Volume 5, Issue 13 (2017)
CFL 2017, 5(13): 1-25 |
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Hajhashemi S, Rafiei A. Analyzing Academic Slang Expressions Used by University Students in Isfahan: A Morpho-semantic Approach. CFL 2017; 5 (13) :1-25
URL: http://cfl.modares.ac.ir/article-11-7563-en.html
URL: http://cfl.modares.ac.ir/article-11-7563-en.html
Abstract: (9202 Views)
Since 1360, Iranian society has been faced with a changing age pyramid in young population. This group is mainly interested in using some words and expressions which are somehow unfamiliar for other parts of society. So, it can be said that these slang expressions are being used by people who belong to same social groups. Thus, linguists have revealed considerable interest in slang expressions because of its prominence among youth, especially among college students.
Academic slang usage is a popular phenomenon among university students. The importance of the study about academic slang is due to its focus on this fact that slang is complicatedly merged into college students’, academic and social life. So, it can be studied in multi-dimensional aspects. In this study, two aspects of these expressions are examined. So, This article aims to examine Academic Slang Expressions Used by University Students in Isfahan both semantically and lexically. In order to achieve this goal, some word formation processes used by university students in order to create academic slang expressions are examined parallel to their semantic aspects analysis.
To this end, the present study focuses on the following questions: what are the semantic and morphological processes involved in the academic slang expressions used by students of Isfahan and which of them are the most productive? With respect to Shaghaghi’s (1386) division of word formation processes in Persian, some lexical processes involved in making academic slang expressions by university students are determined. In addition, based on Akrami’s (1384) definition of the main ways to construct words and expressions, the semantic rules are introduced.
Participants of the study were 90 male and female university students of Isfahan including undergraduate students (BA), post-graduate students (MA) and doctoral students (Ph.D). As a viable instrument for collecting data, there is currently a trend in sociolinguistic research to use questionnaires in favor of a corpus of naturally occurring data; therefore, in order to accomplish the objectives of the study, a two-section questionnaire was selected to collect viable data. All improperly filled questionnaires and those in which the students had answered to very few questions were discarded, as predicted, such questionnaires could distort the findings of study. Therefore, 160 academic slang expressions were elicited from the students participated in this study.
The method of data analysis was simple and no complicated statistical procedures were employed. Since percentile score adequately describes data, it was used in this study. By considering the process of making academic slang expressions by Isfahan students, compounding, phrasal lexical items, semantic extension, borrowing, derivation, coinage, compounding-derivation, clipping, acronym, and blending were noticed.
among these processes compounding with 31.6% is the most common and blending with 0.062% is the least. It can also be said that university students utilize compounding (a common word formation process in Persian language) to make academic slang expressions more than others.
Moreover, some semantic rules used by university students to make academic slang expressions were introduced. The results showed that Isfahan students have rich and wide slang expressions for labeling various aspects of their academic life, including their academic performance, their teachers, and the way they teach. In the end, this study shows that two main word formation processes – semantic extension (lexical aspect of using academic slang) and compounding (morphological aspect of using academic slang) are the most frequent ones in the speech of university students in Isfahan. Compounding is, predictably, more productive than other word formation processes. Surprisingly, derivation, one of the most productive processes in Persian language, was not so productive in this study.
Academic slang usage is a popular phenomenon among university students. The importance of the study about academic slang is due to its focus on this fact that slang is complicatedly merged into college students’, academic and social life. So, it can be studied in multi-dimensional aspects. In this study, two aspects of these expressions are examined. So, This article aims to examine Academic Slang Expressions Used by University Students in Isfahan both semantically and lexically. In order to achieve this goal, some word formation processes used by university students in order to create academic slang expressions are examined parallel to their semantic aspects analysis.
To this end, the present study focuses on the following questions: what are the semantic and morphological processes involved in the academic slang expressions used by students of Isfahan and which of them are the most productive? With respect to Shaghaghi’s (1386) division of word formation processes in Persian, some lexical processes involved in making academic slang expressions by university students are determined. In addition, based on Akrami’s (1384) definition of the main ways to construct words and expressions, the semantic rules are introduced.
Participants of the study were 90 male and female university students of Isfahan including undergraduate students (BA), post-graduate students (MA) and doctoral students (Ph.D). As a viable instrument for collecting data, there is currently a trend in sociolinguistic research to use questionnaires in favor of a corpus of naturally occurring data; therefore, in order to accomplish the objectives of the study, a two-section questionnaire was selected to collect viable data. All improperly filled questionnaires and those in which the students had answered to very few questions were discarded, as predicted, such questionnaires could distort the findings of study. Therefore, 160 academic slang expressions were elicited from the students participated in this study.
The method of data analysis was simple and no complicated statistical procedures were employed. Since percentile score adequately describes data, it was used in this study. By considering the process of making academic slang expressions by Isfahan students, compounding, phrasal lexical items, semantic extension, borrowing, derivation, coinage, compounding-derivation, clipping, acronym, and blending were noticed.
among these processes compounding with 31.6% is the most common and blending with 0.062% is the least. It can also be said that university students utilize compounding (a common word formation process in Persian language) to make academic slang expressions more than others.
Moreover, some semantic rules used by university students to make academic slang expressions were introduced. The results showed that Isfahan students have rich and wide slang expressions for labeling various aspects of their academic life, including their academic performance, their teachers, and the way they teach. In the end, this study shows that two main word formation processes – semantic extension (lexical aspect of using academic slang) and compounding (morphological aspect of using academic slang) are the most frequent ones in the speech of university students in Isfahan. Compounding is, predictably, more productive than other word formation processes. Surprisingly, derivation, one of the most productive processes in Persian language, was not so productive in this study.
Received: 2015/12/19 | Accepted: 2017/04/21 | Published: 2017/05/6
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