New words and changes in American culture
Language is a mirror, treasury, bearer, and tool of its culture. The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis states that language is a guide to social reality: speakers see the world through their languages .
People are constructing reality with their language. A study of new words helps reconstruct and interpret the reality within which people live, think, and act: To say language is to say society. The study of new words in present-day American English displays new developments in contemporary American culture. The following tendencies are obvious:
· 1) American culture is preoccupied with new technology: a lot of new words have been suggested for the new society that emerged in the USA between 1961 and 1990: technetronic society = shaped by advances in technology and communication, cyberculture = served by cybernated industry, the information society , a service economy, a media society.cybertot=a youngster raised in the digital age;cyberpunk =an Internet outlaw, who tries to break government security codes; cyberspace , cybersex,etc.; Cyberspeech= the style of speech attributed to specialists in computer industries, originated in Silicon Valley, a region in Northern California around San Jose where the electronic and computer manufacturing industries are concentrated which is now spread all over the world among computer users; 404= someone who is totally clueless or ignorant on a subject, e.g. Janet is totally 404 when it comes to multimedia ( from the «404 File Not Found» - message on the Web when a site is closed or is temporarily inaccessible) 411= information
· 2) Members of contemporary American culture live in the consumer society(суспільство споживання) in which much experience can be metaphorically described by addiction: New words give evidence of Americans’ addiction to food, shopping, drugs, and entertainment. junk food junkies = people who are fond of food of a low nutritional value but high in calories; couch potatoes = lazy persons whose favorite occupation is watching television and taking no exercise; pluggies =creatures of comfort and convenience, overstimulated by artificial intelligence;
· mouse potatoes= persons obsessed with computers; foodies =people interested in eating, cooking reading and talking about food, a colloquialism since the early eighties implying a more general enthusiasm than the refined taste of gourmet, and probably reflects the way that the consumer society promotes interest in ‘good food’ through TV series and Sunday magazines.
· wannabes =avid fans or followers who hero-worship and try to emulate a particular celebrity or type , especially in appearance.
3)Another generalization is that present-day American culture is obsessed with the love of the new, it may be described as the culture of neophiliacs(любителі, шанувальники нового). American mass media is constantly promoting the latest, new products, and American economy is geared to producing soon-to-be obsolete fashionable consumer goods.
· 4) Contemporary American culture praises competence and intelligence, and is critical of those who do not display these qualities: among new words, we find many terms of denunciation, stereotyping and ridiculing. a geek = an unfashionable, boring or socially inept person. A geek is also seen as a person likely to have an obsessional interest in a specified hobby: a movie geek, a computer geek, etc. a nerd=an unpleasant, unattractive, ineffectual person; a scumbag = a dishonest person; a dork = a vicious person, a crazie = someone who can become dangerous, a freak, a weirdo etc
Intellectual movements and Demographic generations (people born in a 20-30 year period) have impact on American culture,e.g.The Beat generation (the 50-60s), the Movement (the New Left) (the70s), The Me generation (the 70s), Yuppies = young upwardly mobile professionals (the 90s), dinks = double income, no kids;The Baby Boom Generation (baby boomers born in 1945-50), Generation X (people born after 1965, elusive in terms of identified interests, buying patterns and TV viewing habits).
5)Speaking of cultural products, the domination of style over substance is obvious. Many new words show the poor quality and low cultural level of the product. blue movie = indecent film displaying sexual activity; blockbuster=something enormous, especially a movie or a book that attracts a large audience;
· slash = a genre of popular fiction, typically published in slash zines (=magazines), in which male characters who form an established partnerships are portrayed as having homosexual relationship. flash and trash =local TV news broadcasts that feature an abundance of violence, sex and the bizarre in order to boost ratings;
queer literature/queer texts = texts about/by the people belonging to sexual minorities.
6) Political correctness(PC, “Be sensitive or else ‘90s”) is a tendency of American culture to avoid using certain terms and names because of possible offense to some people, and to avoid the notions of inequality, e.g. a lot of new terms appeared, e.g. Native Americans (instead of Indians), Afro Americans (instead of Black people), etc. PC was widely used in the 90s. Nowadays, its extreme form is treated ironically and pejoratively and is often ridiculed, but still there is a strong feelings towards avoiding all kinds of prejudices in language.
SUMMARY:The new words coined at a certain period can be guides to the culture of the nation. The content analysis of American English neologisms confirms the thesis supported by many scholars: this culture has achieved great technological power and affluence, but sometimes is losing control over its lifestyles and has less security for its individuals.