ǂThe ǂinfluence of modern American popular culture on the English vocabulary

master's thesis

Bojan Kašuba (Author), Nada Šabec (Mentor)

Abstract

American popular culture is a complex unity of different social, political, economic and religious aspects. It is wrought in duality. Some consider it a low form, while others think of it as high art. It is often described as trash, nothing but a means to produce and consume products. Yet, many people of different social, cultural, political, racial and religious backgrounds create, produce and distribute popular content, in turn making American popular culture diverse, rich and colourful. The thesis presents some of the most important events in American popular culture and also enumerates and describes TV series, films, songs, music artists and other celebrities that have impacted American popular culture and the American way of life. Furthermore, the thesis deals with morphology, primarily word-formation. Basic linguistic terms such as morphemes, words, lexemes and affixes are explained. A detailed examination of word-formation processes is provided in order to better understand how new words are created. Additionally, a brief comparison between first language vocabulary acquisition and foreign language vocabulary acquisition is presented. The empirical section describes and analyses words which have been created or popularized in American popular culture in the last 25 years. TV series, films, songs, print and electronic media, politics, fashion, social networking websites and other forms of popular culture are examined to find new coinages. Such coinages are called neologisms. The words are analysed and compared according to their etymology, syntax, word-formation processes and meaning. A detailed examination of new words and their word-formation processes is provided in order to find out which word-formation processes are among the most productive in the 21st century. The main aim of this thesis is to provide a closer look at American popular culture and its influence on the English vocabulary, i. e. to better understand how culture can affect language and vice versa. Additionally, the thesis provides an overview of American popular culture, morphology and non-Standard English vocabulary and serves as a basis for further research of American popular culture, English morphology and vocabulary.

Keywords

sociolinguistics;American popular culture;word-formation;neologisms;print media;electronic media;master theses;

Data

Language:	English
Year of publishing:	2016
Typology:	2.09 - Master's Thesis
Organization:	UM FF - Faculty of Arts
Publisher:	[B. Kašuba]
UDC:	811.111'27'373.611:316.7(73)(043.2)
COBISS:	22417672
Views:	1134
Downloads:	102
Average score:	0 (0 votes)
Metadata:

Other data

Secondary language:	Slovenian
Secondary title:	Vpliv sodobne ameriške popularne kulture na angleško besedje
Secondary abstract:	Ameriška popularna kultura je kompleksna človekova dejavnost, ki združuje različne družbene, politične, ekonomske in verske vidike. Ameriška popularna kultura je dvoplastna, saj jo nekateri razumejo kot nizko obliko izražanja, medtem ko jo drugi vidijo kot visoko obliko umetnosti. Velikokrat je opisana kot kič ali šund, katere glavni cilj je proizvodnja in konzumiranje izdelkov. Kljub temu veliko ljudi iz različnih družbenih, kulturnih, političnih, rasnih in verskih okolij soustvarja popularne vsebine, kar dela ameriško popularno kulturo raznoliko, bogato in pestro. V magistrskem delu je predstavljenih nekaj najbolj pomembnih dogodkov ameriške popularne kulture. Naštete in opisane so televizijske oddaje, filmi, pesmi, glasbeniki in druge znane osebe, ki so odločilno vplivale na ameriško popularno kulturo in na ameriški način življenja. Poleg tega magistrsko delo obravnava morfologijo, predvsem besedotvorje. Razloženi so osnovni jezikovni pojmi, kot so morfem, beseda, leksem in afiks. Zaradi lažjega razumevanja nastajanja novih besed so predstavljeni in opisani besedotvorni procesi. Prav tako je podana primerjava med usvajanjem novih besed v maternem in tujem jeziku. V empiričnem delu magistrskega dela so opisane in analizirane besede, ki so proizvod ameriške popularne kulture zadnjih 25 let. Televizijske serije, filmi, pesmi, klasični in elektronski mediji, politika, moda, družbena omrežja in druge oblike popularne kulture predstavljajo vir novonastalih besed. Novonastale besede imenujemo neologizmi. Besede so analizirane glede na njihovo etimologijo, sintakso, besedotvorne procese in njihov pomen. Analiza novih besed in besedotvornih procesov bo pokazala, kateri besedotvorni procesi so med najbolj produktivnimi v 21. stoletju. Temeljni cilj magistrskega dela je podrobneje prikazati ameriško popularno kulturo in vpliv le-te na angleško besedje, tj. bolje razumeti vpliv kulture na jezik in obratno. Magistrsko delo omogoča vpogled v ameriško popularno kulturo, morfologijo in neformalno besedje in predstavlja osnovo za nadaljnjo raziskavo ameriške popularne kulture, angleške morfologije in besedja.
Secondary keywords:	sociolingvistika;ameriška popularna kultura;besedotvorje;neologizmi;klasični mediji;elektronski mediji;magistrska dela;
Type (COBISS):	Master's thesis
Thesis comment:	Univ. v Mariboru, Filozofska fak., Oddelek za anglistiko in amerikanistiko
Pages:	II, 258 str.
ID:	9153927