VII Международный конкурс научно-исследовательских и творческих работ учащихся
Старт в науке
Slang terms in music: use and origin
Автор работы награжден дипломом победителя III степени
Полная версия работы доступна во вкладке "Файлы работы" в формате PDF
Introduction
Slang is the non-standard use of words in a language and sometimes the creation of new words or importation of words from another language. The history of slang words is very interesting. Slang words are kind of like jargon; they are used in certain groups and understood by the group members, especially teenagers in their activities to communicate each other. Slang terms are often particular to a certain subculture - such as hip hop, for instance.
Slang is a way of using descriptive or figurative language. It sometimes is irreverent and humorous. Slang expressions describe activities or objects. There is a high number of slang terms associated with the activity or object if it is prevalent.
When people speak in the vernacular using slang, it broadens the English language by adding more words. Language isn't static, and a language such as English is a collection and reinvention of the words of many other languages such as Latin and Greek, as well as the romance languages of Europe. As civilizations grow, change, and expand, so do the words in the language.
In this work the author analysed the musical aspect of slang expressions. The hypothesis of this research is the idea that slang terms may become the origin of new words and enrich the languge.
The objectives are:
- to analyse the scientific articles on linguistics to find the origin of music's most well-used terms;
- to choose the criterea of deviding slang terms in songs into categories;
- to classify the terms,used in rap songs, devide them into categories;
- to find examples of categories of slang words in Eminem songs.
This research paper used Abadi’s (2009, p.17) theory about the characteristics of slang. This study used qualitative approach with descriptive method.
Song generally conveys message and meanings. A composer needs time to think, to choose the words and reads what she or he writes, that is to rethink, revise and arrange it. Then he or she considers the effect to the listener. Songs have special characteristic in their lyric. Each lyric is created to have nuance. . By listening to a song we often find the lyrics which mean the words that used in the song and the lyrics itself have something meaningful. Lyrics can include a series of verses, the longer sections of the song that tell the story, and a refrain, a short phrase repeated at the end of every verse. Songs can have a simple structure of one or two verses, or a more complex one with multiple verses and refrains. There are a lot of types of music,and Hip Hop is one of them.
Main part
"Groovy," a favorite word for anything fun, cool, or interesting. “Far out!”, “Outta sight!” and "Right on" were phrases you could use to respond to something that was beyond groovy. While those words/phrases covered a lot of ground, it certainly didn't end there in the 70's. The hippest smooth talkers of the 70's had a lingo all their own -- all our own. Like the African-American jazz musicians of the day, we were “cool cats, baby!” Hahaha.
"Can you dig it?"
"Right on, man!"
In the latter half of the 70s, disco ruled the clubs and launched some famous slang into the popular vocabulary. If someone you know started to dance, you gave them encouragement with a hearty, "Get Down" or "Boogie!" or "Let It All Hang Out!" or “Shake your groove thing or, thang.”
One of the biggest songs that came out of the 70's is "Play That Funky Music" by Wild Cherry (1976). While the term “Funky” evolved out of the music scene, it came to mean something cool and different, rather than its original musical connotation.
The naming of a genre of music is an inexact science. Often a term that's well-known will be applied to a particular sound because of a geographical association, like disco - short for discotheque - or the music evokes certain feelings, like rave.
Sometimes an archaic term is plundered, and the musical form it is named after goes on to become so universal that the original term dies on the vine, bereft of its original context.
Chapter 2.1 The unexpected origins of music's most well-used terms
Genres
Rock 'n' roll
Date of origin: 17th century
Place of origin: The ocean
The story: The term rock 'n' roll derives from the more literal "rocking and rolling", a phrase used by 17th-century sailors to describe the motion of a ship on the sea. Any phrase that is used to suggest rhythmic movement of this sort - particularly by lonely seamen - runs the risk of being purloined as an euphemism. By the 1920s, the term had become a popular metaphor for dancing, but unlike contemporaneous expressions such as "blanket hornpipe" and "making a lobster kettle", "rocking and rolling" managed a second transition, this time from utter filth to relative acceptance.
Trixie Smith's 1922 blues ballad My Man Rocks Me (With One Steady Roll) catches the term in transition, its meaning covering both sex and dancing (and thereby music), but no mention of boats whatsoever. By the time DJ Alan Freed started using the term to describe the type of hyped-up country music infused with the primal urgency of rhythm and blues he played on his radio shows in the early-50s, it simply became an acceptable term for dancing.
