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BEACH SLANG IN FREEDOM WRITERS MOVIE
A SARJANA PENDIDIKAN THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements to Obtain the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree
in English Language Education
By Indrias Pratama Student Number: 111214068
ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION FACULTY OF TEACHERS TRAINING AND EDUCATION
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA
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BEACH SLANG IN FREEDOM WRITERS MOVIE
A SARJANA PENDIDIKAN THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements to Obtain the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree
in English Language Education
By Indrias Pratama Student Number: 111214068
ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION FACULTY OF TEACHERS TRAINING AND EDUCATION
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA
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I honestly declare that this thesis, which I have written, does not contain the works or part of the works of other people except those cited in the quotations and the references, as a scientific paper should.
Yogyakarta, August 11th, 2015 The writer
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PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS
Yang bertanda tangan di bawah ini, saya mahasiswa Universitas Sanata Dharma:
Nama : Indrias Pratama
Nomor Mahasiswa : 111214068
Demi pengembangan ilmu pengetahuan, saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma karya ilmiah saya yang berjudul:
A STUDY OF MEANINGS AND FUNCTIONS OF LONG
BEACH SLANG IN FREEDOM WRITERS MOVIE
beserta perangkat yang diperlukan (bila ada). Dengan demikian saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma hak untuk menyimpan, mengalihkan dalam bentuk media lain, mengelolanya dalam bentuk pangkalan data, mendistribusikan secara terbatas, dan mempublikasikannya di Internet atau media lain untuk kepentingan akademis tanpa perlu meminta ijin dari saya maupun memberikan royalti kepada saya selama tetap mencantumkan nama saya sebagai penulis.
Demikian penyataan ini yang saya buat dengan sebenarnya. Dibuat di Yogyakarta
Pada tanggal: 11 Agustus 2015
Yang menyatakan
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Pratama, Indrias. (2015). A Study of Meanings and Functions of Long Beach Slang in Freedom Writers Movie.Yogyakarta: English Language Education Study Program, Sanata Dharma University.
Language is developing and meaning is extended over decades as it is used by its speakers. There are many language varieties around the world and one of them is slang. Meanwhile, learning a language means learning its culture. However, it is a necessity to be theoretically capable in using a language, as well as understanding its culture. Learners must be able to see the naturalness of a language as it is used by its native speakers in a daily life to avoid misinterpretation while people are using the language. Therefore, this study investigated meanings and functions of slang among American English society in Long Beach based on theFreedom Writersmovie.
This study aimed to answer two major research questions. Those were: (1) How meanings of slang are formed in Freedom Writers movie? (2) What are the functions of slang based on Freedom Writers movie? Furthermore, the research objectives aimed to explain the meanings of slangs and to examine the functions of slangs in Freedom Writers movie. As a part of linguistic study, this thesis covered some branches of linguistic fields such as morphology, semantics and sociolinguistics. Morphology was useful in defining the formation processes of slang. Semantics also had its contribution to explain the meanings of slangs. In addition, understanding slang’s communicative functions could not be separated from society. Sociolinguistics was important in order to explain the social context in the conversations. As a qualitative– type of research, this thesis examined the slangs formation processes and the factors of changes that influenced the formation of slangs. In addition, this analysis was intended to explain the social context of the conversational level in order to define the reasons of slang usage and the communicative functions of slang in the society.
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Pratama, Indrias. (2015). A Study of Meanings and Functions of Long Beach Slang in Freedom Writers Movie. Yogyakarta: Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris, Universitas Sanata Dharma.
Seiring digunakannya sebuah bahasa oleh para penuturnya, bahasa berkembang dan arti kata semakin meluas selama beberapa dekade. Ada banyak variasi bahasa di dunia dan salah satunya adalah slang. Mempelajari sebuah bahasa berarti mempelajari budaya dari bahasa tersebut. Merupakan suatu keharusan untuk mampu menggunakan bahasa secara teoritis maupun memahami budaya dari bahasa tersebut. Orang yang mempelajari bahasa harus mampu untuk memandang bahasa secara alamiah seperti ketika digunakan oleh penutur aslinya di kehidupan sehari – hari untuk menghindari kesalahpahaman dalam penggunaannya. Penelitian bertujuan untuk meneliti arti–arti dan fungsi - fungsi slang di dalam masyarakat Amerika, terutama di Long Beach berdasarkan film Freedom Writers.
Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menjawab dua pertanyaan mendasar. Pertanyaan tersebut adalah: (1) Bagaimana arti dari slang terbentuk di dalam film Freedom Writers? (2) Apakah fungsi – fungsi slang berdasarkan film Freedom Writers? Sebagai bagian dari penelitian linguistik, skrispi ini membahas beberapa cabang linguistik seperti morfologi, semantik, dan sosiolinguistik. Morfologi dalam thesis ini berguna untuk menerangkan proses - proses pembentukan slang. Semantik juga berkontribusi dalam menerangkan arti dari slang yang ada. Sosiolinguistik memiliki peran yang penting untuk menerangkan konteks sosial dalam percakapan –percakapan. Sebagai penelitian yang bersifat kualitatif, skripsi ini meneliti proses pembentukan slang dan faktor – faktor perubahan yang mempengaruhi terbentuknya slang. Analisa ini juga bertujuan untuk menerangkan konteks sosial dalam tingkat percakapan dengan maksud untuk menerangkan alasan – alasan penggunaan slang serta fungsi komunikatif slangdi dalam masyarakat.
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–Hebrews 11: 1–
Start by doing what’s necessary; then do what’s possible; and suddenly youare doing the impossible
Francis of Assisi
-This thesis is dedicated to:
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I would like to express my highest and deepest gratitude to The Lord, the Greatest and Lovingbecause of His endless love and blessing.
My sincere appreciation goes to my academic advisor and thesis advisor Fidelis Chosa Kastuhandani, S.Pd., M.Hum. I thank him for his patience, guidance and teaching since the beginning of my college years until the end of my thesis completion. Without his supports and patience I would not be able to finish this thesis. I would also like to express my salutation toBarli Bram M.Ed., Ph.D. for his advice, corrections, and encouragements that have been given to me during my thesis completion. My appreciation also goes to all lecturers and staffs of The English Education Study Program for the facilities, encouragements and knowledge that have been given to me. They also teach me to value and pursue more from life through my university life.
