Анастасия Рыжова и СВГ. Аббревиация

УДК 81-23

SLANG AND ABBREVIATIONS IN RUSSIAN AND ENGLISH

Gerasimova S.V.
Ryzhova A.V.

The Kosygin State University of Russia
Moscow

As a result of the analysis of the article by Pupina V.D. and Zimovets N.V. it is concluded that modern English slang strives to overcome group isolation and become generally understandable. Replenishment of the lexical composition of English slang is largely due to abbreviation. Russian slang is replenished through borrowings. Foreign words are adapted through their transcription and transliteration.
Slang, abbreviations, tetragrammaton, affixation, borrowings, cultural border.

Modern scientists should study slang, since it is the most mobile layer of vocabulary, reflecting the young people linguistic picture of the world. The research of Pupynina V. D. & Zimovets N.V. is promising. The article «Some features of the translation of youth slang from English into Russian» considers the essence of slang, its role in the language system, its impact on culture and the complexity of translation.
The deconstruction method allows us to gain a deeper understanding of the research ideas and develop them. The authors formulate the main aspects of slang. It is a set of existing words or their meanings used by different groups of people. It is an integral part of a developed natural language. This is the most dynamic layer of the lexical and semantic system of the language, which is rapidly updated and represents the basic concepts.
Next, the author points out the role of slang. For teenagers, slang often serves as a way to stand out from the crowd and create their own «secret language», unclear to adults. Slang is a territorial, temporary or social variety of language used by a limited number of people and characterized by a special phonetic, grammatical, lexeme composition and unique semantics of commonly used words. Confirming that slang belongs to a separate isolated group and represents expressive parts of speech that are not similar to the norms of literary language, the authors quote the American poet Carl Sandburg: «Slang is a language that takes off its coat, spits on its hands and goes to work» [Pupynina V. D. & Zimovets N.V.]. The article points out that foreigners often have difficulty understanding words and translating them because they sound different in their native language. When translating, you should look at the context, at the prepositions next to the words, because words can be polysemantic, having different meanings with different prepositions. Polysemantic words include: «nails», «bark», «bolt», «novel», «draft» [Pupynina V. D. & Zimovets N.V.]. On translating slang, it is important to take into account national characteristics and manner of communication for a more accurate understanding and transmission of meaning.
In Russia, jargon originated in the 50s, and in the 60s and 80s it came from the hippie and underground movements, respectively. In Europe, slang appeared much earlier. This happened in the mid-18th century in England. As a result, slang is much more widespread in Western Europe and America. Today, slang can be seen on the Internet, especially among American users. Here are examples of slang: «hype», «cold», «flex» [Pupynina V. D. & Zimovets N.V.].
The article examines the influence of various factors on the development of slang and the peculiarities of its formation. It explores the influence of computer technology, modern music and cinema, foreign languages, computer games, videos and cartoons. English language is considered the most “fashionable” and promising one for young people to study. So it contributes to the borrowing of slang expressions from this language. The authors assure us that slang expressions are understandable even to those people who have not studied English. Supporting the fact that most youth slang expressions are borrowed from English language and have not yet been translated into Russian, authors gave such examples: «laptop», «fifty-fifty», «respect», «change», «louser», «drink», «crazy», «best», «lovestory», «durling», «gohome». Transliteration and transcription in these cases became the main means of translation. As a result, new words appeared in the Russian language. They have all the features of borrowings. These words are not inflected, they do not have Russian affixes. They are not part of the word-formation chain.
In English, slang vocabulary is rarely borrowed, and therefore has different features. The most slang expressions are formed by shortening words and the composition of phrases, and the role of affixation in the formation of slang words is minimal. The authors rely on the work of V.G. Vilyuman. All the main types of word formation are represented in the youth lexicon, but the author focuses only on some features:
1) The reverse word formation: «to crack wise» - «wit» («witty») (to make a joke).
2) Borrowing from other languages: «Swami guy» is a divine person from a Hindu deity.
3) Affixation: «smiley», «hacker», «kludgy», «crocky».
The authors decided to consider suffixes:
1) -loo: «artist-fakeloo» (gives tonal meaning);
2) –ly/y: «buddy» (a diminutive one);
3) -ola: «scramola umpachay» (get out of here, boy), «-ola» gives a menacing look and forms nouns: payola, mayola;
4) -ay: «Umpachay» (dummy) – this is an example of a secret language;
5) -o: «keeno»;
6) – dom/dum: «zero desperandum».
The authors conclude that the main features of slang are its well-known and widespread use [Pupynina V. D. & Zimovets N.V.].
The article chosen for analysis contains an interesting contradiction. First, its authors claim that slang is a secret language serving closed social groups. The researchers then conclude that slang is common and generally understood. Thanks to this contradiction, we can come to the conclusion that in America and Europe slang developed from a group language to a national one. As a result, slang acquired many features of a literary language and fit into its semiotic system. Slang vocabulary is formed using methods of affixation characteristic of a literary language.
Russian slang is replenished through borrowings. They do not fit into the semiotic system of the language, do not decline, and rarely add Russian affixes. Transliteration and transcription are the main ways of forming new words. Russian slang is a youth language; the older generation may not understand it.