Jazz
Date of origin: 1912
Place of origin: Portland, Oregon
The story: The name jazz most likely came from the way musicians took the music of 19th century marching bands and changed the rhythm and phrasing of the tunes - jazzing them up, essentially. The word is probably derived from an archaic term jasm, meaning spirit or verve. Lexicographers believe jasm is a derivation of a rather similar word, but used more wholesomely to describe people with a lot of dynamism.
It's the kind of quality beloved of sports writers, and so jazz was first used in print in the sports pages of Californian newspapers around 1912-3 to describe baseball players who showed a lot of nerve. A couple of years later, that ebullient energy was applied for the first time to the bubbling new music that came out of New Orleans, although it took a while for the spelling to become clear, as references to "jas" and "jass" bands bubbled through the music writing of the late 1910s.
However, there was a twist: in New Orleans itself, the term jass was considered impolite, and may even have referred to a woman's backside. Musician Eubie Blaketold National Public Radio: "When Broadway picked it up, they called it 'J-A-Z-Z.' It wasn't called that. It was spelled 'J-A-S-S.' That was dirty, and if you knew what it was, you wouldn't say it in front of ladies."
Hip hop
Date of origin: 1976
Place of origin: New York
The story: You might think hip hop took its name from the opening line of The Sugarhill Gang's Rappers Delight ("I said a hip hop / Hippie to the hippie / The hip, hip a hop, and you don't stop"), but the term was already in widespread use by the time that record came out in 1980.
It was the brainchild of Keith 'Cowboy' Wiggins of Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, who was teasing a friend who had just joined the armed forces about the sound his boots would make while marching. And he found it so much fun to say he started using it as part of his bubbly MC patter onstage. Skeptical onlookers started referring to his fellow proto-rappers as "hip-hoppers" and the name stuck.
The blues
Date of origin: 1600s
Place of origin: English pubs
The story: It's well established that the blues is a musical form steeped in tragedy and bad behaviour, and aptly enough, its name probably derives from a 17th century British expression coined to describe the effects of serious drinking. In the 1600s, if you were suffering from severe alcohol withdrawal and prone to the hallucinations accompanying delirium tremens (also popularly known as pink elephants), you might describe it as an attack of the "blue devils".
Over time, that term came to be synonymous with being down in the dumps, or feeling anxious or stressed. Blue was also used as a slang term for being drunk, so both meanings of the phrase lingered long enough to inform a dance popular in the juke joints of America's south, called "the blues" or "the slow drag". As the music they danced to was both free of inhibition and deeply melancholic, what better name could this new musical form take?
Musical instruments (slang)
The modern guitar is one of a large class of instruments used in all countries and ages but particularly popular in Spain and periodically so in France and England. The word guitar was adopted into English from Spanish word guitarra in the 1600s. In the Middle Ages the word gitter or gittern was used in England. Both guitarra and gitter came from the Latin word cithara. The modern word, guitar, was adopted into English from the Spanish word guitarra, which came from the older Greek word kithara. Nicknames of this instrument: axe (slang, топор), gat (New Zealand slang, фарватер…револьвер), git box (коробкамерзавца), belly fiddle (брюшнаяскрипка), six string (шестиструнный).
«Axe» – An axe, or sometimes referred to as an ‘ax’, is a common slang for guitar. It is said to have originated with jazz musicians, particularly those who played the saxophone (sax = axe), and rock artists and musicians subsequently started using it in the 60s and more commonly in the 70s to refer to their acoustic and electric guitar instruments.
"Git" is short for guitar, while the "box" refers to its hollow body. #guitar#get box#gitar#ax#axe
Short form of pianoforte, from Italian pianoforte, from piano (“soft”) + forte (“strong”). So named because it could produce a wide range of varied volumes note-by-note, in contrast to older keyboard instruments, notably the harpsichord and the clavichord.
Nickname: ivories
Piano keys. Now made from plastic or other synthetics, the keys were once made from elephant tusks.
1535, back-formation from drumslade (“drummer”), from Middle Dutch trommelslach (“drumbeat”), from trommel (“drum”)+ slach (“beat”) (Dutch slag).