My gratitude also goes to my parents Go Hauw En (Rusman Wiyono) andOei May Lie (Sutra), also to my beloved sister Maya Aryana. They are the best people I have in my life. They always pray for my success and support me to be a better person. I thank them for everything. I would also like to express my gratitude to my uncles and aunts Saranta, Yuli, Robertus Djulianto, and Lani Kurniasih.I thank them for their supports.
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their jokes and laughs always make my days become more colorful and meaningful. Although we will take our own path after graduating from this university, I will always pray for their success.
My gratitude goes to SLP (Service Learning Program) team: Maria Ananta, Risca, Pinta, Yoga, Vania, Adhi, Enno and Bagas for the never – ending experiences, inspirations and encouragements. They are always be my inspiration. Especially for Adhi, Enno, Bagas, and Vania, I would never forget their hardships, efforts, laughs and tears during a year of SLP process. Moreover, I will always remember the great times and togetherness in Cagayan de Oro, Phillipines.
I do greatly thank my best friends and partners: Irawan, Natania, Pio, Nina, Mike, Agung, Edward, and Edwin, I will always remember their helps, kindness, support and jokes. They always help me during my hard times, give me support, listen to me and the most important thing is they teach me to understand the meaning of ‘friendship’. I thank them for every moment, it is unforgettable. All of them will always be in my heart.
There is no word can express the gratitude I have for every experience. I thank everyone who already supported me through this thesis completion. Their efforts were very much appreciated.
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Page
TITLE PAGE ... i
APPROVAL PAGES ... ii
STATEMENT OF WORK’S ORIGINALITY... iv
PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI... v
ABSTRACT ... vi
ABSTRAK... vii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS... x
TABLE OF CONTENTS... xii
LIST OF TABLES ... xiv
LIST OF APPENDIX ... xv
CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 Research Background... 1
1.2 Research Questions ... 5
1.3 Problem Limitation ... 5
1.4 Research Objectives ... 5
1.5 Research Benefits... 6
1.6 Definition of Terms... 7
CHAPTER 2. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE 2.1 Theoretical Description... 10
2.1.1 Review of Previous Studies ... 10
2.1.2 Slang in Society ... 12
2.1.2.1 The Diversity in Long Beach ... 12
2.1.2.2 The History of Slang ... 13
2.1.2.3 The Notion of Slang ... 14
2.1.3 Meaning Formation of Slang ... 15
2.1.3.1 The Influential Factors in Slang Formation ... 15
2.1.3.2 The Notion of Morphology ... 17
2.1.3.2.1 Morphology and Morpheme ... 17
2.1.3.2.2 Word Formation Processes ... 18
2.1.3.3 The Notion of Semantics... 24
2.1.3.3.1 Theories of Meaning ... 24
2.1.3.3.2 Types of Meaning ... 25
2.1.4 Functions of Slang in Society ... 26
2.1.4.1 Definition of Sociolinguistics ... 26
2.1.4.1.1 Functional Approach to Language ... 26
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2.1.4.2 The Characteristics of Slang ... 30
2.1.4.3 The Communicative Functions of Slang... 30
2.1.5Freedom WritersMovie Synopsis ... 32
2.2 Theoretical Framework ... 34
CHAPTER 3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 3.1 Research Method... 38
3.2 Research Subjects... 40
3.3 Instrument and Data Gathering Technique ... 40
3.4 Data Analysis Technique ... 41
3.5 Research Procedure ... 44
3.5.1 Meaning Analysis ... 45
3.5.1 Function Analysis ... 46
CHAPTER 4. ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION 4.1 Data Analysis ... 47
4.1.1 Meaning Analysis ... 47
4.1.2 Function Analysis ... 75
4.1.3 Summary of the Research Findings ... 92
CHAPTER 5. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 5.1 Conclusions ... 99
5.2 Recommendations ... 101
REFERENCES... 104
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2.1Factors of communication and language functions... 29
4.1 Slang formation processes ... 93
4.2 Factors of changes and communicative functions of slang... 95
4.3 Reasons of using slang ... 97
4.4 Identification of slang words fromFreedom Writersmovie ... 108
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1
INTRODUCTION
This chapter explains the basic aspects in the study of meanings and functions of Long Beach slang in Freedom Writers movie. There are several points which are going to be explained in this section. Those are the research background, the research questions, the problem limitation, the research objectives, the research benefits and the definition of terms.
1.1 Research Background
According to O’Grady (1996, p. 1), language is a system of communication, a medium for thought, a vehicle for literary expression, a social institution, a matter for political controversy, and a catalyst for nation building. There are billions of words used by people in everyday life. People form varieties of words in order to deliver messages and enhance meaning in their communication.
groups. Slang is often considered as non–standard form of language and it is highly avoided by formal instances such as government and educational field. Slang is also regarded as colloquial and even rude when it is correlated with a language that is used by particular groups of people such as gangsters and criminals.
Although slang is regarded as a“low” standard form of a language, it hasa chance to be standardized. It is because a language is developing and value or the degree of appropriateness (such as formality) in the language use is also changing. An example of standardization in slang can be found in a word ‘brunch’which is derived from ‘breakfast and lunch’ has been standardized in the legal dictionary. Hence, slang could not be avoided since it is naturally created, used, and spread by people for the communicative purposes.
In addition, Hudson (1980, p. 232) argues that linguistic items may be individually related to a social context –that some words, for instance, may have a unique social distribution. In the western culture, the word ‘chick’ could be interpreted as either the real chicken or a young girl (Urban Dictionary, 2015). It means that language as a communication tool is developed through meaning extension which is used for the different purposes of interaction. Slang as one of the language varieties is shaped among communities in order to build social identity and it is used to deliver the most appropriate meaning to the hearer.
analysis tries to capture the meanings of slang through word formation processes and also analyzes the slang’s communicative functions in the society. In this research the writer decides to analyze slang fromFreedom Writers movie released in 2007 since it provides context as the object of the research. There are conversations in the movie which are able to show what is happening, the situations, the setting, and the people who are directly involved in the certain conversation.
In order to analyze the meanings and functions of slang, the writer uses a context in which focuses on the slang among the American society, particularly in the Long Beach. The setting is at the Woodrow Wilson High School where many teenagers are trying to get involved in a certain group or a community. The use of slang in words and phrases or conversations that appear in the story will be a good learning source for further English language studies. The object of the research is the slang spoken by the actors and the actresses in theFreedom Writersmovie.
on the language and language use. Some other importances of the context are explained as follows: (1) it eliminates ambiguities or multiple meanings in the message; the writer is able to observe the conversation which is happening directly; (2) it indicates the referents of certain types of words or deictic (this, that, here, there, and so on) more precisely; and (3) it supplies information which the speaker or writer has omitted through ellipsis (for example: Janet! Donkey! Which has different meanings as ‘Janet? Drive those donkeys away!’ rather than ‘Janet!
