Key Words: Informal Style, Subcategories, Colloquialisms, Dialect, Slang, Cockney, Phrases

Abstract

HATIAROVÁ, Eva: Slang words. Bachelor paper, The University of Žilina, Faculty of Science, Department of English Language and Literature. Head of bachelor work: Doc. PhDr. Anna Hlavňová, CSc. Žilina: Faculty of Science ŽU, 2009. 36 p.

The Bachelor paper is conceived mainly in the theoretical level and its basic aim is to provide the reader with the informal style and its subcategories, as colloquialisms, dialect and slang. The theoretical interpretation which is supplemented with the theoretical examples is the subject matter, covering wide range of information. We will find out what the slang is, how slang words developed, what their subtypes and forms are in general.

This work deals in the next part with the specific type of the slang, “Cockney rhyming slang”. From the theoretical point of view we will focus on the origin and the use of this slang. The practical part concerns a mini-dictionary of the phrases connected with the parts of the body and the most frequent used expressions. In the last chapter we deal with the evaluation of the questionnaire which is the part of our research.

Key words: informal style, subcategories, colloquialisms, dialect, slang, Cockney, phrases.

Abstrakt

HATIAROVÁ, Eva: Slangové slova. Bakalárska práca, Žilinská Univerzita, Fakulta prírodných vied, Katedra anglického jazyka a literatúry. Vedúca bakalárskej práce: Doc. PhDr. Anna Hlavňová, CSc. Žilina: Fakulta prírodných vied ŽU, 2009. 36 s.

Bakalárska práca je koncipovaná hlavne v teoretickej rovine a jej hlavným cieľom je oboznámiť čitateľa s neformálnym štýlom a jeho podkategóriami, ako sú kolokvializmy, dialekt a slang. Teoretický výklad, ktorý je na mnohých miestach doplnený teoretickými príkladmi, je jadrom práce, pokrýva široké spektrum poznatkov. Dozvieme sa čo je to slang, ako sa vyvíjali slangové slová, aké sú podtypy a formy slangu vo všeobecnosti.

Táto práca sa vo svojej ďalšej časti venuje špecifickému druhu slangu, „Cockney“ slangu. Z teoretického hľadiska sa zameriame na vznik a použitie tohto slangu. Praktické hľadisko zahrnie mini-slovník fráz spojených s časťami tela a najčastejšie používané výrazy. V poslednej kapitole sa venujeme vyhodnoteniu dotazníka, ktorý je súčasťou nášho výskumu.

Kľúčové slová: neformálny štýl, podkategórie, kolokvializmy, dialekt, slang, Cockney, frázy.

Čestné prehlásenie

Čestne prehlasujem, že svoju bakalársku prácu “Slang words” som vypracovala samostatne pod odborným vedením Doc. PhDr. Anny Hlavňovej, CSc. a použitú literatúru som uviedla v zozname bibliografických odkazov.

………………………………

Eva Hatiarová

Poďakovanie

Touto cestou by som sa chcela poďakovať konzultantke bakalárskej práce Doc. PhDr. Anne Hlavňovej, CSc. za poskytnutie informácií, cenných rád a potrebných literárnych zdrojov, ktoré prispeli k vypracovaniu tejto bakalárskej práce.

Contents

0 Introduction…………………………………………………………………….. 7

1. Informal style………………………………………………………………... 8

1.1 Subcategories of the informal style………………………………... 8

1.1.1 Colloquial words…………………………………………. 8

1.1.2 Dialect words…………………………………………….. 9

2. Slang words………………………………………………………………….. 13

2.1 How was slang developed? ……………………………………….. 15

2.1.1 Examples of slang words through the ages……………… 16

2.2 Subtypes of slang words…………………………………………… 19

2.3 Forms of slang…………………………………………………….. 20

3. Cockney rhyming slang……………………………………………………… 22

3.1 History of Cockney rhyming slang………………………………… 24

3.2 Rhyming slang in the popular culture……………………………… 25

3.3 Current rhyming slang……………………………………………… 27

3.1.1 A small Cockney dictionary of the parts of the body……. 28

3.1.2 A small Cockney dictionary of the most frequently used expressions………………………………….……………………. 29

4. Analysis of the understanding Cockney rhyming slang…………………. 32

4.1 Research…………………………………………………………… 32

4.2 The evaluation of the questionnaire……………………………….. 33

Conclusion……………………………………………………………………... 40

Resources……………………………………………………………………… 41

Appendix 1 Cartoon jokes…………………………………………………….. 45

Appendix 2 Questionnaire……………………………………………………… 46

Appendix 3 The key to the knowledge based tasks in the questionnaire……..... 48

Introduction

When using a language, we differentiate between these following styles: formal style, informal and neutral style. The major style that we will draw on is the informal style. A slang as its one of the basic subcategories is a phenomenon known to everybody. On the one hand we can say that slang can be the element which joins people. Firstly, slang words are not limited by a region or intelligence. Secondly, lots of slang words are results of various coinages and figures of speech. This can be the sign of people’s creativity. On the other hand it can be a dividing factor due to the fact that slang is only intelligible to those people associated with the group or groups who use it (e.g. Cockney rhyming slang). Nowadays the trend in the age of television and the Internet is the need to communicate to the audience at its level, which also degrades the level of the formality.

