Slang Essay

Referring in detail to text P and to relevant ideas from language study, explore how attitudes of language over time, how language changes and how these changes are reported.

The English language has progressively changed, especially over the past few centuries, being influenced by many factors such as colonisation, technology and even new socialect, usually referred to as slang. The attitudes of this change in language have different views, such as prescriptivism and descriptivism. The newspaper article, ‘Proper Hench’ by tabloid newspaper, The Daily Mail was written for the attention of parents of especially children who were teenagers, informing and potentially entertaining the reader about the new use of slang and jargon that is commonly found upon teenagers. The article talks about the confusion that parents seem to feel about teens’ of the 21^st century use of slang language, and the struggle of the language barrier it is seemingly causing. The informal, chatty language gives the readers a personal experience, whilst allowing them to relate due to the problem clearly being a common one.

The descriptivist attitude that this article conveys the acceptance of slang language, as the English language is constantly changing in ways such as borrowing words from other languages. An example of borrowing in slang language is shown when the definition of words are explained, “feds” now meaning police, a word of which is commonly used in the American English language (short for federation or a federal state). Even though this is a prescriptivist approach to slang language, the list of social lexis followed by its definition possibly suggests a slight descriptivism attitude as the slang words have been standardised with meanings. Jonathan Green released a Dictionary of Slang, published in 1998, construing that 20^th century slang language has been accepted as a part of the English language. By standardising these words meant that the lexis became “official”, as valuable as the language that was published in the first dictionary in 1750.

Even though The Daily Mail’s article seems to accept the slang that teens now use in the 21^st century, there is clear confusion from even the writer of the article, addressing the reader as “parents for teenage bluds”, however reading it from a clear understanding of slang language, the author is clearly trying to converge their language to sound like a teenager. Slang term, “bluds” is used to address a friend or a mate; however “parents for teenager bluds” does not make grammatical sense. This possibly is intended to address the confusion of slang; however by using it at the beginning of the article before any definitions are given for the slang word, it would cause confusion for the parent who may not know what the term means.

Technology has influenced slang, such as texting and messaging, clipping words (“sorry” to “soz”, “parents” to “rents” and “awkward” to “awks”), as well as abbreviating phrases, (“Laugh out loud” to “LOL”, “to be honest” to “tbh” and “you get me” to “ygm”). Linguists have mixed feelings about the slang language that is “infecting” the English language, as descriptivist Jean Aitchinson comments on how others may view slang. Aitchinson further describes views of slang language as the reason for the English language being a “crumbing castle”, disintegrating due to the ease of standardisation. Even though Aitchinson states that the Standard English language is decaying from what it used to be from the nineteenth century and previous, she does take a prescriptivist view on the change of language; simply reinforcing the views that prescriptivists believe.

Other theorists such as William Labov studied language and change, discovering that slang was used to fit in with a group, giving the speaker a recognisable ‘street cred’ accent, rather than a Received Pronunciation accent (of which he named “covert prestige”). Even though this is seen as inferior by the ‘dominant cultural group’ who speak “standard English”, the Covert Presitge communication, especially in colloquial terms and urban areas earns respect within the community for the speaker.

The Daily Mail’s descriptivist views on the slang that has integrated rapidly into the English language by its users is clear that there is a struggle trying to understand the fashion of the words and their contextual meaning, however the advertisement of campaigns and websites giving parents help and guidance to understanding the “jargon” teenagers frequently use, such as ‘websites’, ‘e-learning modules’ and ‘24 hour confidential hotlines’. This shows that parents that do not understand this language is taking the ignorance of the language very seriously and the educational resources that have been provided almost gives the article a hyperbolic cry-out-for-help attitude towards slang and how fast it is changing by youths.

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Oxford English Dictionary Videos

OED Youtube Channel Summary

OED Appeal for "cooties"
This video is about the term that is usually used by North American children, "cooties", a made up word that has made it into the dictionary. The definition that the video gives is a term that a young person would tend to use to describe imaginary germs and that is usually talking about the opposite sex. This video is to appeal to ask the audience if they know anything about the history of the word and it's usage.

