Филологические науки/Теоретические и методологические

проблемы исследования языка

Касабекова Д., магистр филологии Лучкова Г.Д.

Универвитет «Туран», г.Алматы, Казахстан

Youth slang in Kazakh and English languages: comparative-contrastive analysis

Slang is a language which takes off its coat,

spits on its hands - and goes to work.

Carl Sandburg

The understanding of the native speakers' language is the international problem for our people. Our secondary schools teach the students only the bases of the English language. Our universities do not prepare them to the British streets, accommodations, pubs where people use their own language, the language that differs from that of their parents. They use other words - they use slang. None of the most advanced and flexible ways of teaching English of any country can catch modern quickly developing English.

Some scholars divide the English language into two different languages: the Standard English language and slang. This fact proves that slang comes to be a very numerous part of English. Ignorance of slang causes a great miscommunication between students and native speakers in every country. [1]

The aim of our research is: to analyze different approaches to the definition of slang; to determine the most important groups of the British and Kazakh slang; to classify youth slang of both English and Kazakh languages; to show their values; to compare with each other.

Every adult speaker has a concept of slang - knowing at the least that some words and expressions transgress generally accepted norms of formality or appropriateness and in some way do not fit the measure of what "good" language is. Despite such recognition by almost all speakers, scholars with formal training in linguistic analysis have almost ignored slang - though they acknowledge having the same intuitions about this type of vocabulary as do all speakers. In truth, most linguists have given no more thought to slang than have people who claim no expertise in language. In the English-speaking world in particular, the description of the form and function of slang has been left largely to lexicographers rather than to others who study language for a living.

The "New Oxford English Dictionary" gives the following definition of the term slang:

a) the special vocabulary used by any set of persons of a low or disreputable character; language of a low and vulgar type;

b) the cant or jargon of a certain class or period;

c) language of a highly colloquial type considered as below the level of standard educated speech, and consisting either of new words or of current words employed in some special sense." [2]

In general all linguists agree that slang in every country is 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.

Both in Kazakh and English languages the slang consists of the words and expressions that have escaped from the cant, jargon and argot (and to a lesser extent from dialectal, nonstandard, and taboo speech) of specific subgroups of society so that they are known and used by an appreciable percentage of the general population, even though the words and expressions often retain some associations with the subgroups that originally used and popularized them.

Slang is informal use of words and phrases for more colorful or peculiar style of expression that is shared by the people in the same social subgroup, for example, computer slang, sports slang, military slang, musicians’ slang, students’ slang, underworld slang, etc. Slang is not used by the majority of native speakers. It consists of words, expressions, and meanings that are informal and are used by people who know each other very well or who have the same interests. In this way English slang is divided into several groups. They are: money slang (beans, brass, dibs, dough, chinc, oof, wards); military slang, is an array of colloquial terminology used commonly by military personnel, including slang which is unique to or originates with the armed forces (Stripey - Sergeant, Teeny-weeny Airways - The Army Air Corps,Warry (or War-y) - aggressive, militaristic; can be an insult); [3] internet slang; Cockney Rhyming Slang, which originated in the East End of London. For example the word "look" rhymes with "butcher's hook". Rhyming slang is a form of slang in which a word is replaced by a rhyming word, typically the second word of a two-word phrase (so stairs becomes "apples and pears"). The second word is then often dropped entirely ("I'm going up the apples"), meaning that the association of the original word to the rhyming phrase is not obvious to the uninitiated; [4] Polari (or alternatively Parlare, Palare, Palarie, Palari, from Italian parlare, "to talk") was a form of cant slang used in Britain by actors, circus or fairground showmen, criminals, prostitutes etc., and latterly by the gay subculture. Polari is a mixture of Romance (Italian or Mediterranean Lingua Franca), Romany, London slang, back slang, rhyming slang, sailor slang, and thieves' cant. Later it expanded to contain words from the Yiddish language of the Jewish subculture which settled in the East End of London. For example the word “AC/DC” means “a couple”, “aunt nell” means “listen, hear”, “aunt nells” means “ears” etc. [5]