We will deal with the Slang words that will be divided into four basic parts (chapters):

1. Informal style

2. Slang words

3. Cockney rhyming style

4. Analysis of the understanding of Cockney rhyming slang - questionnaire

The first chapter will be oriented theoretically – it means that we will analyze the informal style and its subcategories as: colloquial words and dialects. Because we put a great importance on the slang words, they are part of the second chapter. The slang words as the major part of this work will be elaborated in more detailed way. In the third chapter we will try to clarify the Cockney rhyming slang, its development and usage. In the last chapter (that will be practically oriented) we will try to evaluate the questionnaire about slang, especially Cockney rhyming slang.

The whole bachelor paper will be written with the use of mostly theoretical methods such as analysis, induction, deduction and summary when studying linguistic materials.

When characterizing the basic subcategories of informal style, and cockney rhyming style the explanation method will be used. The comparative method for different definitions of slang will be used. The analytical method of literary text (poem of Thomas Brown) will be used in the chapter dedicated to dialect.

Finally, statistical methods will find their place in the third part in which data of people’s answers will be used.

1 Informal style

The informal style is one of the two divisions of the functional styles. According to Antrushina, informal vocabulary is used is one’s immediate circle: family and relatives or friends. We can define the informal style as relaxed, free-and-easy and familiar. It is obvious that the informal talk of well-educated people differs from that of the illiterate and also the choice of words with adults is different from the vocabulary of teenagers. “The choice of words is determined in each particular case not only by an informal (or formal) situation, but also by the speaker’s educational and cultural background, age group, and his occupational and regional characteristics.” (Antrushina, 2003: 13)

Informal words can be divided into three types: colloquial, dialect and slang words.

1. 1 Subcategories of the informal style

1.1.1 Colloquial words

“These are informal words that are used in everyday conversational speech both by educated and uncultivated people of all age groups. Basically they are used by everybody. One of the features of 20th century English and American literature is the use of informal words in dialogues in which they realistically reflect the speech of modern people:” (Antrushina, 2003: 13-14) e.g. “At first he only used to be kidding when he called my stuff bourgeois, and I didn't give a damn — it was sort of funny, in fact.” (From The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger)

The vocabulary of colloquial style is usually lower than that of the formal or neutral styles, it is often emotionally coloured. Colloquial speech is characterized by the frequent use of words with a broad meaning: speakers tend to use a small group of words in quite different meanings, whereas in a formal style (official, business, scientific) every word is to be used in a specific and clear meaning. “E.g. Different uses of the verb get which frequently replaces in oral speech its more specific synonyms:

I got (means - received) a letter today; Where did you get (buy) those jeans?; I got (caught) the ‘flu last month;

There are phrases and constructions typical of colloquial style: What’s up? (for What has happened?); so-so (not especially good); Sorry? Pardon? (Please, repeat it, I didn’t hear you); See you (Good-bye) etc.

In the grammar there may be:

a) the use of shortened variants of word-forms, e.g. isn’t; can’t; I’d say, he’d’ve done ( would have done); shortenings: exam (examination); fridge (refrigerator), flu (influenza)

b) the use of elliptical (incomplete) sentences; (Where’s he?) – At home; Like it? ( Do you / Did you like it?) – Not too much (I don’t like it too much); (Shall I open it?) – Don’t!; May I? (May I do this?)

c) the use of verbs with post-positional adverbs (phrasal verbs): put up; put over; make up; make out, etc.

The syntax of colloquial speech is also characterized by the preferable use of simple sentences or by asyndetic connection (absence of conjunctions) between the parts of composite sentences; complex constructions with non-finite forms are rarely used.” <http://eng.1september.ru/2007/01/10.htm>

“Literary colloquial words are to be distinguished from familiar colloquial and low colloquial. However the borderline between the literary and familiar colloquial is not always clearly marked. The circle of speakers using familiar colloquial is more limited: these words are used mostly by the young people and semi-educated.” This type of vocabulary group borders with slang and admits also of the use of rude and vulgar vocabulary: E.g. shut up (for keep silent), tipsy / under the influence / under the table / has had a drop (drunk); cute /great! (Am.) (very good); hot stuff (something extremely good); You‘re damn right (quite right). “Low colloquial then can be defined as the language of uncultivated people.” (Antrushina, 2003: 15)

1.1.2 Dialect words

To understand the concept of dialect, it is important to see its relation to the concept of language. In order to define dialect, one needs to refer to language. The Longman Dictionary of Applied Linguistics defines dialect as: a variety of a language, spoken in one part of a country (regional dialect) or by people belonging to a particular social class (sociolect), which is different in some words, grammar and/or pronunciation from other forms of the same language’ (Richards, 1985). On purely linguistic terms, the Longman definition of dialect is precise and reflects universally accepted criteria of the concept of dialect. Those include the notion of a dialect as a (sub-)variety of a particular language, the differentiation between regional and social dialect, and the three main dimensions in which dialects differ from each other: lexicon, grammar and phonology.

