FRENCH YOUTH SLANG AS ONE OF THE CONCEPTS OF MODERN CULTURE

Abstract

The article is concerned with the study of emerging trends in modern French, namely youth slang, which progressively penetrates the language. After analyzing the speech of modern French youth, the authors set the goal to show the structural and functional specificity of the French youth slang, the influence of different aspects of the development of society on it, as well as the ways of forming youth slang. The elucidation of the concept and types of slang of French youth, as well as the identification of the most productive ways of forming youth slang – metaphorization, borrowing, affixation, abbreviation, use of synonyms, are within the scope of this study. The main methods of material selection were linguistic method of continuous sampling, conceptual analysis of lexicographic sources, structural-semantic and comparative analysis. The paper used an integrated approach to the analysis of youth slang, which allowed for considering in more detail how the perception of reality is expressed through the language of modern youth, as well as identifying new trends in the youth environment. Using the linguistic and cultural approach to studying lexical composition of youth slang, the authors focus on the fact that language is an indicator of changes that occur in the modern world, that knowledge of French youth slang helps to facilitate communication, but despite the benefits of this style of language – expressiveness and conciseness – it cannot replace standard literate speech. In recent years, the very nature of this phenomenon has attracted the researchers of youth slang. The problem statement is determined by the fact that youth slang is an interesting sociocultural phenomenon and at current too little emphasis is put on the issue of sources of its replenishment. The study lies within the prospects of areal linguistics. The formation of the French youth slang is influenced by extralinguistic factors (history of the country, its culture), features of linguistic behavior and the environment in which slangisms emerge. Obsolete French words with opposite meanings, words characterizing some professions and nationalities with a connotation of neglect and irony are often used.