The Influence of English Language on the Russian Youth Slang

Муниципальное автономное общеобразовательное учреждение Домодедовская средняя общеобразовательная школа №4 с углубленным изучением отдельных предметов

X школьная научно-исследовательская конференция учащихся
«Дети –творцы ХХI века»

Секция: иностранные языки

Исследовательская работа

«Slang Influence on the cultural Speech of Teenagers»

Авторы:
Шохолова Елена
Песчаненко Ксения
ученицы 9 класса «М»

Научный руководитель:
учитель высшей категории
Тимофеева Светлана Викторовна

2017

Introduction

   Slang, being one of the non-standard language variants, is quite popular, and the investigation of this colorful, alternative vocabulary has been of great interest to many linguists for a long time. The new stage in the study of the slang has become the close research of its categories.  

    We suggested the following hypothesis: young people often use slang because of vocabulary lack and in imitation to modern idols.

   The aim of our report is to find out why young people use slang words in their speech.

   In this report we carried out the investigation the objects of which were the Russian students of our school.

   The subject of the investigation is the linguistic peculiarities of the language of the youth and the motives for its creation.

       The tasks:

1. To give the definition of slang
2. To reveal the examples of slang
3. To prove or refute the suggested hypothesis.

   We achieved the aim and the purposes of our work using different methods:

   At the theoretical level we analyzed scientific literature about slang, searched and selected the scientific information on the subject. As for the reflection and presentation of the results we wrote a research report, made a computer presentation.

CHAPTER I.

The definition of slang

    The word SLANG is an abbreviation from the words “Sub” and “LANGuage”, so slang is the language of minor importance used by a definite group of people.        Different dictionaries give different definitions of the phenomena.

   Slang – words and phrases used informally in everyday speech and writing and not for formal or polite use.

  Slang - language peculiar to a particular group, an informal nonstandard vocabulary composed typically of coinages.
  Slang - nonstandard vocabulary composed of words or senses characterized primarily by connotations of extreme informality and usually by a currency not limited to a particular region.

While many forms of language may be considered "sub-standard", slang remains distinct from colloquial and jargon terms because of its specific social contexts.

  Slang fills a necessary niche in all languages, occupying a middle ground between the standard and informal words accepted by the general public and the special words and expressions known only to comparatively small social subgroups. It can serve as a bridge or a barrier, either helping both old and new words that have been used as "insiders" terms by a specific group of people to enter the language of the general public or, on the other hand, preventing them from doing so.

  Words that are taboo in one era (e.g., stomach, thigh) can become accepted, standard words in a later era. Language is dynamic, and at any given time hundreds, and perhaps thousands, of words and expressions are in the process of changing from one level to another, of becoming more acceptable or less acceptable, of becoming more popular or less popular.

  Youth slang is crucial part of a young person's 'coming of age', one of the first detectable signs of their breaking away from their parents and their parents' values. It is a cheap second language that expresses the differences between a young person who is about to enter adulthood from his or her parents' generation.

  Slang comes from high schools and colleges but it isn't limited to those places. And slang is associated with youth; the older we get, the less likely we are to maintain it.

  So slang is not a language, dialect, or ordinary register. It is a special code that differentiates those who are 'with it', who 'makes the scene'. 

                                                        CHAPTER II

                                          Slang Creation and Spreading

  Every slang word has its own history and reasons for popularity. When conditions change, the term may change in meaning, be adopted into the standard language, or continue to be used as slang within certain enclaves of the population. 

  Some slang becomes respectable when it loses its edge; "spunk," "fizzle", "spent", "hit the spot", "jazz", "funky", and "p.o.'d", once thought to be too indecent for feminine ears, are now family words.

  Other slang survives for centuries, like "bones" for dice (Chaucer), "beat it" for run away (Shakespeare), "duds" for clothes, and "booze" for liquor (Dekker). These words must have been uttered as slang long before appearing in print, and they have remained slang ever since.

  While many slang words introduce new concepts, some of the most effective slang provides new fresh, satirical, shocking expressions for established concepts.

