The examples to be mentioned are «сайт» (site), «ивент» (event) and «афтепати» (after party) which is also known «виайпи» (WIP). More examples of equal lexicon in English and Russian slang found on the pages of «Elle Girl» and «Maxim»:
фанфик (fanfic from fan fiction),.
хоррор (horror from horrow film),.
чир-данс-шоу (cheer dance show),.
скутер (scooter from to scoot),.
хетчбек (hatchback from a hatch plus back),.
секс-коуч (sex coach),.
покемоны (Pokémon),.
мимимишечки (mimimi),.
бугага (bugaga).
2.2 Equal Lexicon in English And Russian Slang as a Part of the Languages.
For more materials for the analysis we have used the Internet and tow dictionaries titled as «Alternative English Dictionary» and «Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English». Both semantic and derivational equivalents were found among lexical units formed as a result of metaphor, imitation of a sound, word-formation, affixation, reduction and conversion as well as the process of borrowing. For instance, we need to compare:
imitation of a sound: «ticker» (a clock) with Russian «тикалка» (a hearth) which represents identical semantics which is completeв with affixation; «cuckoo» or «coo-coo» with Russian «ку-ку» — the sound which is used to show that someone is mad;
metaphor: «дородка» with «line», «жирный» (rich) with «fat cat», «торпеда» (a person who must kill whatever it will cost him) with «torpedo», «отмывать» (to earn dirty money) with «to launder» (to do waching), «резинка» (a condom) with «rubber»;
word-formation: «фуфлогон», «фуфломёт» (a talkative person) with «gatemouth»;
affixation: «передоз» with «overdose»;
reduction: «мерс» (Mercedes Benz) with «mere»;
conversion: «давала» (feminine gender, past tense of the verb «давать») with «stank» (Participle II of the verb «to stink» which means «to smell badly»).
The lexical units of both languages are in paradigmatic relations not only inside the slang’s subsystem but also with commonly used words, for example:
homonymy: «джентельмен» (a respectable man) and «джентельмен» (cheap wine), «blind» (a person who cannot see) and «blind» (drunk);
synonymy: «дезик», «дембуд», «дизик», «заяц»; «митрич»; «pinko», «red» (communist);
antonym: «дуборно» (cald) and «жарко» (hot); «bleed», «blood» (black, about a person) and «white».
As a result, the following scan be produced to sum up the possible connections among slang and various figures of speech both in Russian and English:
Picture 1 — Slang and Other Processes of the English and Russian Languages.
Additionally, lexicon in Russian slang can be borrowed from English like it has been shown previously in the example with «bugaga» and «бугага»:
Yum-yum;
Gaga;
Cор;
Hit;
Ouch;
Teddy-boy;
Yak-yak;
Nope;
Yep;
Zombie.
However, connotation of some of them can be different. «Yum-yum» (compare with «ням-ням») is positive and «cop» (compare with «коп») is negative in both languages. More comparisons can be found below:
Picture 2 — Equal Lexicon in English and Russian Slang.
H owever, it is not only Russian slang lexicon borrowed from English. A s «Dictionary of Contemporary Slang» shows, the opposite process leads to the appearing of the slang taken from the Russian language.
T he lexical unit can be borrowed not as a whole, for example, the word «beatnik» means someone following a beat lifestyle or modes of dress. «T he term was coined by newspapermen to deride the self-styled members of the beat generation but was later adopted by beatniks themselves; the ‘-nik' suffix came from Russian and was meant to identify the beats with god-less Communism (as well as being a derogatory word-ending in Yiddish terms such as nudnik)» [15 p.31]. O ne more American slang connected with the Russian language is «bupkes» or «bupkiss» which has two meanings: an insignificant amount or trivial matter, nothing or none. «The words are a borrowing from Yiddish, which adopted them from the Russian for ‘beans', a term widely used colloquially (in expressions such as ‘not worth a hill/row of beans') to suggest items of little value» [15, p.73].
«Urban Dictionary: Fularious Street Slang Detined» compiled by Aaron Peckham gives a wide spectrum of English slang which includes not only word forms but also examples with numerals. These material is especially important in our research as it gives an opportunity to analyze equal lexicon in English and Russian slang. For instance, the symbol «*» is used both by Russian anв English people to correct a typo that was just text messaged. Let us compare:
Joe: Well, that was really spupid.
Joe: *stupid.
Аня: Не думаю, что такая идея вообще атуальна.
Аня: *актуальна.
What is more, the symbol can also mean something placed after a statement in advertising to say that the statement is not completely true, compare:
FREE ROOT BEER FOR LIFE!*.
*only valid for 45-year-old war veterans in EJ Paso.
БЕСПЛАТНЫЙ ВХОД НА ПИВНУЮ ВЕЧЕРИНКУ ДЛЯ ТЕБЯ!*.
*Для девушек, достигших возраста 18 лет.
Finally, it can be used to bleep out cuss words or in place of a letter when typing or writing:
Holy sh*t! Look at her! She is a real *!
Это же пи*дец! Он же не сотрудник, а настоящий *!
The phrase «10 on that» has the Russian equivalent «сотня/сотка на то/это» which is usually used with the verb «ставить» or «ставлю» (and is more specific) to agree strongly to a statement or to emphasize what has been said:
Man 1: I sure do hate hangovers.
Man 2: 10 on that, brother.
Мужчина 1: Смотри, какая девушка!
Мужчина 2: Ставлю сотку на то, что она и не взглянет в нашу сторону.
There are two very similar phrases — «20-minute rule» and «правило 15 минут/настоящего студента» in English and Russian accordingly. In English it means the rule that gives you the right to leave your place of employment 20 minutes after your boss leaves the building. The Russian variant is typically used if speaking about students and their right to leave a university or an Institute and go home after 15 minutes of waiting for a professor.
