Slang Use And Its Perception In The Society Term Paper

SLANG USE AND ITS PERCEPTION IN THE SOCIETYNameCourse Title/CodeInstitution
Introduction
Language has the power to connect people within a certain geographical area, and create an identity that is unique to themselves. In Sociolinguistic, it becomes imperative to understand how social systems shape the advent of language and its popularity among the people that speak it. The use of language goes beyond communication; it creates identity, connection, unity, harmony and status within the society. Language empowers people to communicate and name things in ways that seems meaningful and relevant to themselves. This helps people to create an easy way of communication that suits them and is different from the mainstream or common languages surrounding them.[] [Marcel. Language, society and New Media. Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group; London UK. Pp. 02.]
Formation of words come from different needs of the people, which forces them to either revert the common words, compound them, give them a different meaning, shorten them or borrow words from other languages. When people have no word for something, they have the easy option of either forming it or borrowing it from another language. Formation of slang words has come from such influences mainly among the youth who want to create an identity among themselves. The advancement in science and technology has necessitated the use of short words and speech in chat rooms, instant messaging and social networks.College students are the greatest users or slang words and this is very common in using text messaging to shorten words.[Rahmawati Afifah. Words formation processes on slang words used by transsexual. 2012. Pp. 8.] [Ibid 2.] [Zamaletdinova, G. R. & Izmaylova, G. A. Features of Youth slang functioning. 2016. Pp. 02.]
Great debate still exists on the effect of slang words on the mainstream languages. Rather than looking at the negative effect of slang, many sociolinguists agree that slangs add unexpected wit, liveliness and flexibility to the language of its users. It makes it easy for them to express their thoughts easily. This study therefore seeks to understand the origin of slangs, reasons for its use and the challenges it poses to other languages and youth behavior generally.[Ibid.]
The Origin of Slang
Slang is predominantly the language of young people, who prefer using simple and easy language structures more often when communicating with their peers.However, slang is also associated with people from diverse form of backgrounds such as professions, criminals, students, political movements and people of certain age using it for different purposes. Slangs are commonly spoken in informal setups whenever people feel comfortable among their peers or friends. Almost all languages use slang and people in many languages find using it as necessary in order to show creativity or express their feelings.[Ibid.] [Ibid 3.] [Ibid 3.]
The use of slang words mostly in informal situations is preferred as it causes an intimate connection between people of the same socio-economic background. Slang mainly originate from the youths or people of certain class, who change common words or form new vocabulary, in order to make people from outside the group not to understand, or to enhanc...