Slang is not formal use of words in Kazakh language too. There are the certain factors influences on this language: development computer technologists; the modern musical culture; foreign languages (especially Russian and English languages); the lexicon connected with the criminal sphere; words, connected with drugs, alcohol. In the Kazakh youth slang on a way of their education it is possible to allocate following groups of words:

a) The words borrowed from Russian: тема – керемет – прекрасно; типо – өзінше - кривляка; не потей – ол үшін сөйлемеші, терлемеші; игнориум – жоқ болып кету, исчезнуть; гонщик – өтірікші; тормоз – ешнәрсе түсінбейтін адам; асфальт – қала тұрғыны – городской; блатной –крутой; погоняло – лақап есім, облом – бетін қайтару, тусовка – кеш. [6]

b) The mixed phrases: лапша ілмеші – не вешай лапшу; тупить етпеші – не тупи; косить етпе – қиындықтан қашпа – отлынивать от дело; маяк таста–қоңырау шалу – позвонить по телефону; фигурасы ат екен – денесі жіңішке адам –стройная фигура; крышасы кеткен – есінен айрылған –не в своем уме; базар жоқ – әрине – конечно; грузить етпеші – маған ешнәрсе айтпа – не говори мне ничего; cкидовать ету – позвонить; косякқа кіргізу – попасть в неприятности; крышасы бар – иметь поддержку; ботан болу – быть ботаником; капустаға қарау – смотреть на материальное состояние; бәрі ништяк – все ништяк, все хорошо; кидать етіп кету – лақтырып кету – бросить.

c) The words borrowed from English in their literal sense: super – тамаша,

керемет – it is fine; ok –келістік – it is good; no problem – сөзсіз, әрине, without problems; sorry – кешірші, мен айыптымын, кешірім өтінемін; fifty-fifty – фифти-фифти – елуде елу; respect – құрметтеу; please – плиз – өтініш;

d) The words of the Kazakh language used in a figurative sense: жынды – керемет – класс, здорово; қумашы – дұрыс айтпау, дұрыс істемеу – говорить и делать не правильно, мал – топас, дым түсінбейтін адам; балмұздақ – бірінші курс білімгері – first-year student; лақтыру – өтірік айту – кинуть – обмануть; маңырама – сөйлеме, шулама –не разговаривай , не шуми; қуалама – дұрыс айтпау – не гони – говорить неправду; жабыстырам – ұрамын – размажу – побью; сайрама – көп сөйлеме – не болтай много; сындыру – көндіру – уговорить; миді шіріту – бос көп сөйлеу – много говорить. [7]

e) The phrases of the Kazakh language used figuratively: биді шашады екенсің – жақсы билейсің – хорошо танцуешь; көзіңмен ұрысып қалғансың ба?– бір нәрсені көрмей тұрса – если что-то не видит; мүйізіңді сындырам – ұрамын – побью; түріңді тығып қой – кетіп қал – уйди с глаз долой; иттің етінен жек көру – ненавидить до смерти; артындағы құйрығы – жағымпаз болу – хвостик.

f) The words of the Kazakh language changed by means of foreign language suffixes: рахатизм – керемет, тамаша; махабатизейшн – махаббатқа бөлену; ойбаюшки – таң қалу; бай – баюшки – қайырлы түн; aғашкa – жасы үлкен кісі – үлкен аға, крутойский – күшті, керемет etc.

Writing of these slang words free, it is possible to use both Latin, and Cyrillics. For example: party boy – парти бой; ноу проблемс – no problems; please – плиз; o'kей – ok; sorry – сорри; hello – хэллоу; hi – хай; service – сервис, baby – бэйби.

In our research we have faced with a lot of interesting information about slang from the internet. We have chosen some of them, that are necessary to know.

For instance, here are some examples of English and Kazakh slangs, that have the same slang and its synonyms: “Lupi” – a person who is always report student’s occasion connected with their study to the director or to their parents. It’s Latin word, that means “волк ”; here are the Kazakh slang, that is similar to this word, it is “тоқылдақ” – a person who is always report about something to someone too. The slang words for “money” such as beans, brass, dibs, dough, chinc, oof, wards (in English),бабки, көк тиын, бабло, зелень, шиши, капуста (in Kazakh); the slang synonyms for word “head” are attic, brain-pan, hat peg, nut, upper storey(in English), бошкa, май бас, су ми, қазан бас, котел(in Kazakh); “marijuana” are drunk- boozy, cock-eyed, high, soaked, tight, and pot (in English); травкa, шөп, aю, касяк, ганж, планка etc.(in Kazakh). Of course, these words are alike in their ordinary standard use and in their slang use. Also, the meanings of these words are the same, so it cannot be said that the connotations of slang words are any more colorful or racy than the meanings of standard words.

