относятся скука, тоска. В данном случае нельзя говорить о совпадении фонетического
значения фоносемантической доминанты и ассоциаций, вызванных теми же звуками
в контексте.
Сравнительный анализ фонетического значения звука и ассоциаций, вызванных
им в контексте детских стихов и песен, показал, что иногда значение звука в тексте может быть обусловлено фонетическим значением звука в изоляции. Звуки, составляющие
фоносемантическую доминанту экспериментальных текстов, могут обладать разными
признаками, полученными от информантов при субъективном шкалировании.
Список использованной литературы
1. Журавлев А.П. Фонетическое значение. Л.: ЛГУ, 1974. 160 с.
2. Наумова Н.А. Актуализация английской языковой картины мира с помощью звукосимволических средств (на материале английской поэзии): дис. … канд. филол.
наук. Саранск, 2005. 205 с.
3. Павловская И.Ю. Фоносемантический анализ речи. СПб.: СПбГУ, 2001. 292 с.
А.А. Емельянов
ХАРАКТЕРНЫЕ ОСОБЕННОСТИ СОЦИАЛЬНЫХ РАЗНОВИДНОСТЕЙ
РИФМОВАННОГО СЛЕНГА
Ивановский филиал Российского экономического университета им. Г.В. Плеханова
Email: [email protected]
Работа посвящена исследованию английского рифмованного сленга. Особое внимание заслуживает связанная с этим термином проблема разграничения его социальных разновидностей - рифмованного сленга кокни и рифмованного сленга высших
слоев британского общества. Определяются сходства и различия данных вариантов
рифмованного сленга и выявляются их характерные особенности в процессе речевого
общения.
Ключевые слова: рифмованный сленг кокни, рифмованный сленг высших слоев британского общества, английский язык.
Rhyming slang in English is an amusing linguistic phenomenon that has attracted educated attention reasonably soon after it became established and popularized [4]. Basically,
it may be defined as a form of slang in which a rhyming word or phrase is a substitute for
the word intended (e.g. apples and pears for ‘stairs’; dog and bone for ‘phone’ etc.). Like all
slangs RS originated in the desire to create a secret language – a secrecy that is helped by
its form [5]. This ‘speech disguise’ may have several reasons. It serves as a code to transmit
secret information for those who understand, while by-hearers stand by, unsuspecting. It
may be a euphemistic form of taboo words when people turn them into ‘nonsense’ in order
to avoid the sanctions of linguistically sensitive society [3]. Or it may be regarded as a desire
to make the speech more vivid, colourful and unusual.
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One can come across two main social varieties of rhyming slang that represent Cockney rhyming slang (CRS), which is mostly spread among the middle and lower classes of the
British society, and upper class rhyming slang (UCRS) used by upper classes. This work is
aimed at finding out the most common features and differences of CRS and UCRS, focusing
on the following aspects:
- origins;
- peculiarities of substitute formation;
- geographical spread;
- French influence;
- imperfect rhyme.
Origins. Rhyming slang first evolved as upper class rhyming slang and was widely
spread in the elite and aristocratic strata of the British society. It was invented in the middle of the sixteenth century by Christopher Marlowe, the contemporary wordsmith of William Shakespeare, as his major contribution to Walsingham’s Secret Service in the reign of
Elizabeth I. From Elizabethan times, the Secret Service has tended to move in aristocratic
company, and so it was that Marlowe invented a secret language which employed apparently
everyday speech of the posh breeds, while in fact communicating vital secrets [10]. Some
examples of UCRS are:
- Physician ~ Titian: Oh, that looks nasty! You ought to go and see a Titian!
- Heaven ~ First Eleven: The weather in Monte Carlo was pure first eleven.
- Speech ~ Normandy Beach: They listened gloomily to the Queen’s Normandy Beach.
