1、湖南第一师范学院 毕业论文(设计)题目 (中文) 从亚文化角度分析美国俚语特征（英文）The Analysis of Features of American Slang from Sub-Cultural Perspective学生姓名学号 04b11040826指导教师系（部） 外语系专业班级 08 级英语 10 班完成时间 2012 年 5 月The Analysis of Features of American Slang from Sub-cultural PerspectiveByWU XuepingA Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillmen
2、t of the Requirementsfor the Degree of BACHELOR OF ARTSDepartment of Foreign Language, HUNAN FIRST NORMAL UNIVERSITYMay, 2012毕业论文(设计)作者声明1本人提交的毕业论文(设计)是本人在指导教师指导下独立进行研究取得的成果。除文中特别加以标注的地方外，本文不包含其他人或其它机构已经发表或撰写过的成果。对本文研究做出重要贡献的个人与集体均已在文中明确标明。2本人完全了解湖南第一师范学院有关保留、使用学位论文的规定，同意学院保留并向国家有关部门或机构送交本文的复印件和电子版，
3、允许本文被查阅、借阅或编入有关数据库进行检索。同意湖南第一师范学院可以采用影印、打印或扫描等复制手段保存和汇编本文，可以用不同方式在不同媒体上发表、传播本文的全部或部分内容。3湖南第一师范学院在组织专家对毕业论文(设计)进行复审时，如发现本文抄袭，一切后果均由本人承担，与学院和毕业论文指导教师无关。作者签名： 日期: 年 月 日摘 要俚语是一种在非正式场合下使用非常广泛的口语形式。它来源于美国社会的各亚文化群体，包括黑社会、流氓团伙、无业游民、同性恋者、吸毒者、妓女、赌徒囚犯,所以美国俚语都带着亚文化群体的烙印。本文根据美国社会各亚文化群体所使用的语言特征来分析整个美国的俚语特征。美国各亚文化
4、群体丰富了美国俚语词汇，因此美国俚语词汇也保留了各亚文化群体特征。通过比较和分析，美国俚语作为美国英语重要的组成部分，具有立意新奇、幽默生动、富有形象性、易于表达情感、言简意赅等特征。关键词：亚文化；美国俚语；俚语特征IAbstractSlang, as a highly colloquial form, is widely used in informal occasion. American slang originates from the subculture groups, including jobless vagrants, soldiers, sailors, detectiv
5、e, criminals and etc. Therefore, American slang is characterized by subculture groups. This paper tries to analyze the features of American slang from sub-cultural perspective. American sub-cultural groups have developed, enlarged and enriched American slang vocabulary. As a result, American slang t
6、erms are left with distinct sub-cultural features. By comparing and analyzing, as an important part of American English, slang terms are characterized by its creativeness, humor, irony, expressiveness, liveliness, brevity and obscurity.Key words: subculture groups; American slang; featuresIICONTENTS
7、摘要 .I Abstract IIChapter 1 Introduction 1Chapter 2 American Slang and American Subculture .42.1 American Slang as an Insight into American Culture42.2 The Relationship Between English Slang and Standard English .62.3 The Relationship Between Slang and Subculture Groups8Chapter 3 Subculture Groups Sl
8、ang and Their Features .103.1 College Slang and Its Features .103.2 Criminal Slang and Its Features .133.3 Political Slang and Its Features 153.4 Homosexual Slang and Its Features .17Chapter 4 Features of American Slang 194.1 Brevity and Liveliness194.2 Novelty and Fashion.194.3 Humor and Irony 20Ch
9、apter 5 Conclusion.22Bibliography24Acknowledgements.25IIIB.A.Thesis Hunan First Normal University 0Chapter 1 IntroductionIt is estimated that there are at least six hundred thousand English words, fifteen thousand of which are slang. According to Fowler, H.W, “The words known but not frequently used
10、 by American and English people are about ten to twenty thousand. Two thousand of them are slang words accounting for 10%” (Zhang Shishu, 1926). American Slang research is indispensable if we want to know more about American vocabulary and culture.There are more and more linguists and scholars start
11、ing to study slang both at home and abroad. No matter where we are, we can hear local slang carrying specific culture. American slang is a significant part of English slang, thus scholars and linguists both in the west and in China pay great attention to it. It is known that on formal occasion Stand
12、ard English is the only suitable form. However, when without restriction, people always prefer to use the vivid and expressive slang rather than Standard English.Since slang is so closely related to peoples daily life, many scholars have already studied slang in their research both in American and B
13、ritain, such as Patridge and Brook, they made a further study on the process of socialization and the use of slang.Apart from foreign scholars, many Chinese scholars have also analyzed slang from different angles, such as its features, functions and formations etc. But they seldom study slang from s
14、ubculture perspective. Actually, slang, especially American slang, has a great deal to do with subculture. Most of American slang comes from American subculture groups, so studying American slang from subculture point of view can help us better understand the glamorous and panorama of American B.A.T
15、hesis Hunan First Normal University 1society and its culture.It is admitted that language and culture have close relationship. The study of culture, especially subculture, is of great importance in the studying of slang, which is a language variety.However, the history of studying subculture is shor
16、t. Around the world, the study of subculture has begun since the Second World War, up to now, some scholars have made great contribution to subculture.” Lee, Gordon have studied subculture through their studies. CCCS, that is the Birmingham Center for Contemporary Cultural Studies also contributed t
