Style and Register - Language Varieties: Slang and Jargon

Brief Definition of Style According to Janet Holmes

• Style is language variation which reflects changes in situational factors, such as addressee, setting, task or topic.
• Style is often analyzed along a scale of formality.
• The level of formality is influenced by some factors like the various differences among the participants, topic, emotional involvement, etc.

Addressee as an Influence on Style

•          Age of addressee è People generally talk to the very young and to the very old è For example: Baby-talk

•          Social background of addressee è People talk differently to the higher class and to the lower class è For example: The pronunciation of newsreaders on different radio station 

(Janet Holmes, 2001)

Some Examples of Context, Style and Class

•          Formal contexts and social roles

•          Different style within an interview

•          Colloquial style or the vernacular

•          The interaction of social class and style

Brief Explanations of Register According to Janet Holmes

l  Registers are specific sets of vocabulary items associated with different occupational group or the language of groups of people with common interests or jobs.

l  For example: the language used by airplane pilots, surgeons, bank managers, jazz fans, commentators, etc.

Short Definition of Slang According to Contemporary Linguistics 1997

•          Slang is a label that is frequently used to denote certain informal or faddish usages of nearly anyone in the speech community

•          Slang is special vocabulary used by any set of persons of a low or disreputable character; language of a low and vulgar type (Oxford Dictionary).

•          Nowadays, slang is often applied to aspects of the language of adolescents or others who are perceived as speaking non-standard varieties of the language.

•          Slang exist alongside jargon and argot

•          The use of slang plays a major role in the maintenance of the gang’s group identity.

•          It separates the in-group, who use the slang, from the rest of society who do not and are not part of the gang.

•          For example: Glasgow slang, American university (UCLA) slang, etc.

•          Slang is area of vocabulary which reflects a person’s age.

•          Current slang is the linguistic prerogative of young people and generally sounds odd in the mouth of an older person.

•          It signals membership of a particular group – the young.

•          For example: spiffing, topping, super, groovy, fab, etc.

The Examples of Glasgow Slang

Jargon and Argot Based on Contemporary Linguistics, 1997

•          It is a label for speech varieties associated with social groups whose members wish or must conceal themselves or some aspects of their communication from non-members.

•          Jargon or argot is restricted to a smaller number and is more obscure to outsiders than slang.

•          It is a label for speech varieties associated with social groups whose members wish or must conceal themselves or some aspects of their communication from non-members.

•          Jargon or argot is restricted to a smaller number and is more obscure to outsiders than slang.

The Examples of Jargon and Argot

•          Cockney rhyming slang è English argot used among navies in London’s East End in the 19^th century (bees & honey è money, merry-go-round èpound sterling)

•          Gay lingo è used among homosexual co.

•          Hacker jargon (freeware, happiware, etc.)

•          Cyberspace jargon (www, mailing list, e-mail, etc.).

Reference: Contemporary Linguistics, 1997: 558-561