Cockney rhyming slang appeared later – in the early nineteenth century in the East End
of London and, by Julian Franklyn, came into being as a secret language of the underworld
[4]. Peter Wright suggests that costermongers and their boy-helpers were amongst the earliest
users of it, and sporting journals as well as music-hall songs introduced CRS to a much wider
public [11]. Some examples of CRS:
- Mate ~ China Plate: Hello, my old China Plate!
- Look ~ Butcher’s Hook: Take a Butcher’s Hook at this!
- Feet ~ Plates of Meat: Get your Plates of Meat off my table!
Peculiarities of substitute formation. Both CRS and UCRS have the same models of
the substitute formation – they use a phrase which rhymes with the actual word one wants to
employ, and as a result, we see a form of ‘speech disguise’. These expressions make sense to the
insider, but are nonsensical to the outsider [3]. The ‘perfect’ example manages to use a rhyming
phrase that has some amusing or satirical bearing on the word for which it operates [5]:
CRS: trouble and strife ~ wife; Gawd forbids ~ kids;
UCRS: private jets ~ debts; last-but-not-least ~ Far East.
Sometimes the rhyming equivalent is shortened to its first element, and as a result,
there is no phonological relation with the intended meaning; this makes much more difficulty
in understanding and interpreting the original message. The following examples can hardly
be clear unless both the communicators are familiar with the rhyming substitution.
CRS: My Barnet is so long, I’ll get it cut! (Barnet fair ~ hair); I was on the dog and
didn’t hear you come (dog and bone ~ phone).
UCRS: I assure you that it is only the lower classes who no longer Lord their undergarments! (Lord Byron ~ iron); Who’s gone and Ceciled the last of the black forest gateau?
(Cecil Beaton ~ eaten).
Geographical spread. The area of CRS usage is not limited to London surroundings.
Recent research shows that its geographical and usage domains are now more widely dispersed than they used to be [8]. While rooted in England, RS is not the exclusive province of
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native English-speakers; two countries have taken it on board, neither as extensively nor as
enthusiastically as the UK, but a survey of both Australian and American slang will ‘unearth
examples’ [5]. In his Dictionary of Rhyming Slang Julian Franklyn gives plenty of examples
of different geographical areas of CRS [4]:
- dot and dash ~ moustache (American)
- Glasgow boat ~ coat (Irish)
- Cries and screeches ~ leeches (Australian)
- John Hop ~ cop (New Zealand)
- Barney Dillon ~ shilling (shillun) (Scottish)
- Bird lime ~ time (South African)
UCRS is not mentioned as much spread outside London boundaries, being mostly the
language of the British aristocracy and posh breeds.
French influence. The French language played an important role in the formation of
UCRS equivalents. There is a great deal of French words with English pronunciation aimed
at making UCRS phrases sound more extravagant and flamboyant:
- hors d’oeuvres ~ nerves;
- Louis Quatorze ~ pause;
- chaise long ~ pong;
- Cote d’Azure ~ manure;
- Mont Blanc ~ plonk etc.
CRS also provides examples of French borrowings, however they are few in number; this
fact shows that it is typical mostly of upper classes and to a lesser extent of Cockney speakers,
and they have additional ‘charm’ with the help of French. The examples of CRS are:
- Madame de Luce ~ spruce;
- Saint Martin-le-Grand ~ hand;
- Danny la Rue ~ blue.
Imperfect rhyme. CRS and UCRS fall into the general pattern by depending on stress
and especially rhyme as it is the rhyme that plays the dominant role in the substitute formation. However some RS phrases do not rhyme at all or the rhyme is less evident, becoming
what linguists would term ‘imperfect rhyme’. This case may be partially explained: there are
examples that, to a non-Cockney ear, seem devoid of rhyme: Charing Cross does not immediately offer “horse” , not until one recalls the Cockney pronunciation ‘crorss’; similarly,
cold potato (‘pertater’) is a “waiter”; Max Miller is a “pillow” (‘piller’) and so on [5]. Other
examples of imperfect rhyme follow:
CRS: bronze figure ~ kipper; Jack Jones ~ alone; nanny-goating ~ courting;
UCRS: stately home ~ poem; Michaelangelo ~ gigolo; Samuel Pepys ~ creeps.