Chapter 2.2 Analysis of slang words in rap songs
Song generally conveys message and meanings. A composer needs time to
think, to choose the words and reads what she or he writes, that is to rethink,
revise and arrange it. Then he or she considers the effect to the listener. Songs
have special characteristic in their lyric. Each lyric is created to have nuance. . By listening to a song, we often find the lyrics, which mean the words that used in the song and the lyrics itself have something meaningful.
RESULT AND DISCUSSION
Research Finding
Based on the analysis of this research, it was found out that the total data of slangs in Eminem songs were 47 slangs. There were 13 data of creativity,, 27 data of flippant, 5 data of fresh, and 2 data of onomatopoeic. The most dominance slang used in Eminem songs is Flippant.
a) Data Analysis
1. Creativity
Creativity, according to Allan and Burridge (2006:69), is defined as the slang word has new vocabularies in order to describe something in informal situation. For example the word mom is used to address a woman, especially the elder one.
a. Bully
Datum 4 : Now that I'm down with 50
Slang : 50
“50” is a street slang to replace the word “police”.Originated from an old Cop ahow called Hawaii Five-O.This slang was used for the first time on September 1968 to A pril 1980.The “Five-O” in the title then became a commonly used for “Police”. Based on Abadi (2009, p.17) theory in characteristic of slang, the slang “50” belongs to Creativity Characteristic,because it is created from a new term which is imaginative, innovative, and productive.
2. Flippant
a. I’m not afraid
Datum 2 : I dont give a damn what you think
Slang : : I dont give a damn
“I dont give a damn” means that someoe who “doesnt care about something”.In this case Eminem used this slang to tell people that hedoesnt care about what people feel or think.This slang is belong toFlippant type because this slang is made by more than two wordscomposed not correlated with denotative meaning.
c. No love
Datum 1 : Throw dirt on me and grow a wildflower
Slang : Throw dirt on me
An Analysis of English Slang – Rani Evadewi1,Jufrizal2 147
The slang “Throw dirt on me” doesnt mean that someone throwing pup to Eminem,but it means that someone put some trouble.this slang has irrelevant meaning from the context,therefore this slang belongs to flippant.According to Abadi (2009, p.17) theory in characteristic of slang.
3. Fresh
a. Bully
Datum 2 : So he extorts someone else to get his dough
Slang : dough
Eminem uses “dough” which the meaning is “money”. Based on Abadi (2009, p.17) theory in characteristic of slang,the slang “dough” belongs to Fresh Character,because the slang expression is produced by new words, which is different from the existing word
b. Im not afraid
Datum 1 : You can try and read my lyrics off of this paper before I lay
'em
Slang : ‘Em
“Em” is a short term for “them”.Most people use this way because this way is easier rather then using the word “them” itself.This slang is belong to Fresh type.Based on Abadi (2009,p.17) Fresh type has the new vocabulary,informal variety,imaginational,cleverness and also can be an up to date words.Eminem used ‘em for saying “them”. Some words which are already familiar with our mind possibly will be slang words as we dont realize it.The reasons why those slangs become familiar with our mind because those slang words appear in long time ago since slang words are already appeared since 18th century as stated by Allan and Burridge (ibid:69).
b. No Love
Datum 9 : All about my dough but I don't even check..
Slang : dough
“Dough” belongs to Fresh type because the slang expression is produced by new words, which is different from the existing word.This type is usually used in informal situation.Based on
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explanations above we can say that Fresh is one of the slang types with a totally new vocabulary and used in informal situation Abadi (2009,p.17).
4. Onomatopoeic
a. Bully
Datum 13 : and they go huff and puff and blow our label down
Slang : and they go huff and puff and blow our label down
The slang “ And they go huff and puff and blow our label down” is a slang which produced by imitating certain sound,”huff” and “puff”. The “huff” and “puff” meaning is “the sound of the big bad wolfmade when they tried to blow down the 3 little pig’shouse”.Because this slang is produced by imitating certain sound therefore it belongs to Onomatopoeic Character, Based on Abadi (2009, p.17) about theory in characteristic of slang.
b.I’m not afraid
Datum 12 : All I’m tryin’ to say is get back, click clack, pow
Slang : get back, click clack, pow
Get back, click clack, pow is a gun which makes a lod chambering sound while loading it.this is includes but isnt limited to : Semi Automatic Pistols,and Pump Shotguns.That is also the sound of a pistol being cocked,or the sound of imminant death or Slang for shooting.The slang get back, click clack, pow is imitating a sound by a pistol.Therefore this slang belongs to Onomatopoeic type. Webster's Dictionary [www] defines onomatopoeia as “words that imitate the sound they denote“.It can be said that Onomatopoeic is an imitation words.
c.No love
There was no Onomatopoeic character found in no love song.