17、o the study of subculture. Chris Jenks, in his book Subculture, mainly talked about subculture in terms of its definition and origins etc. Ken Gelder and Sarah Thomton also explored the theory of subculture in their collaboration The Subculture Reader in 1997.（ Wang Bin, 2008)In addition, many Chine
18、se scholars are also interested in subculture, which is further discussed in their dissertation and works, such as Ding Lantian and Mao Donghui.Any society and country has a dominant culture and subculture. In America, American slang is regarded as a special English variety spoken by subculture grou
19、ps such as criminals, the blacks, drug addicts, gamblers and etc. In other words, American slang comes from sub-cultural groups. Language is a vehicle for human communication. Slang, as a language variety, is vital if we want to learn a language well. Language reflects culture. Being a part of langu
20、age, American slang mirrors American culture. American slang, once scorned by people, now has appeared in all the major newspapers, magazines and TV which makes it difficult for non-native speakers to understand if they do not know the real meaning of the slang. Therefore, it is absolutely necessary
21、 to analyze and study the features of American slang and the subculture groups which B.A.Thesis Hunan First Normal University 2mainly use the American slang to have a better understanding of American slang.This paper intends to analyze features of American slang through studying subculture groups. E
22、ach subculture group has its own slang and slang used by different groups has its own characteristics. By analyzing features of slang used by each subculture group, we would find out that they share some common features which help us to learn about features of American slang.The new idea of this pap
23、er lies in the combinations of features of American slang and subculture groups. American slang originates from subculture groups, so American slang must be characterized by subculture groups. After analyzing features of American slang used by each subculture group, the paper tries to figure out fea
24、tures of American slang. Besides, although many linguists and scholars have made research in the field of American slang and subculture, it is not common for them to study American slang from sub-cultural point of view.B.A.Thesis Hunan First Normal University 3Chapter 2 American Slang and American S
25、ubcultureLanguage, used as the basic vehicle to transmit beliefs, values and norm, is a significant and special part of culture and affected by culture. As a variety of English, American slang deeply mirrors American culture. Since American slang originates from subculture groups, it is necessary to
26、 take a look at the relationship between American slang and its sub-cultural groups.2.1 American Slang as an Insight into American CultureNo one would deny the fact that language and culture have a close relationship. Sapir believes the close relationship between language and culture, maintaining th
27、at they are inextricably related so that you could not understand or appreciate the one without the knowledge of the other. Language and culture are in a dialectical relationship: language is an integral part of culture and influenced by culture. It is the primary vehicle by which a culture transmit
28、s its beliefs, values and norm. Yet, language is not a passive reflector of culture. Even assuming that culture is in many cases the first cause in the language-culture relationship, language as the effect in the first link of the casual chain will in turn be the cause in the next link, reinforcing
29、and preserving beliefs and customs and conditioning their future course. (Hu Zhuanglin, 1992: 250)As one of the language varieties, slang also reflects culture. The culture shapes our behavior patterns, and our behavior is mediated through language. Our behavior is greatly influenced by culture, as
30、Stuart Berg Flexner(1987) claimed, “Whether the United States has more slang words than any other country (in proportion to number of people, area, or the number of words in the standard vocabulary). Americans, however, B.A.Thesis Hunan First Normal University 4do use their general slang more than a
31、ny other people”. Then why do Americans use more slang items than people in other countries? Wilhelm Von Humboldt believes that language is the external exhibit of ones inner world. Theres nothing in the world more similar than language and culture. To some extent, American slang shows cultural char
32、acteristics of American society and Americans national character.Americans are optimistic people that we can also find from their language. As the book American Society and American Culture comments “that no other place has more natural resources than America, and every person here can become rich i
33、f he is enterprising and lucky. Their country and experience tell them to keep optimistic, and Americans are extreme optimist (translated by the author) ” (王锦瑭,1996: 3). American slang fully reflects American culture and their national character. It is known that language is a symbol of society, bei
