as culture is a mirror of language. The mentality of the people is reflected in the word” [4, p. 106].

Conclusion

So, based on the above, we can say that the mentality is reflected in the behavior of people, their clothes, way of life, culture, lifestyle, etc. For a better understanding foreign language and culture should be sought to understand the mentality of the community.

Due to the fact that one of the tasks of linguocultural studies is to highlight the cultural importance of linguistic units, the examples of English slang show the functioning of the cultural connotation of slangisms and culturally relevant information transmitted by lexical and phraseological slang units. This function of slang units comes from the purpose of the sign itself - to transmit information, since the sign is conditioned by the communicative need of native speakers. Culture, cultural information is indisputably present in the system of values of expressive lexical and phraseological units of English slang.

slang cultural mentality speaker

References

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2. Kussmaul P Training the Translator. L. : John Benjamins Publishing Co, 1995. 145 p.

3. Newmark P A Textbook of Translation. C. : Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data, 1995. 457 p.

4. Nida E. The Theory and Practice of Translating. C. Taber. N.Y. : Brill, Leiden, 1974. 195 p.

5. Tricas M. Manual de traducciфn francйs-castellano. B. : Gedisa S.A, 1995. 430 p.

6. Рижкова C. В. Лексичні складові частини у процесі формування сленгу в англійській мові

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