Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2012
Abstract
Slang lexemes and swearwords are commonly discussed in conjunction with each other as though they were slightly different versions of the same phenomenon. However, they clearly are not, as a careful consideration of their different prototypical functions reveals. Each of these lexical categories has a central or core function, and in each case this function is linked to the obligatory expression of affect. Different kinds of affect are entailed in the prototypical uses of slang and of swearwords, but in the case of both of these lexical types, this affect is incompatible with the formality and deference of honorifics, or, indeed, of much standard discourse. Another area in which slang and swearwords overlap can be found in basic slang lexemes which share with swearwords a connection to an underlying cultural value system, pervasiveness and endurance. The existence of a slang category that shares important features with swearwords further illustrates the different yet overlapping nature of these two lexicons.
Published In
Moore, R. (2012). On swearwords and slang. American Speech, 87(2).
Publication Title
American Speech
ISSN
0003-1283
DOI
10.1215/00031283-1668199
Included in
Anthropological Linguistics and Sociolinguistics Commons, Linguistic Anthropology Commons, Social and Cultural Anthropology Commons