Bringthose donkeys here!’) (Leech, 1981, p. 67).
1.2 Research Questions
It is important to understand the contribution of slangs in the communication. A deeper understanding towards American slangs especially Long Beach slang will open a wider perspective on the other English language studies. This study was intended to answer the following questions:
1. How are meanings of slangs formed in theFreedom Writersmovie? 2. What are the functions of slangs used in theFreedom Writersmovie?
1.3 Problem Limitation
Considering the varieties of slangs and their fast changing nature, firstly this study was limited to the meaning formations of slangs in theFreedom Writers movie. Secondly it was limited to the communicative functions of slang regarding the influence of social factors such as the age, the occupation, the social background, and the addressee or addresser. Third, this research was limited to the analysis of the Long Beach’sslang words and phrases in the conversations in the Freedom Writersmovie.
1.4 Research Objectives
The objectives of the study were:
1. Explaining the slang formation processes at the word and phrase level in theFreedom Writersmovie.
1.5 Research Benefits
There are some benefits of this study which are going to be explained. The benefits are particularly contributed for the educational field and the English language learning. The writer presents the research benefits for the educators, the English learners and the future researchers as follows.
1. Educators
This study will give contributions to the English study particularly in Indonesia in order to raise an understanding towards the meanings and functions of slang from Long Beach, America. This study will help the educators especially teachers to teach slang to their students. The study will also be a good source of learning American slangs. Moreover it will raise an understanding towards the nature of the English speaking community. For the English teachers, teaching the students theoretically is important, but shaping their cultural understanding towards the language is also essential. It is important to explain the nature of slang to avoid misinterpretations while people are using slang. Slang is often allowed to be used only by particular groups and it might contain negative terms. Therefore, people who are studying English need to be aware of the language use and also to understand the culture of the language.
2. English Learners
the English learners to be able to learn the English slangs from its real life context such as learning how slang is developed in the American culture. Slangs are often offensive or restricted to people outside the community. Therefore, it is important to learn slang not only to avoid misunderstanding but also to be able to use the language appropriately.
3. Future researchers
This study will help the future researchers to conduct other deeper studies in the field of linguistic particularly on morphology, semantic and sociolinguistic studies. It gives contributions to the semantic and morphology field since it was dealing with the slang’s meaning formations using word formation processes theory. Moreover, it will help people who are interested in the sociolinguistic field to develop other studies related to the analysis of slang’s functions. Besides, the study will enrich the understanding towards American English, particularly from Long Beach.
1.6 Definition of Terms
1. Meanings
According to Odgen and Richards (1923, p. 76) meaning is: (a) an intrinsic property, (b) the other words which are annexed to a word in the dictionary, (c) the place of anything in a system, (d) the connotation of a word, (e) that to which a symbol actually refers, and (f) that to which the user of a symbol ought to be referring. In this study the writer focuses on theslang’smeanings formation based on theFreedom Writersmovie.
2. Functions
Jakobson (1960) mentions there are at least five essential factors in the conversation which are: (1) subject–matter, (2) originator (speaker or writer), (3) receiver (listener or reader), (4) the channel of communication, and (5) linguistic message. In addition, there are five communicative functions of a language (Leech, 1981). Those functions are (1) informational, (2) expressive, (3) directive, (4) aesthetic, and (5) phatic function. The writer analyzes the conversation context based on the social factors of communications which already mentioned by Jakobson (1960). In this study, ‘functions’ refers to the slang’s communicative functions. The ‘functions’ refers to the communicative functions of slang based on
the conversations in theFreedom Writersmovie. 3. Slang
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REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
This chapter is divided into two parts. The first part is the theoretical description. It consists of theories which are directly relevant to the research. The discussion of other similar research or studies is also explained in the theoretical description. The second part explains the theoretical framework of this study. The theoretical framework consists of a summary and a synthesis of the major relevant theories which are related to the study. All of the theories which are explained in this section are useful in order to support the data analysis and to answer two research questions proposed in the first chapter.
2.1 Theoretical Description
This section is dealing with the theoretical description. This section consists of theories which are directly relevant to the research and the explanation of other similar research studies. The descriptions of the theories help the writer to discuss and analyze meanings and functions of the slang in the Freedom Writers movie.
2.1.1 Review of the Previous Studies
Purwati, a student from English Language Education Study Program, Sanata Dharma University in 1995.
Her study investigated the common American slang words which generally used in the books, novels, and films. Her research covered slang, particularly slang usage which based on the users, the settings and places, the reasons of usage, and the formation of slang. She found that youths made and used many slang terms through abbreviation, blends and onomatopoeia processes when adults used less slang in their utterances. The settings and places where people used slang were homes, schools, offices, and parties. The reasons for using slang as she mentioned were: to appear differently, for pleasure (be up to date), for social intercourse, to impose the air of solidity, to keep secret, to enrich the language and to be brief. Some formations of slang that were usually used by Americans were abbreviation, blends, affixes, picking words, place names, idioms, coinage and onomatopoeia. She also encouraged teachers to teach English slang so that students would be able to communicate effectively with foreigners.
arbitrariness, (v) based on idioms and (vi) exaggeration. The reasons of using slangs were (i) to express emotion, (ii) to be secret, (iii) to be quick, (iv) to be brief or succinct, and (v) to be playful in meaning. In addition, he also explained some of the functional uses of slangs in the communication. Those were: (i) to speed up the communication process and (ii) as emotive vocabularies.
2.1.2 Slang in Society
The explanation below is useful in order to analyze the meanings and functions of slangs. There are some important points that are explained in this section. Those important points are the diversity in the Long Beach, the history of slang, the definition of slang and the notion of slang.
2.1.2.1 The Diversity in Long Beach
Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles, Southern California. It is located in the Pacific coast of the United States. Long Beach is one of the oldest and the most established community in Long Island in 1880s. The City of Long Beach is one of the only two cities in Long Island. As retrieved from Long Beach’s Government official website, currently Long Beach’spopulation around 1800s was approximately 35.000 people.