Russian and English slang occupy different places in the semiotic system of their languages and cultures.
Understanding the place of slang in Russian and European (American) cultures is an interesting research goal for a young scientist. This is especially interesting because we can see the national worldview, the philosophy of the people through the linguistic picture of the world.
G. D. Gachev began to study national pictures of the world. Modern researchers note the confessional differences between the Eastern and Western churches: «rationalism and individualism characteristic of Catholicism and the greater informality of Eastern Christianity» [Pak, 132], the differences between our peoples: «All the features can be found in both Russia and Britain, though they are of quite different nature» [Sklizkova, 107]. Researchers compare the national sounds of “Faustian motifs” [Zavelskaya & Novozhilov, 230].
Different types of word formation in Russian and foreign slang are also a consequence of different cultural pictures of the world.
This can be proven based on modern slang research [Makarova K. A. & Nikitina A. O. & Nikulina P. A.; Mahasiswa; Nurgalieva L.A. & Motygullina Z.A. & Saidasheva E.A.]. Napitu's research is particularly interesting in this aspect [Napitu F. E. & Suhardianto]. Researchers are studying the types of abbreviations in modern American slang.
The abbreviation is actively used in American slang. Russian slang is replenished with borrowings (transliterations and transcriptions). The history of the abbreviation is presented quite fully in the article on comparative historical linguistics by Gannokha. The researcher notes that the abbreviation appeared in English in the 15th century. Abbreviations from the Latin language penetrate into English one in abundance at this time. The appearance of the abbreviation in the Russian language is associated with the 1917 revolution. The Old Russian language did not know abbreviations. However, the abbreviated spelling of words under the title was actively used in ancient Russian books. Reading these words involved filling in the letters missed when writing. This is how Russian words under the title differed from abbreviations. These contractions were not a special way of word formation. They were only a special spelling. Sacred vocabulary was written under the title.
A kind of abbreviation was the Slavic alphabet. It was an alphabetical prayer represented by the first letters of words.
Sacred abbreviations were found in the Hebrew language. The most famous of them is tetragrammaton «Jehovah/Yahweh». We do not know how this word was actually pronounced in ancient times. This sacred word consists of the initial letters of words denoting past, present and future times. This abbreviation means the One who was, is and will be [Branover]. And the One who was, is and will be can be called the word «Existent». This is the name of God in the Gospel (Ин. 18: 6).
When Soviet people chanted the slogan: “Lenin lived, Lenin lives, Lenin will live,” they realized the sacred idea of the Hebrew language, travestically equating Lenin with God Himself. Before us is linguistic proof of the connection between Jewish mentality and the Russian revolution. Perhaps the flourishing of the abbreviation after the revolution is also associated with the influence of Jewish linguistic consciousness on the Russian language.
We see that initially two traditions competed in abbreviation. The first tradition can be called functional. It valued brevity. The English language tends to be monosyllabic and therefore uses abbreviations. The second tradition can be called sacred. It appreciated the opportunity to hide the completeness of knowledge from the uninitiated. It did not want to desecrate the sacred reality by completely writing the lexemes related to it. The only compound abbreviated word in the Old Russian language is the word «m-e-d-v-e-d’». This word was a replacement for the sacred name of the beast during the period of pagan animalism. It itself received the formal features of a sacred word, since it became abbreviated. Perhaps the word «r-a-d-u-g-a» was also a complex abbreviation, but the meaning of «r-a» has been lost. This is the sound camouflage of the sacred root. However, it is not related to the Egyptian sun god Ra. Perhaps "r-a" has the same origin as "g" in the Russian word "g-n-e-z-d-o". Slavic and Egyptian languages do not have common roots, as they belong to different language groups. Only the word «mother» indicates the possibility of a universal proto-language of all language groups. This word brings not only the Russian language closer to English. It sounds recognizable in Chinese, Egyptian and even Hebrew languages.
The history of the Russian and English languages has one important common feature, which is that the abbreviation functional tradition defeated the sacred tradition. However, the fate of the abbreviation in Russian and English slang is different. Abbreviation has become the most important word-formation model of English slang. This indicates the blurring of the boundary between the sacred and profane worlds. Unified principles of word formation function in slang and the English literary language. Slang tends to merge with the generally understood colloquial style of the English literary language. This indicates the blurring of the boundary between high and low style, between colloquial language and slang, and therefore the loss of a sense of the beautiful and sublime.
Russian slang is represented mainly by borrowings. Transliteration and transcription are the main ways of adapting foreign words. These words strive to fit into the system of the Russian language, gain declension and conjugation, but they often remain an unchangeable part of the vocabulary. The type of influx of Russian slang indicates a blurring of the boundaries between the concepts of «one’s own» and «alien», a fashion for everything foreign, and therefore a lack of understanding of the value of one’s linguistic and cultural riches.
Russian and English slangs interact differently with the phenomenon of cultural boundaries and occupy different places in the semiotic system of language and culture.