  Slang tends to originate in subcultures within a society. Occupational groups (for example, loggers, police, medical professionals, and computer specialists) are prominent originators of both jargon and slang; other groups creating slang include the armed forces, teenagers, racial minorities, citizens-band radiobroadcasters, sports groups, drug addicts, criminals, and even religious denominations .

  Slang expressions are created by the same processes that affect ordinary speech.

  Clipping is one of them, removing syllables from words, like teach for teacher or phys ed for physical education (физра), mike - microphone This is a common means of creating new words.

  Slang mostly relies on metaphor, though. Let's blow (leave) (слиняем) is a metaphor based on the movement of the wind. Diamonds look like ice (simile) and you'll find a lot of copper on a copper's uniform (synecdoche). When something exciting is called the bomb (implying a nuclear bomb), slang is relying on hyperbole. 

  Many slang words are simply made up and used because they are funny o: icky, yucky, dweeb, andnerd are fanciful concoctions that probably spread because the sound funny.

  The most productive elements in slang are suffixes. Sometimes a foreign suffix may be added (Russian -nik in beatnik).

  The range of word formation means is very wide, including abbreviation (,VIP, AWOL, snafu) pseudo cryptoformations, adverbs formed from names etc.

  Words may acquire new meanings (cool, cat) and foreign words may be adopted (baloney, from Bologna).

  Slang spreads through many other channels. First of all it is transmitted from mouth to mouth in oral speech. But nowadays there are other sources of spreading slang, such as popular songs. Today a sportscaster, news reporter, or comedian may introduce a lively new word already used by an in-group into millions of homes simultaneously, giving it almost instant currency.

  Most slang is used on the spoken level. When used by writers, slang is chosen to achieve a specific effect. Writers, however, seldom invent slang.

Slang is created by ingenious individuals to freshen the language, to make the language more picturesque, to increase the store of striking words, or to provide a vocabulary for new shades of meaning. Most of the originators of slang, however, are probably not conscious of these noble purposes and do not seem overly concerned about what happens to their language. In addition to occupational and professional groups, there are many other types of subcultures that supply slang.

CHAPTER III

                                              Russian Youth Slang

  Four great periods of rising up slang words can be defined in Russian history.

The first one is the beginning of the XX century when revolution and civil war brought a great army of young beggars, homeless poor children contacting widely with criminals and the speech of other young people was fulfilled with argot and slang words. So criminal jargon was widespread in the society.

  The second period is in 60-ies when ‘stilyagy’ went out to Russian streets and dance halls.

  The third period is the 70s 80s brought a lot of new subcultures created their own slang as the opposition to the official ideology.

  Nowadays we live through the fourth period when nearly every teen is a computer addict and spends evenings glued to the Internet. So a lot of computer terms invaded our speech.

  Youth slang is a coded language designed to exclude adults.

But it also shows what kids are concerned about. Some words only have one or two slang expressions, while others have lots of them. Where there are lots of words, we know it's something that concerns young people.
 So what are Russian teenagers concerned about? Pretty much what has interested young people all over the world for decades: sex, drugs, and music. Plus one modern addition: computers. If you are Russian and age 13 to 24, you call your computer аппарат, компик, компухтер, машина, тачила or числогрыз. If it's not working well, it's гнилой (literally, "rotten") or убитый ("killed"). If it's slow, it's задумчивый ("thoughtful").
 When life is going great, young people say it's балдёжно, зыко, неслабо, отпадно, улётно, файно, чётко, or чисто тайд. Here we can see the influence of English (файно is a Russified version of "fine") and the ad industry (чисто тайд -- pure Tide). English can also be found in several words for sex (факать, фачить) as well as words for a young woman: гёрла, герлёнок, гёрлышка, гирлица. French is represented by the cheerful селява (accent on the second syllable) -- from c'est la vie. However, it has been corrupted - perhaps due to the rhythmic echo of халява.
 If a child talks about антиквариат, нафталин, шнурки or ботинки (literally antiques, mothballs, shoelaces or boots) - these are all slang terms for parents. The witty шнурки завязаны - my shoelaces are tied -- means "My parents aren't home." Шнурки в стакане (literally "the shoelaces are in the glass") or предки в пещере ("my ancestors are in the cave") both mean "my parents are at home."
"The slang changes quickly. At first, kids said, Забей! (Forget it.) Then they started saying, Забей на это. It's hard to say exactly when the second expression appeared.