(12.9%) Asian (4.5% Cambodian, 0.9% Vietnamese, 0.6% Chinese, 0.6% Japanese, 0.4% Indian, 0.4% Korean, 0.2% Thai, 0.1% Laotian, 0.1% Hmog), 5253 (1.1%) Pacific Islander (0.8% Samoan, 0.1% Guamanian, 0.1% Tongan) (https://en.wikipedia.org)
From the data above, Long Beach is one of the most diverse areas in New York City, United States. According to the data presentation above, the population of Long Beach is dominated by White or Caucasian in the first place, then followed by Afro-American and Asian race in the second and third place. There are a lot of people with the different cultural backgrounds live in this city. Long Beach is rich of cultures since there are varieties of races live in this place. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_Beach,_California).
2.1.2.2 The History of Slang
andmarijuana) were virtually secret jargons in the 1940s; in the 1960s they were adoptedby rebellious youth; and in the 1970s and ’80s they were widely known.
There are many reasons due to the use of slang. Mostly youth use slang to symbolize their group memberships or to appear cool. Other people might use slang to offend or to irritate. On the other hand, people might use slang to fit in with people around them or to express their individuality. Since there are many reasons why people use the slang in the daily communication, slang never dies. Slang is growing and it is continually used over decades by the people.
2.1.2.3 The Notion of Slang
Kernerman (2006) mentions that slang is words and phrases (is often used temporarily) which are used very informally. Slangs are words used by particular groups of people such as army slang and teenage slang. In the army slang, the word ‘stiff’ is considered a slang which refers to a corpse. Another definition of slang as proposed by Dumas (1978) is an informal, non-standard, non-technical vocabulary. Slang is often associated with youthful, raffish, or undignified persons and groups; and it often conveys the striking connotations of impertinence or irreverence, especially for established attitudes and values within the prevailing culture.
people in the Freedom Writers movie. Slang is the form of a word and phrase which are used in the conversations. Slang also refers to a word or phrase which is interpreted differently from its general meaning.
In analyzing the slang, Dumas and Lighter (1978, pp. 14 – 16) explains that in order to analyze whether an expression should be considered as slang, at least it should fulfill two or more criteria. Those criteria are (1) its presence will markedly lower, at least for the moment the dignity of formal or serious speech or writing; (2) its use implies user’s familiarity with the thingis being referred to and it might cause a rejection from those who are not familiar with it; (3) it is a taboo word to be used in a formal conversation (e.g. while speaking to people who have greater responsibility or the higher social status); and (4) it is used in a specific place.
2.1.3 Meaning Formation of Slang
It is important to understand the characteristics of slang and factors that influence the slang formation. Therefore, there are some points which are related to the analysis of slang’smeaning formation explained in this part.
2.1.3.1 The Influential Factors in Slang Formation
negative terms that have been used to express an enthusiastic approval (Coleman, 2012, p. 31). Those terms have positive senses in the slang language. It means that slang often neglects the general meaning in the Standard English (SE).
Slang is also influenced by the change in function. It means that some words are undergoing changes in their functions. The change can be found in a word’spart of speech.A clear example is a noun ‘beef’ which once was used asa verb which meaning was‘to put more muscle into’ (1860) or ‘to complain’ (1865) (p.32).The slang ‘beef’ has undergone through meaning extension particularly in its part of speech from a noun into a verb. People or places names also can be used to create a reference. One of the examples is a type of cheese ‘Cheddar’
which is derived from the Cheddar town. Nowadays people use the word
‘Cheddar’to denote a particular type of cheese instead of a town’sname.
Another factor in the slang formation is the change in form. It is usually done by combining words to create a new meaning in slang. Furthermore, the additional affixes such as prefix and suffix are widely used by slangs creators. One of the examples is a noun‘–head’ which is used to create a compound such as ‘meathead’ which means an individual who drinks too much (1946) or
‘pisshead’which refers to a stupid person (1863) (p. 35).
values. Sometimes this typographical variation (the respelling of words) indicates that the words are being used in a more specific sense. The change in spelling happens by creating a slang that is derived from the word’s spelling. Spelling means that slang often involves the insertion of a symbol to represent a sound (e.g.m8for “mate”,CUfor “see you”).
The abbreviation process also often happens in creating the slang. Abbreviation is also one of the common ways in the slang formation. Sometimes pairs of words are abbreviated and combined in blends such as fugly “fucking ugly” (1984 –) and blog “web log” (1999 –). Initialism such as ‘BBC, CNN’ and acronym ‘LOL’ which firstly derived from “Lot of Laugh” (1990 –) can influence the slang formation.
2.1.3.2 The Notion of Morphology
Since this study is considered as a part of linguistic field which is dealing with the slang formation, it is essential to review some points which are related to morphology. Basically, understanding the notion of morphology is helpful in order to analyze the meanings of forming slang words and phrases in this study.
2.1.3.2.1 Morphology and Morpheme
In morphology, morpheme is known as the smallest meaningful component of language that conveys messages (O’Grady and Guzman, 1996, p.133). Allan (2001) explains a morpheme as the smallest unit of syntactic analysis with semantic specification. Therefore, a morpheme is cannot be separated into a smaller unit in order to be meaningful.
One of the clearest examples of a morpheme is the word‘teacher’(formed
by ‘teach + -er’to indicate noun),‘books’ (formed by ‘book + s’ to indicate plural
form),and ‘unhappy’ (formed by ‘un-+ happy’to indicate the opposite meaning or negative form of a word). Generally, morpheme is classified into two types. They are a free and bound morpheme. O’Grady and Guzman (1996) note that a morpheme is free morpheme if it can be a word by itself in order to have meaning (e.g. angry, possible, touch). On the other hand, a bound morpheme must be attached to another word element in order to have meaning (e.g.–ly, im-, -un). The examples of bound morphemes are mostly affixes (prefix, infix, and suffix).
2.1.3.2.2 Word Formation Processes
Several types of the word formation processes that will be used for analyzing slang’s meaningsare:
1. Compounding
O’Grady and Guzman (1996, p. 143) mention that compounding is a combination of some lexical categories such as adjectives, nouns, verbs, or prepositions in purpose to construct a larger unit of a word. It means that a compound word is formed from two or more free forms. Compounding is the process of putting words together to build a new word which does not denote two things, but denote one thing that is pronounced as one unit (Winiewski, 2007).
2. Borrowing
Borrowing is actually a general process in any languages since many of words are adapted from other languages. Mostly the borrowed nouns are later changed to fit the verbal forms of the language in speech or writing (Finegan 2007, p. 52). One of the examples of the borrowing process is a word‘risk’which originated from Italia. It was actually a noun when borrowed, but later, in need of a verb, it was converted into‘to risk’.
