SLANG FUNCTIONS AND FEATURES IN THE NOVEL "LOOKING FOR ALASKA" BY JOHN GREEN

Abstract

The article is dedicated to the study of the functioning of slang units in teenage crime novel "Looking for Alaska" by John Green. The article presents a definition of the term "slang", describes the approaches to its definition, establishes the basic functions of slang units and the peculiarities of their functioning in the linguistic environment. Considering the functional diversity the classification of slang concerning the sphere of its use (general and special) is given, the main productive means of word formation of slang units are investigated. The article provides the classification of slang units by social affiliation (rhymed slang of cockney, kant, polar, internet slang, military slang, black slang, backslang), structural-semantic features (rhymed slang of cockney, cant, polar, internet slang, military jargon, back and black slang, borrowings), part-language affiliation (slangisms-adjectives, slangisms-nouns, slangismspronouns, slangisms-verbs, slangisms-adverbs, exclamations), thematic correlation (character and appearance of a person, objects, phenomena, states and qualities, actions, objects of everyday life) and methods of derivation (word formation, personalization or transformation of common names to proper names, abbreviations, basic structure).

During the detailed analysis we identified the main functions of slang units: to create the effect of novelty and originality, to distinguish from the recognized samples, to convey a certain mood of the speaker, to give expression to specifity, liveliness, expressiveness, visibility, accuracy, conciseness, imagery, and to avoid stamps and clichés. The prime amount of slang units in the analyzed novel functions as a linguistic means of expressing emotions, or giving emotional color, expression of the speaker's attitude to events occurring in the novel. Also with the help of slang units, the author clearly separates the border between adults and adolescents – teenager’s speech and dialogues are full of slang units, while adult characters of the novel use clichés and business style of speech. Slang serves as a means of teenage identification in comparison with adult characters. Further prospects for studying the ways of reproduction of slang units in translation are outlined.