  And then, words and expressions keep coming back, sometimes with different meanings. In the '60s we used the word стиляги, which meant guys with greased-back hair, tight pants, and platform shoes. Now the word is used to describe anyone who is a hot dresser." 
 Regional and institutional expressions quickly become universal. "Young people are extremely mobile. If a teenager comes to Moscow from Khabarovsk, he brings his slang with him. And it gets passed around in the mass media." 
Young people develop their own dialect to encode their language, to conceal what they are saying from adults. There's nothing wrong with it. "Everything has its place - we shouldn't fight it. Let them play around with language. They'll grow out of it later."

CHAPTER IV

                              English Loan-words in Russian Youth Slang

  Historically we can define three great periods of English language loans in Russian. The first is in 60s when after the Youth festival young people with the new stylish clothes and modern dances began using new English words for all this items unknown before. This time such slang words as  стиляги, фарца, битник         came into Russian language.

  The 70s and 80s brought subcultures and new terms and slang expressions with them: готы, панки, моды.

  Slang usually describes the fields of life most interesting for the society where it was born. The greatest amount of slang words represent such areas as “a person’, ‘appearance’, ‘clothes’, ‘home’, ‘leisure’.

  Nowadays when computers, computer games and the internet are widely spread, words connected with this sphere of life are very popular among young people, so we can consider it the third wave of English loan words in Russian youth slang.  

  Slang words occupy the language of Mass Media. All newspapers, magazines, TV programmes containing materials about young people and their interests include a great number of slang words, most of which are English loans.

  We began our practical work with collecting material: slang words and phrases used by teenagers in our area. Nearly …. people took part in our questionnaire. They were to name slang phrases they use  and hear in talks and answer some questions about this expressions.

All the examples were analyzed and the rating of the most popular slang words was made:

1. супер, (super)                                          21.   клабер (cluber)
2.  сори, (sorry)                                           22.  кипиш (to keep)
3. форевер (for ever)                                   23. батл (battle)
4. крейзи (crazy)                                         24.  бутсы (boots)
5. дарлинг (darling)                                    25. наличка (cash)
6. пати (party)                                             26. коменты (to comment)
7. хай, хэлоу (hi, hallo)                              27.   репосты (to repost)
8. брендовый (brand)                                 28.   геймер (gamer)
9. фан (fan)                                                 29.  реал, реально (real, really)
10. мэн (man)                                               30.  пиплы, (people)

11. бейби (baby)                                           31.  лузер,(lose)

11. коннектиться (connect)                         32. френды (friend)
12. дрес-код (dress-code)                             33.  апартаменты (apartament)
13. кул, кульный (cool)                               34.  ризон (reason)
14. креатив, креативный (creative)             35.мейк-ап (make-up)
15. уау (wow)                                               36.   зебестный (the best)
16. бёздник (birthday)                                 37.   кликнуть (click)  
17. фэйс (face)
18.  мэйкап (make up)
19. зебестный (the best)
20.   кликать (click)

These words were divided into semantic categories:

1. Words describing relations between young people
2. Words devoted to leisure activities

1) Adjectives expressing the attitude of young people to everyday life

2) Words connected with computers

3. Words naming people
4. Emotional and expressive words

  From the list of  words you can see that most of this words express relations between young people (коннектиться, фан, бэйби, дарлинг).

  Some adjectives are used to show the attitude of young people to everyday events (кульно, окейно, зебестный).

  Quite lots of words connect teens with the world of computers (комменты, лайки кликать, геймер).

  Some words are used to show people’s emotions (уау, кульно, супер).