Regional varieties of English have historical causes that may go as far back as the Old English period. The Nordic and Germanic tribes had great influence on the development of English language. “In today’s English there are still many words that have their origin in Old Norse. Examples of Norse loan words are they, gift, and skirt“ <http://www.ehistling.meotod.de/data/papers/group_c_pub.pdf>. In 1066 the Normans invaded Britain. They had sailed down from Norway in the 10th century and invaded French territory. The French king was forced to give away land to them where they began to settle and quickly became one of the driving powers in Europe. They spoke a variety of French called Norman French. Today’s dialect distribution still shows the external influences by French and Old Norse. Northern and southern dialects differ from each other in pronunciation and lexicon. This is because of the fact the northern dialects were influenced longer by Old Norse while the southern dialects were under the influence of French.

The high importance of the language development was and still is the social stratification. In the early stages of language development class was marked by High Languages (Latin, French). This supported the formation of clearly distinguishable social dialects (sociolects). The strict stratification of the social classes over a long period of time enhanced the differences. “From 1348 onwards, English was used as school language and in 1362 it was declared the official language. Through this standardization of English and the loss of French as the High Language a new form was needed in order to separate the nobility from the proletariat. Thus, the dialect spoken by the privileged classes was raised up to become the prestigious variety. In the late nineteenth century, received pronunciation (RP) became the standard form of High English. It is often referred to as the ‘Queen’s English’ since the Royal Family is renowned for speaking very distinct RP.” <http://www.ehistling.meotod.de/data/papers/group_c_pub.pdf>.

Antrushina (2003: 19) claims, although is England a small country, yet it has many dialects which have their own distinctive features (e. g. the Lancashire, Dorsetshire, Norfolk dialects). Standard English is defined by the Random House Dictionary as the English language as it is written and spoken by literate people in both formal and informal usage and that is universally current while incorporating regional differences. Dialectal peculiarities, especially those of vocabulary, are constantly being incorporated into everyday colloquial speech or slang. From these levels they can be transferred into the common stock, i. e. words which are not stylistically marked and a few of them even into formal speech.

Some examples of Norfolk dialect: cor blarst me (when expressing shock or surprise); fare y'well (goodbye); hoddy-doddy (very small); Old Year's Nyte (New Year's Eve); suffin savidge (very angry); titty-totty (very small); <http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Acres/5564/dictionary.html>

Yorkshire dialect: agate (to be/get on your way); bait (to feed); cletch (family of young (children or chickens); gowk (a cuckoo); rick, reek (smoke, to smoke); skimmer (to shine brightly) ;< http://www.viking.no/e/england/e-yorkshire_norse.htm>

In following poem from Thomas Browne <available at: http://www.fullbooks.com/Yorkshire-Dialect-Poems1.html>, we can see the use of Yorkshire dialect. With the help of the Yorkshire dialect dictionary (http://www.silsden.net/yorkshiredialect/dictionary.html) I tried to translate some words but as you can see although it seems there are some similar words to standard English, it is very hard to guess what the poem is really about.

When I was a wee laatle totterin' bairn (1),
An' had nobbud (2) just gitten short frocks,
When to gang I at first was beginnin' to lairn,
On my brow I gat monny hard knocks.
For sae waik, an' sae silly an' helpless was I
I was always a tumblin' doon then,
While my mother would twattle me(3) gently an' cry,
"Honey Jenny, tak care o' thisen."

When I grew bigger, an' got to be strang,
At I cannily ran all about
By misen, whor I liked, then I always mud gang
Bithout(4) bein' tell'd about ought;
When, however, I com to be sixteen year awd,
An' rattled an' ramp'd amang men,
My mother would call o' me in an' would scaud,
An' cry--" Huzzy, tak care o' thisen.(5)"

I've a sweetheart cooms noo upo' Setterday nights,
An' he swears at he'll mak me his wife;
My mam grows sae stingy, she scauds an' she flytes,(6)
An' twitters(7) me oot o' my life.
Bud she may leuk sour, an' consait hersen wise,
An' preach agean likin' young men;
Sen I's grown a woman her clack(5) I'll despise,
An' I's--marry!--tak care o' misen.

1. Child, 2. Only, 3. Prattle to me, 4. Without, 5. Yourself , 6. Argues, 7. Worries,