Nowadays every language, every country has internet slang. It is a type of slang that Internet users have popularized, and in many cases, have coined. Such terms often originate with the purpose of saving keystrokes. Many people use the same abbreviations in texting and instant messaging, and social networking websites. [8] Acronyms, keyboard symbols and shortened words are often used as methods of abbreviation in Internet slang. For example:

Words or phrases	Abbreviation(s)	Words or phrases	Abbreviation(s)
Address	addyoradd	Because	cuz, bcuz, bcz, bc
And	n, an, nd, or&	Best friend	Bf
Alright	aight or ight or aite	Between	btwnor b/w
Are you there?	rutor u der	By the way	Btw
At the moment	Atm	No problem	Np
Be right back	Brb	No thank you	no tnk u, nty or no t
Be back later	Bbl	I love you	ily, luv u, ilu, i<3 u
Be back soon	Bbs	Talk to you later	ttylor t2yl

Like these, many slang words and abbreviations created from the internet. Youth always create new slang words on their own. For example, these sentences, that we have found from the internet very interesting and on the other hand very difficult to understand. "My smmrholswr CWOT. B4, we usd 2go2 NY 2C my bro, his GF &thr3 : - kds FTF. ILNY, it's a gr8 plc" ,it means: "My summer holidays were a complete waste of time. Before, we used to go to New York to see my brother, his girlfriend and their three screaming kids face to face. I love New York, it's a great place". We can see that these sentences absolutely were written by teenager, using internet slang, created new own words. [9]

There are a lot of Kazakh youth slang, that we are facing with them every day, everywhere and especially are used by youth. For example, these sentences: “Өздерін блатной санайтын ұлдар толпамен жүріп косякқа тығады”. Here we can see some slang words, such as “блатной – person with a pull, толпа– crowd, косяк– throng”, “aла көзімен жаман стрелять етті” – it means “to gaze intently”, “ неге сөзіңді соншама сағызша шайнадың?” here, the phrase “сағызша шайнау” means “to speak very slowly”; the words, often used by youth “сасымашы, қумашы, жалқаулық, қасқа” саme from the West part of Kazakhstan, and are used by local people like dialect there, but because of influencing on other parts, these words have spread to the all parts of Kazakhstan and are used like slang nowadays. Also in our work we have determined, that the American people like to use the verb “to get” almost everywhere. For example: got it?-түсіндің бе? ; relax, I got it! – сабыр сақта, бұны мен алдым! ; I got it, sir! – құп болады, мырзам! ; I got him, means “to kill”; the word “fair” has a lot of definitions and is used in any situation too. For example: It is not fair– бұл дұрыс емес; Fair play– әділ ойын; fair-haired boy– алба- жұлба шашты бала;

Choosing the topic of our investigation we are perfectly aware of the fact that slang is unlimited so it is almost impossible to analyze every word of it. We hope to summarize different points of view on slang and it is our hope that more readers should discover this interesting layer of these languages. Although the work could hardly cover all the aspects of the phenomenon the task is as exciting as challenging.

The research is still being investigated. It has not finished yet. We have found as much as we can the youth slangs of the Kazakh language and subdivided them on groups. In this way we hope, that we have showed values of English and Kazakh youth slangs, their features, the factors influencing on development of youth slang in Kazakh language. We have achieved the setting goals, but we are planning to broad our research and achieve more and more information about slang in future.

Bibliography

1. Арнольд И.В. Лексикология современного английского языка.: учебник для ин-тов и фак. иностр. языка.- 3-е издание, перераб и доп.- М.: Высшая школа, 1986.- 295с.

2. Ayto John, The Oxford Dictionary of Slang.-Oxford University, Press.: 2000-415p.

3. www.armyslang.uk.

4. www.cockneyrhymingslang.co.uk.

5. www.peevich.co.uk/slang.

6. www.slangkazaksha.kz

7. http://jargon.com

8. www.internetslang.com

9. english4fun.ru/slang