3. Coinage
Hatch and Brown (1995, p. 175) define coinage as a process when a new word is needed but there are no appropriate borrowed words and native words to express it. A general example is the use of individual’s name in the scientific terms such as celcius and newton. Those words are derived from the inventor’s
own name, according to Yule (2006, p. 53) it is usually called ‘eponyms’. In the coinage process, the word is named with entirely new word. Yule (2006) explains that trademark or products names are often adopted by the masses and they
become “everyday words of language”. An exampleof the coinage process is the
4. Blending
O’Grady and Guzman (1996) mention that blending means taking the
beginning of a word and joining it to the end of another word. Blending happens when two words in which their non-morphemic components are mixed into one (p. 158). Blending is combining two different words with different meanings and put those words as one. This is used in order to form a new meaning and new word.
Wagner (2010) proposes some examples of blending such asspork (spoon and fork) and bromance (brother and romance). Those examples show that blending is a process of taking the beginning and the ending of a word together as one unit. Another example of blending is taking both beginning of two words such as cybernetic and organism into cyborg. In addition, there is also a case of blending by combining the whole words and combine it with a part of another word such asguesstimate(guess and estimate).
5. Clipping
6. Back Formation
O’Grady and Guzman (1996) explain back formation as a process of
making a new word by deleting an actual affix from another word (p. 158). Some examples of the back formation process are the singular noun‘pea’from the old English plural‘pease’, the verb‘burgle’from the older English noun‘burglar’ and also the verb‘diagnose’from the old English noun‘diagnosis’. All of those examples have undergone the changes in their part of speeches by deleting the actual affixes.
7. Conversion
Conversion is a process of forming words without changing the form of input word that function as base. The base might be in a noun or verb form (Katamba, 1993, p. 54). By converting, people change the function of a word without changing its form. For example is ‘emails’ as a noun (he received your emails.) and‘emails’ as verb (he emails you several times.). From those examples, there is a difference in the word’s part of speech and word’s function although there is no change in the word base.
8. Derivation
This is contradictory with an additional suffix –ness in happiness which directly changes the word lexical category from an adjective into a noun.
9. Inflection
Hatch and Brown (1995) note that the inflection process happens when affixes are added so that a new word is formed without changing the word class or meaning (p. 285). The additional suffix such as–s, is an example of the inflection process that denotes the plural noun form (cats, dogs). There is no change in the
word’s part of speech froma noun to noun although suffix–s is added to the base. 10. Reduplication
As mentioned by O’Grady and Guzman (1996), reduplication is a duplication process of all or some parts of the base, to which it applies to mark a grammatical or semantic contrast (p. 143). There are two kinds of reduplication. The first reduplication process is the full reduplication. One of examples of this process is can be found in Bahasa Indonesia.The singular noun ‘child’ is ‘anak’ and the plural noun ‘children’ becomes anak-anak. The second process is called the partial reduplication. In Tagalog, the wordlakad(walk) becomes lalakad(will walk).
11. Abbreviation
letters of some or all of the words in a phrase or title and reading them as one word like NATO for North Atlantic Treaty Organization (p. 159). The initialism and acronyms are both considered as the shortening processes and they build from the initial letters of a phrase or name. While acronyms are pronounced as single words (NASA, AIDS), initialism is pronounced as a sequence of letters (DNA, USA) (Finegan, 2007, p. 48).
2.1.3.3 The Notion of Semantics
Semantics is the study of the human mind. Thought, processes, cognition, and conceptualization which are intricately bound up with the way in which we classify and convey experience of the world through language (Leech, 1981). According to American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2011) some definitions of semantics are: (a) the study or science of meaning in language; (b) the speaker’scompetence which is regarding to the interpretation of the meaning of linguistic structures; and (c) the meaning or the interpretation of a word, sentence, or other language forms.
reference and truth.
2.1.3.3.1 Theories of Meaning
A semantic theory is one of many theories that are used for decades in order to comprehend ‘meaning’. As cited from Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (2014), semantics is a theory which assigns the semantic contents towards the expressions of a language. It tells about a specification of the meaning of the words and sentences of some symbol systems. Hence, meaning is believed as an expression. Meaning is a certain sort of entity and it is the job of semantics to pair expressions with the entities and their meanings.
There is another theory of meaning which is known as a theory of reference. This theory pairs the expressions of a language with certain values. However, unlike a semantic theory, a theory of reference does not pair expressions with their meanings. However, it pairs expressions with the contribution those expressions to the determination of the sentences’truth-values. 2.1.3.3.2 Types of Meaning
Explanation of the word ‘meaning’ is crucial since it becomes the main
There are several types of meaning proposed by Leech (1981), those meanings are: (1) Associative Meaning which has some subdivision (a) Connotative Meaning, (b) Social Meaning, (c) Affective Meaning, (d) Reflected Meaning, and (e) Collocative Meaning, (2) Thematic Meaning focuses on what is communicated by the way in which the message is organized in terms of order and emphasis. Furthermore, since the study of meaning in the certain context is logically subsequent to the study of semantic competence (pp. 9–22).
2.1.4 Functions of Slangs in Society
Slang in the society also has certain roles. Slang is bound among societies and cultures. People use slangs for many reasons and slang also has its communicative functions since it is used widely by people.
2.1.4.1 Definition of Sociolinguistics
2.1.4.1.1 Functional Approach to Language
Communication cannot be separated from the context. People do not experience language in isolation – but always in a relation to what is happening andsomeone’sbackground. A language is of course limited by certain rules but it certainly develops and shaped by the speakers. This is guidance to further understanding of towards the language use in reality. Hymes (1969, p. 113) notes that there are two kinds of meaning: ‘social meaning’ and ‘referential meaning’.
The social meaning is related to the meanings that the society has towards the word. However, the referential meaning is related to the general meaning of a word which usually found in any legal dictionaries.
2.1.4.1.2 Social Factors in Communication
Social factors are important while observing a social phenomenon. The way people speak is influenced by the topic of conversation, the person they are talking with and many other factors that influenced the communication. Jakobson (1960) mentions there are at least five essential factors in conversation. They are: (1) subject-matter, (2) originator (speaker or writer), (3) receiver (listener or reader), (4) the channel of communication and (5) linguistic message.