34、ng a part of language varieties，slang mirrors some aspects of American culture. Americans optimism and confidence also make their language full of a sense of humor and thats also why their language has so much exaggeration and euphemism. It has been observed that exaggeration is an American characte
35、ristic, Americans use exaggeration to make what they say vividly and thats what makes American slang so popular. You can easily find exaggeration in American slang, for example, be dying for, be starved for, be crazy about, to have eyes bigger than the belly, etc. Their humor is also demonstrated in
36、 their use of euphemism in their language. They have many euphemistic words for god damn, such as goldarn, gosh, gawd, dad gum, doggone, goldang. Many unpopular or even considered as “low position” jobs are also given some good names. For example, garbage collector is called sanitation engineer, and
37、 servant is called domestic engineer, gardener is called landscape architect.B.A.Thesis Hunan First Normal University 5Another characteristic of Americans is their creativeness. During the founding of their country, Americans created much vocabulary including slang which in some degree made their la
38、nguage different from that used in colonies. It is during this time that American English began to come into being. Many slang terms were created during this time, for example, when describing someone, they tended to use words Yankee, alligator, sheik, B.M.O.C., beetle, beat and etc. As a significan
39、t part of American culture, slang always reflects Americans creativeness and curiosity.Americans believe that all men are equal which lead them to be quite informal in their general behaviors and in their language. “Although sociologists talk of the countrys class structure, most Americans do not th
40、ink in these terms. They do not see themselves as struggling to move from the lower middle class to the upper middle class. Instead they think in terms of higher income to pay for a bigger house, a trip to Europe, summer camp for their children, or more retirement insurance” (朱永涛, 1991: 369). This i
41、dea also forms American peoples informality.We can see from the above discussions that it is American peoples characters that lead to the fact the fact that Americans use more slang items than any other countries.2.2 The Relationship Between English Slang and Standard EnglishSchlauch (1959), calls s
42、lang expressions “aberrations from Standard English” (Zhang Shishu, 2006). The Standard English is often used in formal situation while English Slang is usually used in informal occasion. English Slang, as a colloquial form, is different from Standard English in many ways. Standard English can be vi
43、ewed as prescriptive while English Slang descriptive. Standard English must be free from grammar error. On the contrary, when using slang, people dont have to think about B.A.Thesis Hunan First Normal University 6whether they are using it correctly. For example, in Standard English, we will say such
44、 a sentence: whom are you talking about? While in slang, it can be expressed as: who are you talking about? What they pay attention to is if the slang they use is innovative and up-to-date. To keep up with the pace of the modern society, slang changes so quickly that it may have different meanings i
45、n different times.Whats more, slang scorns uniformity while Standard English respects it. It is this feature of slang that makes a language livelier. McKnight concludes：A language may not be completely standardized and liveFixity in the form of a language gives immobility to the national thought exp
46、ressedIdeas inherited from the past，to be sure，may find adequate expressions in the fixed idiom of the pastThe shifting，developing forms assumed by live thought，however, demand the plastic medium of living language (McKnight G. H, 1923: 46).Finally, we could not just replace slang vocabulary for sta
47、ndard language because of certain limitation. Sometimes, slang vocabulary can only be understood among certain groups of people. Take political group as an example, they call Republic Party “Elephant” and Democratic Party “Donkey”. People who know little about politics may be confused when others ta
48、lk about parties like that. Slang vocabulary is likewise restricted, it is not enough to talk about all things that happen in our daily life. One cannot live with only slang, for instance, there are no personal pronouns in slang vocabulary so that listeners may not be able to tell whom the talker is
49、 talking about.All in all, English slang and Standard English are closely related to each other. With the passing of time, some slang became Standard B.A.Thesis Hunan First Normal University 7English. Zhao Junping compared Dictionary of American with Third New International Dictionary and found that the former dictionary listed 2,355 slang items, but the latter dictionary only listed 549 of them as slang. It was surprising that so many slang terms be
