Definition and the origin, types of slang. The definition and classification of idioms. The difficulties of translation of slang and idioms from English into Russian. Principal stages of Mark Twain’s biography. Slang and idioms in the Mark Twain’s work.
Аннотация к работе
Introduction Slang is more or less common in nearly all ranks of society and in every walk of life at the present day. Slang words and expressions have crept into our everyday language, and so insidiously, that they have not been detected by the great majority of speakers, and so have become part and parcel of their vocabulary on an equal footing with the legitimate words of speech. They are called upon to do similar service as the ordinary words used in everyday conversation-to express thoughts and desires and convey meaning from one to another. In fact, in some cases, slang has become so useful that it has far outstripped classic speech and made for itself such a position in the vernacular that it would be very hard in some cases to get along without it. Slang words have usurped the place of regular words of language in very many instances and reign supreme in their own strength and influence. The phenomenon of slang constitutes an open question for lexicography and sociolinguistics. Unfortunately, there is little agreement on the identification and definition of slang, so that the phenomenon is currently controversial. The concept of slang has been inaccurately defined by many lexicographers who tend to restrict it to informal or bad language, and the term ‘slang’ has been improperly used by many sociolinguists who conflated it with such language varieties as cant, jargon, dialect, vernacular or accent. This is mainly due to the sheer pervasiveness of slang, since it is constantly moulding the standard language and also extending across a number of non-standard ‘lects’ with its fresh and innovated vocabulary. [8] My research paper is an attempt to explore slang and its usage in the fiction. The aim of my research contains in giving some contribution to slang’s identification and interpretation, and to find out the function of slang words in the works by Mark Twain. [17] The primary aims of my research are to highlight the pervasiveness of English slang across speech, and show its originality of forms and meanings. I shall characterize some forms of English and American present-day slang. Another important aim of my paper is to provide the context to proof the usage of slang in fiction for certain purposes, and to focus on its pragmatic purposes and effects. [4] Using slang in the fiction work provides the main difficulties in understanding the proper sense of the fiction work. Thus for reaching the main purpose of the research I have obtain the certain objectives: · to study the main theoretical notes concerning the English stylistics; · to describe the main features of the English slang; to investigate sociolinguistics relationship of standard and non-standard language varieties; · to exemplify the usage of slang from the words by Mark Twain; The topicality (importance of the paper) is determined by growing interest in the subject, in the learning of the English language, understanding the main processes during the translation and the great desire to study foreign literature reading the original texts. As such, slang sometimes forms a kind of sociolect aimed at excluding certain people from the conversation. Slang words tend to function initially as a means of obfuion, so that the non-initiate cannot understand the conversation. The use of slang is a means of recognizing members of the same group, and to differentiate that group from society at large. In addition to this, slang can be used and created purely for humorous or expressive effect. Slang terms are frequently particular to a certain subculture, such as musicians, and members of a minority. All the same, slang expressions can outside their original arena and become commonly understood; recent examples include «cool». While some such words eventually lose their status as slang, others continue to be considered as such by most speakers. The process tends to lead to their replacement by other, less well-recognised, expressions by their original users. Slang is to be distinguished from jargon, the technical vocabulary of a particular profession, as the association of informality is not present. Moreover, jargon may not be intended to exclude non-group members from the conversation, but rather deals with technical peculiarities of a given field which require a specialized vocabulary. [8, p. 34] According to Bethany K. Dumas and Jonathan Lighter, an expression should be considered «true slang» if it meets at least two of the following criteria: It lowers, if temporarily, «the dignity of formal or serious speech or writing»; in other words, it is likely to be seen in such contexts as a «glaring misuse of register.» [1, p. 78] Its use implies that the user is familiar with whatever is referred to, or with a group of people that are familiar with it and use the term. «It is a term in ordinary discourse with people of a higher social status or greater responsibility.» It replaces «a well known conventional synonym». This is especially to avoid «the disco