The analysis of the RS usage in different geographical areas lies in the field of language variation and introduces the problem of misunderstanding the rhyming equivalents.
This issue is closely connected with diachronic and cross-cultural aspects.
The diachronic aspect. Plenty of RS expressions , being in use during the nineteenth
century period, are now out of date and often unknown to the present-day RS speakers (e.g.
east and south ~ mouth: Early 19th c.; potatoes in the mould ~ cold: Late 19th c.; slip in the
gutter ~ butter: Early 20th c.). Moreover, rhyming slang is constantly developing, and the beginning of the twenty first century gives rise to new RS units which contain various names
of today’s popular singers, actors, politicians, fashion designers, etc. (e.g. Britney Spears ~
beers; Tony Blair ~ flare; Calvin Klein ~ table wine).
The cross-cultural aspect. Rhyming equivalents may partially coincide in territorial
variants of RS (e.g. the British Barnet Fair and the American Barney Fair for ‘hair’); they
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also may be totally different (e.g. the British whistle and flute and the American bag of fruit
for ‘suit’). The reason is that a linguistic fact, that is typical in one geographical area, may
be unfamiliar or have a different meaning in the other area. A good example is given by the
American linguist Leonard R. N. Ashley [1] : “But who can cope with trolley = copulate
(from trolley and truck, in a country where our truck is a van!) and Mozart = drunk (from
Mozart and Liszt and the American pissed, not urinated but blotto)?”.
This unique linguistic phenomenon enriches the English language and stands for
the existence of a good alternative way of expressing one’s thoughts, feelings and emotions. All these aspects show the inexhaustible possibility of language creativity, innovation and secrecy - the main attributes of RS. And as Julian Franklyn says, ‘rhyming slang
in England, more particularly in the South of England, and most particularly in London, is
loved and enjoyed and, within the limits of their knowledge and ability, used by all classes
of society’ [4].
References
1. Ashley, Leonard R.N. ‘Rhyme and Reason: the Methods and Meanings of Cockney
Rhyming Slang // Names. Vol. 25. 1977. № 3. P. 128.
2. Ayto J. The Oxford Dictionary of Rhyming Slang. London: Oxford University Press,
2002. 336 p.
3. Crystal D. Language Play. London: Penguin Books, 1998. 249 p.
4. Franklyn J. A Dictionary of Rhyming Slang. London: Routledge, 1994. 224 p.
5. Green J. Rhyming Slang // Critical Quarterly, 2003. Vol. 45. № 1-2. P. 220-226.
6. Jones J. Rhyming Cockney Slang. London: Abson Books, 2003. 35 p.
7. Kirkpatrick B. Wicked Cockney Rhyming Slang. London: Michael O’Mara Books,
2002. 128 p.
8. Lillo A. From Aslatian Dog to Wooden Shoe: Linguistic Xenophobia in Rhyming Slang
// English Studies, 2001. № 4. P. 336-348.
9. Puxley R. Cockney Rabbit: A Dick’n’Arry of Rhyming Slang. London: Robson Books,
1992. 230 p.
10. Wheeler P., Broadhead A. Upper Class Rhyming Slang. London: Sidgwick & Jackson,
1985. 96 p.
11. Wright P. Cockney Dialect and Slang. London: B.T. Batsford Ltd. 1981. 154 p.
А.Ю. Епимахова
ВЗАИМОСВЯЗЬ НАЦИОНАЛЬНОГО
И ИНТЕРНАЦИОНАЛЬНОГО КОМПОНЕНТОВ
Челябинский государственный университет
Email: [email protected]
Данная статья посвящена взаимосвязи национального и интернационального
компонентов, возникающей в силу широкого развития политических, культурных, экономических связей между народами. Ввиду интенсификации языковых контактов как
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