Youth slang

2.4 Features of American students' slang functioning

American students' slang causes significant difficulties in understanding. It is caused by a number of the reasons:

1. Communicant aspiration to establish easy mutual understanding; impreparation (spontaneity), absence of detailed cogitation of maintenances of conversation.

2. The inadequate approach to teaching the foreign languages, consisting that traditional grants and exercises in them, as a rule, are constructed not on the basis of natural speech, but on the basis of artificial created one. Students are taught the ideal academic language, and they not in a condition to develop necessary skills of understanding of that English language which they hear during dialogue with its carriers, in particular, with the American students.

They are not actual for official dialogue. These are the lowered synonyms (like roaddog, dude, boogerhead = chap, pal, fellow, bud(dy), guy, chum, mate, friend, associate - «товарищ, приятель, друг, компаньон» и пр.) or slang itself. Such units also concern to this category of words, as: wench, gooey = girlfriend«подружка, любимая девушка»; bank, yen, duckets, spent, bones, benjamin, loot = money - «деньги; бабки, зеленые»; buttons = remote control device for TV - «пульт дистанционного управления для TV»; posse, dogpack, tribe, crew = one's circle of friends-«круг друзей»;to bum= ask -«просить»; buzz crusher = killjoy = «зануда, человек, отравляющий удовольствие другим, брюзга»; to jack = to steal - «воровать, стащить»; to jet, jam = to leave, to go - «уходить»: jammed = upset, irritated - «расстроенный, раздраженный»; janky = unattractive, not stylish - «непривлекательный»; jewels = a very nice pair of shoes - «красивая пара туфлей»; to kill, kari = to make fun of - “подсмеиваться”; to lunch = to go crazy - “свихнуться».

The part of students' slang which represents emotionally painted lexicon, more often with derisive, ironical or parody colouring, that, in general, is characteristic for any professional slang, deserves the special attention.

Compare, for example beef and problem - разногласие, проблема; buffalo chick and fat female - толстая женщина, mule with a broom and a very ugly girl - очень некрасивая девушка; business class and fat, too large to fit in a normal-sized seat - слишком толстый, чтобы разместиться на обычном сидении; dark side and the student neighborhood - студенческий район, seed and offspring, child - отпрыск, ребенок; dome and one's head, skull - голова; fruit and a looser, stupid person - дурак; Death Star and Social Science Building at UCD - здание общественных наук в Калифорнийском университете в Дэвисе and many others. Apparently from the above-mentioned examples, in formation of these units the significant role is played with metaphorical transformations.

Students' groups scoop the innovations in lexicons of the popular groups serving for them by a behavioural reference point; so, a lot of Jargons were taken from a lexicon of addicts: hooch, tree, buddak, cripps, doobie, hronik, smokey treat - марихуана; to get one's johny, blaze(on), burn, pull tubes, play monopoly - курить марихуану; el, reefer(Black English from black English lexicon), spliff - сигареты с марихуаной; fiend - находиться в зависимости от марихуаны; hypertweaked - зависимый от кокаина; blew out - находящийся в состоянии опьянения или возбуждения под воздействием марихуаны; geeka - находящийся в зависимости от марихуаны.

The great part of students' slang is made with the lexicon connected with the use of alcohol and parties (chill - расслабиться; have arms, chizzil - устроить вечеринку; raize da roof - хорошо провести время и т.д.).

Apparently from the above-stated examples, the general for students' slang as well as for its versions is Negative valuable orientation, the general for forms of intragroup dialogue and social situations of use of slang. It, possibly, prevalence of slang with dominants drugs, alcohol, sex while slang with a dominant "study" make insignificant number (1 %) of speach.

It is possible to give numerous examples of creation of expressively coloured reductions the function of which varies depending on consituation. Sometimes they are used with a view of language economy: I.T.Z.< doing well «дела идут хорошо»), I's < ID «водительские права; sco < let's go - “пошли”, T.P.T.< trailer park trash = a white poor person who lives in a trailer - бедный белый, проживающий в автоприцепе; P.< parent - «родитель». Often such forms have parody painting: (LS and players - презрительное название студентов мичиганского колледжа литературы, естественных наук и искусств. Many of slangs are formed by cuttening, for example za < pizza, fam < family - семья, fundas < fundamentals, basics < basic subjets - основные предметы, geri < пожилой человек; petro < gasoline - бензин, rony < pepperoni - пицца с колбасой.