The English phrases «24/7» and «24/7/365» have Russian equivalents as well. However, they exist in a changed form of «двадцать четыре часа в сутки» or «двадцать четыре часа в неделю 365 дней в году» (the last is less popular). The first one is used as slang for something that happens often:
That dude is stoned 24/7.
Мой отец работает двадцать четыре часа в сутки.
T he numeral «5» has special slang meanings both in English and Russian. I n English it can have the following meanings: 1. T he number of fingers on one hand, or a hand slap involving the hand and this many fingers. 2.
T he police. S hort for «five-o». 3. A number between 4 and 6. 4.
Short for «five minutes». Nevertheless, the Russian phrase «пять» as well as «пятёра» has only the first meaning which fully coincide with the English one:
Nice job on the 7-Eleven, man, give me 5!
Отличная работа, дружище! Дай пять!
What is more, the expression «5 of 5» can be defined as a way to say that one is doing well. The Russian «5 из 5» or more natural «на 5 баллов» has a similar structure:
Guy 1: How’s it going?
Guy 2: 5 of 5, man.
Парень 1: Как отдохнули вчера?
Парень 2: На пять баллов!
As for non-numeral equal lexicon in English and Russian slang, «Urban Dictionary: Fularious Street Slang Detined» has produced several examples that are worth mentioning. First of all, «a random» has its Russian equivalent in a form of the adjective «рандомный»; in both cases it means someone (usually of the opposite sex but not always) whose number you have but whom you do not really know: you may have met them once or twice but may have never even met them at all.
That guy is a random; got his number by chance.
На вечеринке были какие-то рандомные люди.
In spite of English variant, the Russian one has additional meaning which shows that an action or its result is accidental, for instance: Они просто набирали рандомные номера и звонили всем подряд. The phrase «all good» means that everything is all right and there is no need to worry; it has the Russian equivalent «всё в порядке» which is not slang:
Kid: Waaah! W’aaah! I dropped my ice cream.
Dad: It’s all good, man; we can jus' buy a new one.
Мама: Что за шум?
Дочь: Всё в порядке! Просто уронила коробку на пол.
Though, it can be substituted with a slang variant:
Мама: Что за шум?
Дочь: Всё окей (or even «всё пучком»)! Просто уронила коробку на пол.
The English expression «on the real» (expression of agreement) is considered to be slang which is highly adopted into Russian. Nowadays we can easily hear young people using such words and word-combinations as «реально», «в реале» and «по реалу»:
Jack That girl’s body is nice.
Joe: That’s on the real.
Мужчина 1: Я дурак, нужно было вести себя нормально.
Мужчина 2: Реально!
Finally, «LOL» is an acronym meaning «laughing out loud» or «laugh out loud» as well as ROFL, «rolling on the floor laughing»; both are frequently used in the Russian language as a slang, for instance: «лол», «ЛОЛ» and so on and so forth.
CONCLUSION.
Slang is needed to denote the frequently vivid or playful lexical usage typical of casual discourse, usually indicating member-ship in a particular social group. There is no sure test for deciding when an expression is slang or something else. From the point of view of standard English, slang is an intruder. Despite the fact that slang means many things to many people, some general comments can be made about the types of language called slang.
As it can be can seen from the theoretical part of the term-paper, slang is an important part of people’s everyday life. Lexicon in Russian slang can be borrowed from English or English slang may have Russian equivalents. Two Russian magazines have been analysed and the found borrowings were studied. More commonly, the slang lexicon in the Russian language used by the younger generations is a result of borrowings from English. Unconscious transcription, transliteration, calque or substitution can take place in that case as more and more subjects are to be named.
Four dictionaries of English slang have been looked through to find out equal lexicon in English and Russian slang. Both semantic and derivational equivalents were found among lexical units formed as a result of metaphor, imitation of a sound, word-formation, affixation, reduction and conversion as well as the process of borrowing. All the changes in the Russian language in the sphere of slang words is due to globalisation and the Internet which resulted in the borrowed lexical units (slang) from English to Russian.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.
1. Allan, K., Burridge, K. Forbidden Words. Taboo and the Censoring of Language. — Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo: Cambridge University Press, 2006. — 303 p.
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6. Dickson, P. Slang: The Topical Dictionary of Americanisms. — London: A & B Black, 2010. — 346 p.
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10. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. — London: Oxford University Press, 2010. — 1952 p.
11. P eckham, A. U rban Dictionary. F.
ularious Street Slang Defined. — K ansas City: Andrews McMeel Publishing, 2005. — 343 p.
12. Proshina Z. Theory of Translation (English and Russian). — Vladivostok, 2008. — 422 p.
13. Screbnev, U.М. Основы стилистики английского языка. — М.: Астрель, 2003. — 221 с.
14. Spears, R.A. Slang and Euphemism. — Middle Village, New York: Jonathan David Publishers, 1981. — 448 p.
15. Thorne, T. Dictionary of Contemporary Slang. — London: A & И Black, 2007. — 494 p.
16. Toolan, M. Language in Literature: An Introduction to Stylistics. — London, New York: A Hodder Arnold Publication, 1998. — 264 p.
17. Elle Girl :
http://journalovik.ru/zhurnaly-dlya-zhenschin/11 407-elle-girl-2-fevral-2015;rossiya.html — Date: 15.
04.2015.
18. Maxim :
http://journalovik.ru/zhurnaly-dlya-muzhchin/11 380-maxim-2-fevral-2015;rossiya.html — Date: 15.
04.2015.
slang.
imitation of a sound.
affixation.
conversion.
metaphor.
word-formation.
reduction.
homonymy.
synonymy.
antonym.