An Analysis of English Slang – Rani Evadewi1,Jufrizal2
2. Research discussion
This table shows the frequency and percentage of characteristics of slang that found in Eminem songs:
|
No |
Eminem’s song |
Characteristics of Slang |
|||||
|
Creativity |
Flippant |
Fresh |
Onomatopoeic |
||||
|
1 |
Bully |
8 |
6 |
3 |
1 |
||
|
2 |
I’m not afraid |
2 |
10 |
1 |
1 |
||
|
3 |
No Love |
3 |
11 |
1 |
0 |
||
|
Total |
13 |
27 |
5 |
2 |
|||
From the result of the research above, it can be concluded that there are four characteristics of slang based on the theory of Abadi (2009, p.17). They are Creativity, Flippant, Fresh, and Onomatopoeic. The most characteristic of slang which used in Eminem slang is Flippant with the percentage of 27%. Meanwhile the most frequent characteristic of slang which used by Eminem in his songs is Flippant.
From the finding above, the result showed that the most common slang which used in Eminem songs is Flippant. Eminem tends to use the words which have irrelevant meaning. The listeners must think twice about the meaning, because the meaning is unstated.
Conclusion
There are four characteristics of slang based on the theory of Abadi (2009, p.17). The first one is Creativity. This slang is created from a new term which areimaginative, innovative, productive, even shocking, and amusing.Flippant,Fresh,and Onomatopoeic. The Second one is Flippant. Flippant meansthat the slang is made by two words or more in which the word composed notcorrelated with the denotative meaning. Then, Fresh. It means that slang languagehas totally with the new vocabulary, informal variety, imaginational, clevernessand also can be an up to date words. The last one is Onomatopoeic.The words thatimitate natural sound like bang, are often focused on the connection betweensound and meaning and the similarities between different languages. It can be saidthat Onomatopoeic is an imitation words. Onomatopoeic Slang produced byimitating certain sounds.There are a lot of slangs that can be found in Rap songs. Especially inEminem songs. Eminem is the best-selling artist of the 2000s in the United States.His songs also get the best-selling in the United States.The three popular songsthat he has are Bully,I’m not afraid,and No Love which have many slangs in it. Inthis research,the writer found the dominance slang which used in Eminemsongs.The most common slang is Flippant, because Flippant is the type of slangwhich have irrelevant word of the context. The researcher can also conclude thatJELL Vol 7 No 1 March 2018 150ISSN: 2302-3546Eminem tends to use the words which have irrelevant meaning. The listeners mustthink twice about the meaning, because the meaning is unstated.This research analyzed about the characteristics of slang in Eminem songsand the common slang which used by Eminem in his songs. There are still manyaspects that can be studied about the characteristics of slang. It is suggested thatthe others researcher can continue about this topic. The suggestion for the future,the study about this research can be applied largely especially to develop a betterknowledge to study more about address term.
Reference list
BBC Music The unexpected origins of music's most well-used terms By Fraser McAlpine [Электронныйресурс]. Режим доступа: https://www.bbc.co.uk/music/articles/dc64e24d-c4e7-4e34-b2f7-e34a00ea16ad
Simple English Wikipedia Guitar [Электронныйресурс]. Режим доступа: https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guitar
Quora What are some slang terms concering guitars? [Электронный ресурс]. Режим доступа: https://www.quora.com/What-are-some-slang-terms-concerning-guitars
Urban dictionary [Электронный ресурс]. Режим доступа: https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=git%20box
Sporcle Slang names for musical instruments Quiz Stats [Электронныйресурс]. Режим доступа: https://www.sporcle.com/games/NotBurt/slang-names-for-musical-instruments/results
Wiktionary the free dictionary Piano [Электронныйресурс]. Режим доступа: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/piano#English
Wiktionary the free dictionary Drum [Электронныйресурс]. Режим доступа: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/drum
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