3.4. Dialectal words

H.W. Fowler defines a dialect as "a variety of a language which prevails in a district, with local peculiarities of vocabulary, pronunciation and phrase". England is a small country, yet it has many dialects.

Dialectal words are those, which in the process of integration of the English national language remained beyond its literary boundaries, and their use is generally confined to a definite locality.

Dialectal words are introduced into the speech of personages to indicate their origin. The number of dialectal words and their frequency also indicate the educational and cultural of the speaker.

Dialects at present undergo rapid changes under the pressure of Standard English taught at schools and employed by radio, TV and cinema. Dialects are now chiefly preserved in rural communities in the speech of elderly people. The use of dialectal words, therefore, generally testifies to the low educational level of the one who uses them.

Some of dialectal words have become so familiar that they are used as recognized units of Standard English. Dialectal words are to be found in the style of emotive prose. They are introduced into speech of characters to indicate their origin, breeding, education.

3.5. Vulgar words or vulgarisms

Vulgar words are the lowest social class of words. They are the simple, clear words of uneducated people for body parts and sex and bathroom terms. Careful speakers never use vulgar words in formal situations, in the classroom, in the office, or in formal written work.

A vulgarism is a word or an expression that is coarse and offensive and is not to be used in speech. Vulgar words belong to non-standard English. The term 'vulgarism' is rather ambiguous as it is defined differently in different dictionaries. Using vulgar language is called swearing or cursing.

A listener may find some slang and vulgar words offensive. They make him or her feel insulted. This can happen even if the speaker did not intend it.

Prof. Galperin suggests that it should be applied to 2 groups of words:

1. Expletives, or swear words, which are of an abusive character, like bloody, to hell, son of bitch, etc. The function of expletives is almost the same as that of interjections that is to express strong emotions, mainly annoyance, anger and the like.

2. Obscene words, which are not to be used in any kind of speech. They are not fixed in common dictionaries. They are known as "four-letter" words.

Vulgarisms are used in colloquial speech and in the style of emotive prose for speech characteristics. They sometimes appear in euphemistic spelling. In present day literature these words are spelled fully.

Vulgar words are the lowest social class of words. They are the simple, clear words of uneducated people. Careful speakers never use vulgar words in formal situations, in the classroom, in the office, or in written work.

3.6. Colloquial coinages (nonce words)

As well as literary stylistic coinages, they are created to make the utterance more expressive. Generally they are new names to old concepts. They are coined according to the same word-building pattern.

The fate of these coinages is also different. Some live for a very short time, others live longer. Very few of them become generally accepted words. The majority is used only once. Those are nonce words.Nonce words used in oral colloquial speech are different from those used in written literary speech. Literary nonce-words remain in the text for which they were created. Colloquial nonce-words leave no trace at all. They are non registered anywhere.

Consider your answers to the following questions:

1. What are the three main layers of the vocabulary? What are there peculiarities?

2. What are the peculiarities of common literary and common colloquial vocabulary?

3. Where are formal words used? Are learned words used only in books? Which type of learned words, do you think, is especially suitable for verbal communication? Which is least suitable and even undesirable?

4. How can you account for the fact that English vocabulary contains such an immense number of words of foreign origin?

5. How are the etymological and stylistic characteristics of a word interrelated?

6. What is the difference between professionalisms and jargonisms?

7. What are the controversial problems connected with professional terminology?

8. What is the main stylistic function of terms?

9. What is the stylistic function of dialectal words?

10.What is the stylistic function of vulgar words?

Do the test to check your knowledge:

1. Archaisms may be used in a literary text

a) to show that the speaker is attached to usage of unusual words;

b) to create the historic atmosphere;

c) to produce humorous effect.

2. Terms belong to

a) special literary vocabulary; b) neutral words;

c) colloquial vocabulary; d) non-standard vocabulary

3. If bookish words are used in the colloquial context

a) they elevate the speech;

b) they produce humorous effect;

c) they characterize the speaker as a well-educated person.

4. Poetic words are used in poetic diction

a) due to the poetic tradition only;

b) to create the romantic atmosphere;

c) to produce the effect of elevation;

d) to comply with the poetic tradition and create romantic atmosphere.

5. The common literary, neutral and common colloquial words are grouped under the term

a) non standard English vocabulary;

b) standard English vocabulary;

c) core vocabulary.

6. Jargon words are used within a certain professional group

a) to facilitate the communication;

b) to show that the speaker also belongs to this group;

c) to stress the informal character of communication.

7. Jargon words and slang words

a) characterized by the same degree of degradation;

b) differ in their degree of degradation.

8. Slang is used

a) to show that the speaker shares the same ideas as are possessed by his communicants;

b) to make speech more expressive;

c) to produce humorous effect.

9. Vulgar words are subdivided into

a) lexical vulgarisms and semantic vulgarisms;

b) lexical vulgarisms and stylistic vulgarisms;

c) semantic vulgarisms and stylistic vulgarisms.

10.In the sentence "Aren't it awful, Sam?" the underlined word is used

a) for the sake of characterization;

b) to produce humorous effect;

c) to make speech expressive.

Further reading

1 Антрушина, Г. Б. Лексикология английского языка / Г. Б. Антрушина, О. В. Афанасьева, Н. Н. Морозова. - М.: Дрофа, 2004. - С. 27-43.

2. Арнольд, И. В. Стилистика современного английского языка / И. В. Арнольд. -Л. : Просвещение, 1973, 1981.

3. Гальперин, И. Р. Очерки по стилистике английского языка. Библиотека филолога/И. Р. Гальперин. -М., 1958.

4. Ивашкин. М. П. Практикум по стилистике английского языка / М П. Ивашкин. В В. Сдобников, А. В. Селяев. — Нижний Новгород, 2002.

5. Скребнев Ю. М. Основы стилистики английского языка / Ю. М Скребнев. -М. : ACT, 2000.

6. Кузнец, М.Д. Стилистика английского языка/М. Д. Кузнец, Ю. М. Скребнев -Л., 1960.

7. Galperin, I. R. Stylistics /1. R. Galperin. - M. : Высшая школа, 1977.

8. Kukharenko, V. A. Seminars in Style / V. A. Kukharenko. - M. : Higher School Publishing House, 1971. - 183 p.

9. Шаховский, В И. Стилистика английского языка / В И. Шаховский. - М . ЛКИ, 2008.