SLANG TERMINOLOGY – OLD PROBLEMS AND NEW SOLUTIONS TERMINOLOGIE ARGOTIQUE - ANCIENS PROBLÈMES ET NOUVELLES SOLUTIONS En Fr

Résumé 0

" Slang is one of those things that everybody can recognize and nobody can define. " Paul Roberts (Andersson –Trudgil 1990: 69) Over the years, in my work I have constantly highlighted the terminological heterogeneity in the field of European social dialects. Many of the terms that belong to national traditions and cultures are used in conjunction with international scientific ones (Armianov: 2004). And yet, the linguistic features that make terms out of ordinary words are rather clear and we can put forward the following characteristics: 1. the single meaning (the monosemy) of the term; 2. its semantic precision; 3. its stylistic neutrality. It is surprising that as soon as one starts discussing slang, argot or jargon the linguistic and cultural polysemy of these terms immediately brings a very complex and diverse picture to mind. This complexity and this diversity exist in all the countries of Europe and in the United States and they are quite difficult to overcome because of numerous extralinguistic factors. Because of this sociocultural opposition and the heterogeneity of the sociolectal terminological apparatus it is important to bring some order to this chaos. In the current context, I will attempt to paint a picture in which the European social dialects will be defined and analysed according to their pure linguistic and social characteristics. The final goal is to elaborate a clear structure, and a common terminological scale for European sociolects where each slang, jargon or argot can find its place.