Are there any words that rhyme with "orange"?
During this video, the woman talks about how it is very uncommon to have words that perfectly rhymes with the word, "orange". She tells us that the only rhyming word is "sporange", which is a part of a plant; of which isn't commonly used nowadays in modern English language. However there are some half rhymes that the dictionary suggests, such as lozenge, that could be possibly used as an alternative. This video also explores how the word "silver" does not have many rhyming words either, and the only word that the dictionary offers is "chilver", (a female lamb), however, yet again, an unpopular/unused word. The video then goes on to explain the difference between a half rhyme and a full rhyme; a full rhyme being where the vowels are the same and pronounced the same (at the end of a word), whereas a half rhyme is a similar use of vowels that sound similar but are not used in the same way, so it doesn't give the exact same sound.

An OED Appeal for "in your dreams"
This video is an appeal to ask the members of the audience if they know any history or information about sayings such as the phrase, "in your dreams", usually used in a sarcastic tone. The research that has been found out about the phrase so far is the use of the phrase in a Usenet news group posting in 1986, however they think that it was probably used further back in history.

An OED Appeal for "disco"
This video is another appeal for the audience to try and get involved with the research to the history of the use of language of certain words. The research that has been carried out on the word "disco" has resulted to the finding that it used to be used to describe a long, sleeveless dress, and then later on they found examples of the word being used to describe disco dancing. Further research revealed the new usage of the word to describe an event where the disco dancing takes place.

Article analysis

Referring to both texts in detail, discuss how language changes.

The Sun's Black Hole article, written in 1999 shows the modern language features, especially when compared to The Daily Mirror's article, One Touch Of Nature, written in 1912. The difference between structure of format and graphology is the first noticeable difference, as The Daily Mail's text is written as block texts in lengthy paragraphs, whereas The Sun's article uses short sentences and paragraphs, of which are also broken up with the use of headlines. The headlines are in capitals (uppercase), in bold. This creates a quick-read feature, making the article punchy and paced to keep the reader entertained and interested.

Following on from this, the headlines of "WHY" are then followed by rhetorical questions. The rhetorical questions allows the reader to engage emotionally with the article. It makes the audience question the points that are being raised, whereas Daily Mirror's article uses adjectives to engage with the reader to provoke emotion. This is however suitable tot he article's subject, as Daily Mirror's article is aout Titanic, talking about a sensitive subject that many (if not, all) readers will be familiar with, however The Sun's article is about a Black Hole. Readers are aware what a black hole is but they may not be aware of its dangers or consequences. This article uses a field specific lexis to denote danger. Words such as "feared", "fire", "failures, "blazing", "panic" are used to signify warning to influence the reader to feel fear when reading this article. The use of lexis successfully creates a strong tone of voice that is suitable for the typical The Sun newspaper reader. The Sun is a tabloid with a general target audience of CDE2 audience (working class), of both genders, however it is known that the language that is used in The Sun is purposely easy for readers, and content for the newspaper is created so that a 16 year old can understand the articles. This is reflected through the informal, chatty language that is used through a narrative-like tone of voice. Italics are used after a declarative sentence, "That is clearly not true", to enforce a slightly sarcastic tone to the article, giving a personalised feel to interact with the reader directly.

The grammar and punctuation used within The Daily Mirror's Titanic article shows semantic changed from archaic language, such as "Draughtsmen", "mightily" and "nothingless", of which would most likely be unfamiliar to readers if this language was used in The Sun's newspaper. The Daily Mirror's audience is for of a more sophisticated middle class older audience, and even though nowadays The Daily Mirror was more of a broadsheet, it has changed to a tabloid (now The Mirror). Due to this article targeting an educated audience, the audience are expected to follow the article without the need of breaks through headlines or rhetorical questions, creating a more formal approach. The article at the end is signed off as "W.M." at the end, whereas articles have changed typically to a full name at the top of the article underneath the title. The initials at the end are now seen as more of a formal sign off.