References 

Branover G. Sidur. Shema Israel. Jerusalem, New York: Shamir, 2007. 1927 р.
Gannokha I.V. History of the development of abbreviation as a method of word formation in English and Russian languages // Science Time. 2015. Pp. 154–160. URL:  Accessed June 4, 2024.
Makarova K. A., Nikitina A. O., Nikulina P. A. Features of youth english slang and its use in the russian language // English in the field of professional communication. Kazan : IP Sagieva A.R., 2019. Pp. 105-107.
Napitu F. E., Suhardianto. An analysis of slang words abbreviation in american caption on instagram: a sociolinguistics approach // Scientia Journal: Jurnal Ilmiah Mahasiswa. 2020. Vol 1 № 2 URL: Accessed June 3, 2024.
Nurgalieva L.A., Motygullina Z.A., Saidasheva E.A. The peculiarities of translation of american teenager`s vocabulary into russian (on the basis F. Kast's novels) // Kazan linguistic journal. 2019. 2 (1). Pp. 53–62.
Pak E. S. Modern representation of the phenomenon of walking pilgrimage in Russian and Spanish culture //Vestnik slavianskikh kul’tur. 2023. Vol. 70. Pp. 127–139. https://doi.org/10.37816/2073-9567-2023-70-127-139
Pupynina V. D., Zimovets N.V. Some features of translation of youth slang from english into russian // Electronic scientific journal «Science Diary». 2021. № 6. URL: Accessed June 3, 2024. URL: Accessed June 3, 2024.
Sheshukova S., Lapitskaja S., Proudchenko E. On the Analysis of Youth Slang as one of the Subsystems of Modern Russian and English Languages  // SHS Web of Conferences 69, 00090 (2019) https://doi.org/10.1051/shsconf/20196900090
CILDIAH-2019. Volgograd, 2019. URL:  Accessed June 3, 2024.
Sklizkova E. V. Culture forming characteristics of the Middle ages: Britain vs Russia //Vestnik slavianskikh kul’tur. 2021. Vol. 59. Pp. 96–108. (In Russian) https://doi.org/10.37816/2073-9567-2021-59-96-108
Zavelskaya, D. A., Novozhilov, D. M. (2021). “Faustian Theme” in Slavic Literary Monu-ments: Problematics of Motives. Nauchnyi dialog, 10: 226-246. DOI: 10.24224/2227-1295-2021-10-226-246. (In Russ.)

СЛЕНГ И СОКРАЩЕНИЯ В РУССКОМ И АНГЛИЙСКОМ ЯЗЫКАХ

Герасимова С.В.
Рыжова А.В.

Российский государственный университет имени А.Н. Косыгина

Москва

В результате анализа статьи Пупиной В.Д. и Зимовец Н.В. делается вывод, что современный английский сленг стремится преодолеть групповую замкнутость и стать общепонятным. Пополнение лексического состава английского сленга во многом происходит благодаря аббревиации. Русский сленг пополняется за счет заимствований. Иностранные слова адаптируются в результате их транскрипции и транслитерации.
Сленг, аббревиатуры, тетраграмматон, аффиксация, заимствования, культурная граница.