DOI: 10.7256/2454-0749.2020.1.28596

Abstract: This article is dedicated to the peculiarities of functionality of argot of French police officers on derivational and semantic levels. The analysis of empirical material determined the key trends of derivation of the reference group, as well as the link between the leading functions of argotic lexicon with selection of ways and sources of harvesting lexical repertoire. It was revealed that in argot of French police officers prevails derivation based on the imagery reconsideration: metaphor allows realizing ludic function of argot, while metonymy is more often used for crypto-alalic purpose. The argot of French police officers also features an active process of borrowing lexemes from other languages; American and British versions of English language serve as the main donors. In the course of research, the author determines the semantic dominants of argot of French police officers: in lexical repertoire prevail the lexemes related to various type of legal violations, which similar to other argots, due to the thematic limitation of lexicon is nonfunctional. In majority of instances, synonymic rows include lexemes with different connotation; however, in some areas, the series is comprised of lexical units allowing to designate differentiation within the concept class. Using particular examples, the article explores other types of wordplay based on polysemy and homophony. It is noted that wordplay on the basis of homophony carries spontaneous character, while other types are more complicated and require certain background knowledge.

DOI: 10.7256/2454-0749.2018.1.25524

Abstract: Based on the analysis of the French and English nonstandard vocabularies, the authors of the article analyze the relationship between language patterns and world outlook. As a result of their research, the authors define the most significant semantic spheres and fields that are typical for the French argot and English slang. Through analysing empirical material selected from specialized sources of uncodified speech, the authors have defined world view particularities of the French and Englishmen in various spheres of life. For example, the authors have discovered that both the French argot and English slang are more everyday life languages and rich in bright images. Noteworthy, that the French use metaphors more frequently while the English slang has a greater share of metonymies. The results of the research demonstrate that nonstandard language patterns create a miniature copy of the national world view reflected in the French argot and English slang. Analysis of the empirical material carried out by the authors allows to define world view particularities of the French and Englishmen, in particular, the authors describe cultural features of these nations in both everyday life and business. The research gives an opportunity to look at the society from the point of view of nonstandard language patterns that, in this case, create a reduced copy of the national world view and allow to discover the main lexical and semantic tendencies at the same time.