Recipe analysis

The language throughout all three recipe texts is varied due to the different time periods of when they were written, for example the semantic change of words and meanings, format and the features of orthology are different. Text number one (of which was written in 1747) is a curry recipe. There are uses of non-standard language, such as the spelling, “currey”, of which now has the spelling adaptation of just being “curry” without the requirement of the “e”. There also seems to be a dismissal of the letter “s”, of which is replaced by the letter “f”, such as words, “Fowls”, “fmall”, “Frefh”.  However the letter “s” wasn’t ignored completely, as the recipe later on has intermittent uses of the constantan S, “Stew-pan”, “Salt”. It seems as though the letter “f” is used on verbs and adjectives, however if there is a word beginning with S and it is a noun, the S is kept and it is also made to be a capital even if it is mid-sentence. This links to another non-standard feature of this recipe is also the orthography, where the capitalisation of nouns, especially concrete nouns (such as the ingredients of the curry), are capitalised. This may be due to the confusion of concrete nouns and proper nouns; however language over time has become more specific, splitting the nouns into different groups to no longer need capitalisation unless it is a proper noun.

Recipe no. 2 is an Economical Pot Liquor Soup that was written in 1852, of which the language is different again to the previous recipe. Firstly, the recipe being described a “pot liquor soup” suggests a different meaning to what it would have meant back in the 1800’s, as liquor is alcohol in the 21^st century, whereas the recipe would have intended a different meaning that doesn’t include alcohol. The contextual time that this recipe was written is also reflected in this recipe as it directly speaks to the target audience, “a thrifty housewife”, suggesting that this recipe is for working class women. This gender specific text is tailored to suit the stereotypical domestic housewife, which would not be seen in a 21^st century recipe due to the stigma of only women cooking has changed, meaning that men are cooks just as much women can be.

Recipe 3, the “wan kai thai-style red curry” is instantly different (written in 1998), as the borrowing of the word “curry” was originated from Tamil in the late 16^th centry, however has adapted to the English language. It is evident how the spelling of the word has changed by just looking at the spelling “currey” from text number 1 compared to tis modern text. The graphology of this recipe is the major difference between this recipe compared to the other two, as the other two recipes were set out as columns of block text, talking through the steps of the recipe. However the modern 1998 recipe is set out in bullet points. Whereas the previous recipes included the ingredients within the process of the recipe rather than listing them before, the ingredients are listed with the exact measurements in units before the steps of the recipe in the modern text. This is because people nowadays have less time to prepare meals, and the use of bullet points are quick and easy to read. There is also a “nutrition notes per serving”, telling the reader all of the facts about what this recipe includes in terms of calories and fats. People are more aware of what they are eating, and the obsession of diets and calories are constantly what people search for in foods. The government have also put these nutritional intake statistics with red, yellow or green colours to indicate the healthiness of the food product. It seems as though recipes are now including these types of information for the consumer to be able to make a quick decision whether they want to make and eat this recipe or not. English language has not only changed through the events and influences of modern-day life, but it has adapted to suit the lifestyle of 21^st century audiences. 

Grammar & Lexis

Grammar & Lexis

18th Century Diary

The language that has been used in this 18th century diary is noticeably different to the use of language and structure of sentences in the 21st century. This is because language's semantic change has shifted meanings and structures from influences such as colonization, language and power, gender and also technology. Language changing is possibly ongoing as new conflicts and technology will change the way users of language speak. During this particular diary entry, the sentence structure is different, "At 7 came a coach from the Strand", the active voice would still be active int he 21st century, however it would be changed in the way that the verb is before the subject. Nowadays, the subject tends to be before the verb, creating an alternative sentence such as "The coach came at 7 from the Strand".

Fashion has also changed the English language, as there are also lists of clothing garments that are no longer in fashion, therefore 21st century generations may not understand or know what these nouns are. "scarlet frock coat and drab hat and white trousers as coachman", where "scarlet frock coat" would not necessarily be understood. Frock coats are no longer worn, therefore the use of this word has decreased. The change of hypernyms and hyponyms within fashion have changed drastically, and even describing the frock coat as the colour scarlet is an adjective that doesn't occur within the English language as much as describing a deep blue such as navy. A "drab hat" would possibly be described as a khaki cap or bucket hat in terms of modern fashion.