Lexicology-Chapter8-Words in Context

Register is a form of language appropriate to a specific situation. Halliday (1978) defined a register as a variety of language distinguished according to context, which consists of the field of discourse, the relations between participants, and the mode of discourse.
8.4.2 Euphemisms Some euphemisms are involved in genteel swearing. Some euphemisms are chosen to replace the taboo word by its sound.
8.4.3 Classification of Euphemisms
8.7.2 Narrowing In Stockwell and Minkova’s (2000) words, narrowing is an unnatural semantic change in that it requires moving from generality to specificity. Narrowing take place quite frequently when common words with non-specialized meanings are borrowed into some scientific field where they are given a highly specialized meaning within the context of one area.
8.4.1 Taboo Words Taboos may cover restrictions on diet, sexual activities, gender roles, private parts, illegal drugs and so on. As suggested by Poole (1999), as alternatives to using taboo words we can either use medical terms or evasive terms.
8.4.2 Euphemisms According to Leech (1981), euphemism is the practice of referring to something offensive or indelicate in terms that make it sound more pleasant or becoming than it really is. Thus, a euphemism is a word or phrase that replaces a taboo word or serves to avoid frightening or unpleasant subjects.
Social dialects are varieties of language used by groups defined according to class, education, age, sex and a number of other social parameters (Yule, 1996).
Slang also introduces entirely new words. Slang is something that nearly everyone uses and recognizes, but it is not always easy to draw the line between slang words and standard words.
Jargon is often defined as the language peculiar to a trade, profession, or other group. It is the language used in spoken or written texts dealing with a circumscribed domain in which speakers share a common specialized vocabulary, habits of word usage, and forms of expression.
According to Formkin et al. (2007), regional dialects may differ in the words people use for the same object. Dialect differences tend to increase proportionately to the degree of communicative isolation of the groups, but an Australian was much less likely to talk to an Englishman than to another Australian.
Slang is the use of informal words and expressions that are not considered standard in the speaker’s dialect or language. A slang word is often an informal and transient lexical item used by a specific social group. The use of slang has brought many new words into the language by combining old words into new meanings.
As observed by Formkin et al. (2007), many slang words have entered English from the underworld. Slang is sometimes regional, but slang expressions can spread outside their original areas to become commonly used.
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To familiarize Dialect, Register and Style.
Our Aio master Euphemisms.
Lead-in
Main Part
Contents Summary Homework
In this chapter, we shall examine concepts such as dialect, register, and style. We shall also take a look at taboo words, euphemisms, slang, and jargons, and explore the changes of meaning in lexical items.
8.4.1 Taboo Words A taboo is a strong social prohibition against words, objects, actions, or discussions that are considered undesirable or offensive by a group or community. Breaking a taboo may result in embarrassment, shame, rudeness and even legal penalties.
8.4.4 The Use of Euphemisms The use of euphemisms is somewhat situational. What might be used as a euphemism in a conversation between two friends might make no sense to a third person. Some euphemisms are common in some circles but not others.
8.7.1 Broadening When the meaning of a word becomes broader, that word means everything it used to mean and more. The new meanings did not replace the earlier ones but gave us new words by extending the domain of reference for old words. More recent broadenings are computer, window, cookie, cache, virus, and bug.
A dialect is a variety of a language that is characteristic of a particular group of the language’s speakers. The term is applied most often to regional dialect, but a dialect may also be defined by other factors, such as social class. A dialect that is associated with a particular social group can be termed a sociolect.
1) Terms of foreign and/or technical origin. 2) Abbreviations. 3) Abstractions and ambiguities. 4) Indirections.
8.4.3 Classification of Euphemisms
5) Mispronunciation. 6) Litotes or reserved understatement. 7) Changing nouns to modifiers. 8) Slang.
Word choice is one of the most obvious linguistic features among registers. The use of special jargon is characteristic of a register. According to EEL (2006), style is seen as the making of conscious and unconscious choices of certain linguistic forms and structures in preference to others.
Jargon functions as a technical or specialized language and can promote in-group solidarity and exclude non-group members from the conversation. The most prominent characteristic of a jargon is its specialized vocabulary. Linguistic jargon consists of terms such as phoneme, morpheme, cases, lexicon, phrase structure rule, and so on.