The special place among slang units is borrowed with extensive enough group of slangs, presented by interjections which give expressive painting to the statement and also serve for direct expression of feelings and will. More often they represent short exclamations and express various degrees of surprise (bonk!, chyaa!, eesh!, flip mode!, oh my goshness!, shnikies); agreement (bet! dude! shoots for real!, ah… ja!); disagreement (bet! dude!,negotary! ta huh!); approbation(dig that! cool! score! damm right!); confusion (sqeebs!, erf!); distrust (badand); disapprobation (boo!); excitement (squish! woochow!); disgust (shiznet); pleasure (woopty-woo!), etc. In total in the Internet-dictionary it has been fixed about 50 interjections.

It is well-known, that slang emotionality can be expressed by creation of neologisms and nonce words which show stability, passing in other stylistic layers (eg., rentals = parents - родители; digethead or tool - тот, кто много работает с компьютером, brainiac - интеллигентный студент; floppy disc - зубрила; iron pimp - школьный автобус; metal mouth - подросток, носящий металлический протез для исправления зубов, etc. Except for this way of expression of emotions there are over 100 adjectives which make speech of youths expressive and emotional. Examples of adjectives with positive connotation are the following:

awesome, bomb, biggity/diggity, bommy, biggity/diggity, bommy, boss,brad, chounch, coolarific, doke, dope, fantabulous, groovycool, killer , etc Negative connotation have such adjectives as: bunk, bogus, booty, buttery, doobs, schwag, shady, skadip, jankety , etc.

Conclusion

It is impossible to underestimate a role of studying of a youths' language in school. As the teaching of foreign language should pass in complex, i.e. the studying English should include the basic directions: grammar, phonetics and lexicon, the importance of studying of variants of language aspect of lexicon becomes doubtless. The studying of slang, which because of the extreme productivity is one of conducting ways of creation the new words in the English language, can become one of the ways of updating of the child's vocabulary. Here it should be noted the importance of lexicon, in general, in studying of foreign language in school. The lexicon should be acquired in system, therefore the work above the child's vocabulary should begin from the first day of studying English and proceed during the all period of training, day-to- day.

One of the basic principles of selection of lexicon in primary school is the common use, i.e. the opportunity of the using in the colloquial speech, hence, in the younger classes is not selected special lexicon as the words for studying. The very small quantity of time is allocated for acquaintance and training of that lexicon, which is not of a situation, necessary for creation of a dialogue.

The plenty of time is allocated for studying of a word, acquaintance with its meaning, its role in the sentence, in the system of language, however items of information about its formation and opportunity of formation new words from it are given, only if the speech goes about a word formed suffix, seldom prefix, way of a word-formation. For comprehension of importance of this aspect of language it is necessary to address to a psychological linguistic nature of lexicon. You see in psychology the word is the complex activator, for example, at perception and understanding of oral and written speech, this complex speech action (at expression of thoughts). At understanding of a word the acoustical and visual analyzers will be involved, and this integrated approach promotes the best mastering. The dialogue in foreign language is rather difficult activity for the child. It occurs that, first, for the younger schoolboy it is much easier to communicate on the native language much and it is not clearly, why he should express in English, secondly, for this purpose it is necessary to make rather difficult mental operation - to choose the words, suitable on sense, from the vocabulary to construct the sentence grammatically correctly, observing thus the words order, i.e. to do so that to be understood. Becomes obvious, that the updating of the child's vocabulary is one of the basic problem for the teacher, you see the word is a basic minimal unit of any language. [22; с 16]

The studying of youths' lexicon, as one of variants of the English language, will help to do the child`s vocabulary more rich, to make his speech more expressive, and also to fill up passive and active vocabulary, by means of formation the new words himself. Now, reading, for example, a book, it will not be necessary to him to look for a word in the dictionary, but to define its meaning, using the knowledge of this phenomenon of language. Some courses, foreign and Russian were analysed, where English is taught, as foreign language. It is interesting to note, that the Modern youths' lexicon is not studied neither in primary, nor in secondary school, however, it is possible to find some items concerning this aspect of lexicon. Courses: Russian (English by Vereshchagina, Pretykina and Learning English by Skulta) and foreign (Magic Time and Hot Line by Tom Hutchinson) have various methodical base, usually it is: some text books, teacher's book, reading book, active book, audio cassettes. There is not any word about Modern youths' lexicon in this courses, however, new words are given simply as different parts of speech, and the connection between them is not explained.

Bibliography

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