Language variation is meaningful and principled to a large extent and has a functionto symbolize a speaker’s various identities in a speech community. The factors like gender, education, social status, and interactional status all contribute to the principles of variation. Halliday (1978, p. 89) argues that a language is controlled by the social structure, and the social structure is maintained and transmitted through a language.
distance between the participants (are they strangers, friends or brothers?), the status relationship between people who have a social role also becomes one of the factors that influenced the code choice (for example, doctor-patient, teacher-student), the level of formality also influences a person’s code choice (for example, variety in church or at a formal ceremony), the functions or goals of the interaction (what is the language being used for? is the speaker asking a favor or giving orders to someone?)
Jakobson (1960) mentions that the addressee, the addresser, message, context, code and contact are the successful keys in communication. The factors of communication and functions of language according to Jakobson are:
Table 2.1 Factors of communication and language functions
no target factor
source factor
function
1 context message informational
2 addresser message expressive
3 addressee message directive
4 contact message phatic
5 message message aesthetic
establish, prolong (to discontinue communication) and to confirm whether the contact is still there (as in 'Hello?'), (5) the aesthetic function (as in 'Smurf') which puts 'the focus on the message for its own sake' (Jakobson, 1960, p. 356). 2.1.4.2 The Characteristics of Slang
A way of distinguishing slang’s characteristics from other types of vocabulary lies in the effects of its use. Three general effects of slang mentioned by Eble (1996) are: (1) slang changes the level of discourse in the direction of informality. Informality means slang cannot be used while someone is talking to someone who has a higher social status and greater responsibility. Slang can be used in neither academic essays nor legal documents because slang is in a colloquial form. (2) Slang identifies members of a group. In addition, slang refers to the group’s identification. It means that the use of slang signals whether
someone belongs to a group or not. Generally, slang is often considered as a group’s language that if someone belongs to a particular group, he or she will be able to understand the slang as a signal of membership. (3) Slang opposes the established authority. Usually, slang opposes the established authority. It means that the slang can be a verbal expression of this fundamental opposition, showing a range of attitudes from slight irreverence to downright subversiveness.
2.1.4.3 The Communicative Functions of Slang
Standard English (3) express emotion, (4) create humor, (5) identify themselves as the member of a group (which might be a social group, but also an age group or interest group), (6) test whether someone is a member of a group, (8) identify the hierarchies within the group, (8) express shared attitudes and values (and thus to create a temporary group membership), (9) imply or refer back to shared experience, (10) deny or distance emotion, (11) communicate with deliberate ambiguity (so that the hearer can choose their own interpretation).
In addition, slang is used to (12) identify someone as not being a member of the group, (13) try to win entry to the in-group, (14) exclude someone from membership of the group, (15) appear cool to people outside the group, (16) reject someone else’s values or attitudes, (17) shock or offend, (18) rebel, (19) irritate,
(20) communicate secretly, so that one hearer understands and another doesn’t, (21) make the conversation easier (usually quicker). Other reasons of the slang use are (22) it has become a habit of mannerism, (23) everyone else uses it, (24) there is no word that has the same meaning in the Standard English, and (25) although there is a synonym in the Standard English, the slang-user does not know it, and (26) fit in with the people around them.
language. Furthermore, the expressive function is used in order to express someone’s feeling and attitudes; the most common instances are swearing words and exclamations. The directive function is used as a tool to influence other people’s mannerand behaviors; usually it is in the term of requests or commands. The aesthetic function focuses on the use of a sensible and artistic effect in language which could be found in a poetry or literary work. The phatic function relies on the language as a tool to keep the communication lines open, and to keep a social relationship.
2.1.5 Freedom Writers Movie Synopsis
One day, Gruwell intercepted a note being passed between students; the paper revealed a racist caricature about Black (Afro-American). Gruwell told her class that it was a misunderstanding that led to the Holocaust. Gruwell was shocked that her students had never heard about the Holocaust. Gruwell introduced her class toAnne Frank: the Diary of a Young Girland to Zlata's Diary: a Child's Life in Sarajevo. She also provided every student with a journal. It was used in order to provide a chance for every student to share their feelings, fears, and experiences. For the first time, the students took an interest in academics.
To bring this history to life, the students organized a "Read-a-Thon for Tolerance" to raise money to bring Miep Gies, the woman whose family hid Anne Frank, to their school. They were also visited by Zlata Filipovic. The group went on to receive tremendous recognition from the media and from the government, hoping that others would find inspiration in their story of success. They won the Spirit of Anne Frank Award in 1998. The group traveled to New York to receive their award. In 1999, the group traveled to Europe together where they visited the Anne Frank House and various concentration camps.
Finally, 150 of theFreedom Writers graduated from high school and went to college. It is likely that none of their achievements would have been possible without Gruwell's determination and perseverance. In 2007, Paramount Pictures released TheFreedom Writersmovie.
2.2 Theoretical Framework
Slang has its own roles in the society so that it is developing over centuries although it is considered as a non standard form of language. People use and interpret words into many different meanings for different purpose of the interaction. Learning the nature of slang is always interesting since the new words are always creatively created by people.
Slang is one of the examples of language variations that exist in the society. Therefore, the use of slang is cannot be seen as a low standard speech. There are two kinds of meaning: the ‘social meaning’ and the ‘referential
meaning’ (Hymes, 1969, p.113). The writer saw language as a source of meaning. It means that every word in every language is always interpretative. In order to explain the meaning of slang the writer analyzed the meanings of slangs using the Oxford American Dictionary (OAD) (2015). This OAD is needed in order to determine the general meanings of slang expressions found in the movie. To define particular meaning of slang expressions and to find the meanings which were suitable with the conversational context in the movie, the researcher used slang dictionaries. Those slang dictionaries were the NTC’s Dictionary of
language is interpretative so that online dictionaries provided varieties of meanings and perspectives from different people among the societies.
The writer predicted that slang words also widely used among people because it had communicative functions although by some people it is considered as non-standard form of a language. There were some communicative functions of slangs such as to command, to maintain social relationships or to be used as an aesthetic tool such as literary works. Many famous singers, poets, writers create slangs and put them in their songs, poems or books. Sometimes a new word, like
‘quidditch’ in the Harry Potter book, once was slang. Later on, ‘quidditch’ is already accepted in the legal dictionary. Many Afro-Americans (another term for Afro-American is ‘Black’) also use slang words in their songs these days. After watching the movie, the writer predicted that slang also created and influenced by historical culture. It is because the movie tells a real-life story which is related to African–American cultural conflicts in the past.