 There are also words which call somebody (френды, пэрэнты, бой, гёрл).

Nowadays English acquired the status of international language for most people, even those who are non-native speakers.

Significantly increased students' interest in the English language is due to the fact that the possibility of visiting the United States, Britain and the other countries where English is as official language occured As a result of these trips students have the opportunity not only to see a different culture and earn money, but also get a good language practice.

English language is considered to be the most "fashionable" and the most promising one to study among the youth. Many young people are familiar with it. That’s why many youth jargons are the words that are borrowed from English, but not translated into the Russian. These jargons are understood even by those people who had never learned English. For example: to videotape, to photograph, laptop, fifty-fifty (50 to 50); respect; exchange; loser; drink; people; crazy; price-list best; darling. english language popularization dialect

Another cause of popularization of the language is pop culture, e.g. fascination with the popular music of different trends and genres: pop-music, dark (heavy music), release, play-list, chart, face-control, dance, cool, remake, show business, club, fashion, and so on. Films also lead to the fact that the main bulk of americanisms is firmly set in the Russian language. For example, a derivative from acronym OK pronounced as OKAY, and the famous phrase from the movie Terminator I'll be back has become popular.

Another reason of using anglicisms is the development of computer technology and social networking. In this connection there are words such as user, gamer, login, password, copy, paste, print, save, open, file. Years have passed, but young people still continue to use English words and terms which are related to computers and the Internet. The Internet has produced many popular anglicisms associated with the global network: smile, e-mail, online, connect, like, site, blog, blogger, chat, and more with young people Also, the sport is the popularization of using English words. Borrowings which are related with the popular sports are sportsman, fitness, bodybuilding, shaping, surfing. The active use of these words in the slang of today's youth is primarily due to the so-called "cult of the beautiful body," promoted in the modern world.

So the young people and students can not use English words in their communication, because some of these words have already come to the Russian language. On the one hand, the creation of new words significantly expands the vocabulary of Russian people, but on the other hand, leads to losing much of its unique beauty and originality.

Imitation of life of American youth has generated one of the largest groups of slang. There are the following words used the Russian youth in everyday life and standard daily situations as boy-friend, VIP, weekend, very good, public, ok, nice, lucky, hotel, go, party, super-girl, baby, ask, looser, hi, real, best and a huge number of words.

In conclusion it is necessary to note: slang will never disappear. Young people used slang many years ago, and will always use them. Without a doubt, slang changes in time, some words are dying, others - appear. However, many anglicizes which are penetrated to the Russian youth slang long before the XXI century will remain in their jargon forever adding new words every day.

Appendix

Scientific research on attitude of Russian teenagers to slang using

We carried out an opinion poll and questionnaire survey among children to find out why teenagers use slang words in their speech. The results were the following.

Reasons for using slang

Frequency of slang using

Will slang replace cultural speech?

Having analyzed the people’s answers we revealed the Reasons for using slang

1. Attempt to cipher the speech, to make unclear for the uninitiated.

2. The desire to express the emotions (many slang words can't be translated into the literary language by one word).

3. To be identified in the company, to show that you are «one of the gang».

4. To show "maturity", to be striking and even startling.

5. Slang is used by the teenagers for the pure joy of making sounds, it is

very creative and often humorous.

Conclusion.

Finally, having done this scientific research and carried out an opinion poll and questionnaire survey among teenagers of our town, we would like to sum up our work:

• we studied the classification of teen slang and found that there are two types of it

• we revealed different examples of slang
• we proved my hypothesis that  young people often use slang because of vocabulary lack and in imitation to modern idols
• Slang doesn't adorn but, on the contrary, it makes the speech scanty

Specific features of the slang words borrowed from English which were revealed during research, unfortunately, are of negative character. School students often consider the equivalents of the Russian words "littering" the native speech, more fashionable and bright. I came to a conclusion that we shouldn’t use slang in the speech. It doesn't adorn but, on the contrary, it makes the speech scanty. And by no means has it made a person more adult.

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