Katamba (1993), Hatch and Brown (1995), Yule (2006), Finegan (2007) and Wagner (2010). The writer also analyzed the changes that influenced the slang formation usingColeman’s theory (2012). According to Coleman, slang is created and influenced by five main factors. They are the change in meaning, the change in function, the change in form, the change in spelling and the change by abbreviation.
In order to analyze the functions of the slang in the Freedom Writers movie the writer analyzed the conversations by explaining all the relevant factors that influenced the linguistic choice based on Holmes’ theory (2012). According to Holmes (2012) some factors are: (1) the participants (who are speaking and to whom are they speaking), (2) the setting or social context of interaction (where are they speaking), (3) the topic (what is being talked about), and (4) the function: (why are they speaking).
After analyzing the social factors in the conversational context, the writer used theories proposed by Coleman (2012) and Eric Partridge (as mentioned in Coleman, 2012) to identify the reasons of the use of slang in the society. In this study the writer assumed that slangs in theFreedom Writers movie were used in order to show Afro-American’s individuality and to signal their groups’ memberships. In addition, the slangs were also used in order to appear cool and to fit in with certain groups or communities.
social relationship. In this part, the writer tried to draw a relationship between meanings and functions of slangs. The writer determined the functions of slangs based on the conversational context by using Leech’s theory of communicative functions. Those language functions according to Leech (1981) are (1) informational, (2) expressive, (3) directive, (4) aesthetic, and (5) phatic.
38
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
This chapter discusses the systematic steps in conducting the analysis, particularly the research methodology. This section mainly covers the discussion about the type of research, the type of data, the research procedure, including the technique of data gathering and the data analysis which aim to answer two major research questions proposed in the first chapter.
3.1 Research Method
This study focused on the discussion of meanings and functions of slang among a particular social group at the Woodrow Wilson High School in Long Beach. In addition, this research aimed to analyze and describe the meanings and functions of slang factually and precisely. The writer used a qualitative research as an approach while conducting this study.
Qualitative research is a situated activity that locates the observer in the world. It consists of a set of interpretive, material practices that make the world visible. These practices transform the world. They turn the world into a series of representations, including field notes, interviews, conversations, photographs, recordings, and memos to the self…qualitative researchers study things in their natural settings, attempting to make sense of, or to interpret, phenomena in terms of the meanings people bring to them (p. 3).
Conducting research in order to analyze the meanings and functions of slang in a certain community is more interpretative. It would be focused more on the elaboration or description of a social phenomenon. It was in accordance with the view of Merriam (2009), who mentions that “qualitative researchers are interested in understanding the meanings that people have constructed, that is related to the way people make sense of their world and the experiences they have in the world” (p. 13). It meant, using a qualitative research allowed the writer to interpret, give meaning and represent the findings from the natural setting. Moreover, it gave the researcher a chance to observe a certain social phenomenon. In addition, by using the qualitative approach the writer could interpret the meanings and analyze the functions of slang in theFreedom Writersmovie.
formation processes. In addition, it aimed to analyze the communicative functions of slang inFreedom Writersmovie
3.2 Research Subjects
The subjects of the research were actors and actresses in the Freedom Writersmovie. Since the study was dealing with the meaning formation of slang, the object of the study focused on the slang spoken by the actors and the actresses in the movie. Slangs which have been found from the conversations were organized into two categories: word level and phrase level.
3.3 Instrument and Data Gathering Technique
In this study the writer used a document analysis technique in order to analyze the data obtained from the Freedom Writers movie. The writer used the movie script as primary data source. A document refers to any cultural products such as hand-written documents including letters, printed documents, paintings, photographs, charts, maps, films, videos television programs, and newspapers (Harvey, 2012).
and carefully analyzing the slang words and phrases which found in the conversations.
In addition, there were some secondary tools were used. Those were American English dictionaries and slang dictionaries. The Oxford American Dictionary (OAD) was used since it helped the writer to define the common or general meaning of words and phrases. The writer used the NTC’s Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions (2000) in order to define the meanings of slang words and phrases. In addition, the writer also used other sources which provided the wide range of American slangs. Some other sources which were used to support the credibility of data analysis were the Urban Dictionary, Alpha Dictionary, and Slangcity Dictionary. Finally, all of the primary and secondary tools were complementary used for supporting the research findings and analysis.
3.4 Data Analysis Technique
Altheide and Schneider (2013) explain some steps while conducting document analysis. Those steps are finding and gaining access to the documents, collecting data, coding and organizing data, analyzing and reporting data. In this study the writer applied the document analysis as research procedure in order to elaborate the data and answer the research questions. Some steps used in this study were:
1. Finding and gaining access to the documents
Firstly, the writer decided theFreedom Writers movie released in 2007 as the main object of the study. Next, the writer observed and determined the words and phrases that were considered as the slang expressions by watching the Freedom Writers movie. Watching means the writer noticed and conceived slang words uttered by actors and actresses in the movie. The writer observed their utterances carefully. Next, the writer decided which words and phrases that were included as slang through observation.
2. Data collection
3. Data coding and organization
After listing all of the slang expressions found in the movie, the writer did the coding process. Coding means to scrutinize each slang word and phrase into a certain category. There were three categorizations: word, phrase and sentence in the conversational context which were intended to make the data analysis simpler and more organized.
4. Data analysis
The writer explained the slang expressions using primary and secondary sources to define the meanings and functions of slang. The writer also tried to relate all the theories to decide whether the words and phrases which had been collected were considered as slang. The writer was able to explain the meanings of slangs and their communicative functions based on the Freedom Writersmovie by using all the relevant theories. Some examples of those theories were the word formation process theory in morphology, the theories of meaning in semantic and also the language communicative functions in sociolinguistic.
5. Report
3.5 Research Procedure
Data obtained was used to answer the two research questions mentioned in Chapter I. Content analysis was defined as a systematic, replicable technique for compressing many words of text into fewer content categories based on explicit rules of coding. In addition, Holsti (1969, p. 14) offers a brOAD definition of content analysis as, "any technique for making inferences by objectively and systematically identifying specified characteristics of messages". It could be a useful technique for allowing people to discover and describe the focus of the individual, group, institutional, or social attention. Weber (1990) says that the content analysis is also useful for examining trends and patterns in documents. The content analysis extends far beyond simple word counts, however. What makes the technique particularly rich and meaningful is its reliance on coding and categorizing of the data.
of the slang. However, the writer used all of the related theories to support the analysis and the research findings.
3.5.1 Meaning Analysis
Firstly, the writer used the Oxford American Dictionary (OAD) to determine the general meanings of the slang expressions found in the movie. To define the particular meanings of slang expressions and to find the meanings which were suitable, the researcher used theNTC’s Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions (2000), and some slang dictionaries such as the Urban Dictionary (2015), the Alpha Dictionary (2015), and the Slangcity Dictionary(2002).
3.5.2 Function Analysis
To answer the second research question, the writer used Holmes’ (2012) explanation. The explanation was related to the social factors in the communication that might influence the functions of slang. Those social factors were‘what, who,when, where, why and how’ factors.
47 CHAPTER IV
ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION
This chapter presents the results and findings which have been analyzed in ways justified in methodology. This section covers the data analysis which consists of the meaning analysis, the function analysis and the summary of the research findings. In addition, it discusses the findings and interprets them in light of the research questions. The presentation of the research results and findings are represented tightly to their links to the objectives, findings, as well as the theoretical framework as discussed in the previous chapters.
4.1 Data Analysis
The data analysis consists of two major sections. Firstly, there will be an analysis on meanings of slang words and phrases. Secondly, it is going to discuss the analysis of slang’s communicative functions based on the conversational context in the movie. The data is obtained from the Freedom Writers movie released in 2007. The data analysis is explained as follow.
4.1.1 Meaning Analysis
• Word Level
There are eleven slang words which are analyzed in this section. The word level is organized alphabetically and scrutinized into certain codes such as: W1, W2, W3 … and W11. W1 refers totheword ‘cool’, W2 refers to ‘dawgs’, and so
on (See: table 4.4, p. 109). 1. cool (W1)
W1 as an adjective has some meanings According to OAD (2015), the word ‘cool’ means (1) fairly low temperature, soothing or refreshing, or (2) fashionably attractive or impressive (American English informal). The origin of W1 comes from old Englishcōl(noun). W1 is an adjective that refers to something that is very good, stylish, or otherwise positive. ‘cool’ also means awesome or popular. Urban Dictionary (2015) defines W1 as the most common slang term which is used nowadays. It is originated among African-American culture and becomes famous after jazz became popular around 20s and 30s.
Another explanation says that the word actually has nothing to do with the English term ‘cool’ since it is derived from the West African term ‘kule’. (Slangcity, 2002) Based on the explanation, W1 has been adapted from its African origin into a new American slang word. W1 is borrowed from the West African
Based on the context, W1 has undergone the change in function. Grammatical flexibility is common in Standard English as well as slang. The word ‘cool’ does not represent its general meaning as a condition or atmosphere but it is more suitable when it is used to denote a quality of something. Due to the fact, the word‘cool’in the movie is used as a sign of admiration or praise.
2. dawgs (W2)
Definition of W2 in English as noted in OAD (2015) derives from a non standard spelling of the word ‘dog’. It is used especially to represent American speech. W2 is actually originated in African culture. As mentioned in Urban Dictionary(2015), W2 is an Afro-American’s version to call a close friend.
This is an example of the use of slang W2 in the conversation: Person 1: “What’s updawg?”
Person 2: “Just chillin, about to pop open a Corona.”
The use of W2 was started in the Mexican-American communities and it was closely related to the African-American community. Years ago, the term W2 was originally and most commonly used in Spanish -‘perro’,but Mexican-Americans later startedto use it in English as ‘dawg’.
same race or community.W2 comes from the spelling of the word ‘dog’, it means to become slang W2 has undergone the change in spelling.
3. dealio (W3)
Definition of W3 is not defined yet in OAD (2015). Therefore,‘dealio’ is included as slang. ‘Dealio’was firstly borrowed from another language or did not take from the American speech. W3 is known as a Spanish origin for ‘deal’. According to Urban Dictionary (2015), it is another way of saying "deal" in an attempt to seem cool or superior to the other people who say it normally. For example:
Nick: “Matthew, Go finish your paper!!!”
Alex: “Yeah, Matthew, what’s thedealio?”
From the explanation above the change in W3 is influenced by the borrowing process. Therefore, slang W3 from its origin is created by borrowing process from Spanish into American speech and it is used as slang in Long Beach America. But later on an–io indealiois considered as a suffix and usually used in English slang. In this case, the word dealio is influenced by the change in form since suffix –io is added to the word’s base ‘deal’ in order to create a new word without any changing towardthe word’s class as a noun.
4. gals (W4)
call Afro-American women back in the slavery in the past. It is also recorded that W4 is considered as rude term and should not be used by anyone, particularly non Afro-American. Although it is actually considered as a rude for some people, W4 is still being used by slang people nowadays. Today, theslang word ‘gals’ is used by people to call their girl friends.
Change in W4 is influenced by the coinage process when the base does not undergo changes; there is no change from a plural noun ‘girls’ into ‘gals’. Although it is formed into a new word there is no a significant change in its lexical category. To become slang W4 has undergone the change in spelling. It is commonly found in slang when W4 is derived from the American spelling for ‘girls’.
5. homey (W5)
From the movie, the word ‘homey’ (W5) consists of a word ‘home’ (noun)
and ‘–y’ (suffix). Usually, if a suffix–y is added to a noun, it will be an adjective. As an adjective, based on the OAD (2015) W5 refers to unsophisticated, unpretentious: ‘an idealized vision of traditional peasant life as simple and homey’, or chiefly (of a place or surrounding)pleasantly comfortable and cozy.
watch my back". W5 is originated as an Afro-American synonym for 'man' which is taken from the French word for man or men ‘homme’ (pronounced 'ohm'). In addition, it has meaning ‘people who grow up together with someone or people who can be trusted and put the faith in’.
It could be seen that the word formation of W5 has undergone the change in its word formation from ‘home’(noun) to ‘home’ with an additional suffix –y to become a noun W5. The change is influenced by the derivation process since there is a change in its word category when the additional affix or suffix is added (Coleman, 2012, p. 36). In this case, suffix –y is added to the root of the slang word and forms a new word meaning. To become slang, W5 shows the change in function from an adjective to a noun. It usually happens when the additional affixes such as prefix and suffix are widely used.
6. ma (W6)
W6 is noted in OAD (2015) as a noun that informally refers to one’s mother. The word ‘ma’ was early recorded in 19th century as an abbreviation ofthe word ‘mama’. Based on the Urban Dictionary (2015), W6 is a shortened version of the word‘mami’,‘mother’or‘mom’which is used to show respect and this is mostly used by people who live in the ghetto. W6 is used to signal a female or can also be used as a nickname for one's mother. In the movie,theslang ‘ma’ is used as a sign of respect.
