Unit 8
Social Meaning
Social meaning is that which a piece
of language conveys about the social
circumstances of its use. In part, we
decode the social meaning of a text
through our recognition of different
dimensions and levels of style within
the same language.
connotative
affective
associative meaning
reflected
social
collocative
We recognize some words or
pronunciations as being dialectal, i.e.
as telling us something of the
geographical or social origin of the
speaker.
Other features of language tell us
something of the social relationship
between the speaker and hearer; we
have a scale of status usage, for
example, descending from formal and
literary English at one end to
colloquial, familiar, and eventually
s l a n g E n g l i s h a t t h e o t h e r.
Variation according to:
Dialect
(the
language
of
geographical region or of a
social class)
Time (the language of the
eighteenth century, etc.)
Province (language of law, of
science, of advertising, etc.)
Status (polite, colloquial,
slang, etc. )
Singularity (the style of
Dickens, of Hemingway, etc.)
Variation according to Dialect:
不同的词汇表示同种语义：
British English Singapore English
Majority
Ground
Hit
Box
Holiday
Off
Switch off
Close
Turn on
Open
Chaffing dish
Steamboat
Stamp
Chop
Decorator
Contractor
Porridge:
Singapore English:
A bowl of plain or savoury rice gruel,
which can be cooked with small pieces of meat
or fish
British English:
a thick, sticky food made from oats cooked
in water or milk, or to which sugar is added
Mutton chop
Singapore English:
Chopped-up lumps of meat with no
bone
British English:
Pieces of bone with meat attached
duck’s egg
Singapore English:
zero mark for an academic work
British English:
the egg laid by ducks
Butler
Singapore English:
Stewards or stewardesses
British English:
a male housekeeper
Interchange
Singapore English:
bus terminals
British English: a junction where a
motorway meets a main road, etc.
仅在新加坡使用的词汇与表达法，但还未
被上层语言所接受，例如：
Singapore English
Meanings
sayang
tamby
kaypoh
kayu
kiasu
a mixed feeling of pity, love, regret
for sth. precious that is lost
office attendant; office boy
greedy; interfering in others’ affairs
stupid; dull
a feeling of fearing failure on
inferiority to others
Singapore English
Aksy
Ang-moh
Boleh tahan
chap chye
Meanings
Affected
red-hair; a person of
European ancestry
tolerably good
a mixture of everything
新加坡英语的典型特征之一表现在对
“ la ”的使用上。
(1) 表达一种“显而易见”的事实，例如：
No need to count la. There are 30
students la.
(2) 表达一种委婉的建议，例如：
You tell him la! I’m so scared of him.
(3) 在作出某种解释时，用于缓和语气，
避免粗鲁，例如：
I was absent, because I was ill la.
le
(1) 表示说话人不赞成某件事情的发生,
例如:
You can’t walk there, very far le.
Hoh
(1)把直陈语气转为疑问句式，例如：
This is not true, hoh?
(2)蕴有一种“劝说”的话语功能，例
如：
You wait for me here, hoh.
感叹词
(1) Ay yaaah! 常在说话人生气时使用，例如：
Ay yaaah! You made the same mistake again!
(2) Ay yor! 常用来表示“痛苦”、“惊讶”
等，例如：
Ay yor! How can you do such a foolish thing ?
(3) Ayyer! 常用于对不愉快的事或不是预料
中的行为所作的感叹，例如：
Ayyer! What a mess!
(4) Che! 常用于对不愉快事情的发生
表示“恼怒”或“遗憾”，例如：
Che! Don’t interrupt me !
(5) allamah常用来表示说话人对自
己的言语、行为错误等的不满，例
如：
Allamah! I forgot to shut the door!
Variation according to:
Time (the language of the
eighteenth century, etc.)
In Shakespeare’s Hamlet:
jump
just
censure
opinion
vulgar
common
fond
stupid
pregnant
meaningful
gossip
female friends
Structures:
OSV
Saxons the victory won.
Him man not gave.
SOV:
He him saw
VSO
Then sent they home a messenger
Then sent the king the dish.
Negation form:
I deny it not.
Forbid him not.
I love thee not
He saw you not.
Words lost:
In Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet:
beseem
be suitable
wot
know
gyve
fetter
Words that only preserved in poetry,
etc.
The boy is fair, of female favour.
(W. Shakespeared: As you like it)
favour: looks, contenance.
P.112
What is freedom? Ye can tell
That which slavery is, too well.
Ye : you
It’s deuced kind of you.
Deuced: extremely
More examples:
ere (before);
albeit (although)
oft(often);
thither( there)
theretofore (up to that time)
save (except) perchance ( perhaps)
Province (language of law, of
science, of advertising, etc.)
in the field of language of law:
General
theft
beat
burning
crime
Specialist
larceny
assault
arson
felony
(language of science)
General
Specialist
hole
speed
force
orifice/cavity
velocity
intensity
(language of advertising)
account：雇佣广告公司为其商品等
作广告的公司和人。
ad：指报刊或杂志上的印刷性广告
以区别于广播、电视广告。
campaign：指形式不同，内容相似
的某一商品的系列广告。
CPM：指某一广告在某一媒介上传
播至每一千人或一千户家庭，刊登
广告人所花的费用。
Creative：指从事广告的实际制作，
如：Creative Department
Direct Mail：指包广告直接投递给
潜在的消费者。
Editorial Matter： 对报刊、杂志中
非广告性内容的总称。
Flier：单页广告。
GRP ：是“Gross Rating Point”
的缩略语，也用于估量广告中
的商品潜在消费者的单位。一
个GRP等于潜在消费者的百分
之一。
Heavy:广告业中经验丰富，具有成
就，身价很高的人。
Live Tag：常常位于事先垆埴好的
某一广播、电视商业广告之后，为
广告产品的总结性言语。
Make Good：广告免费重播。由于
机械故障或操作失误导致某一广告
传送受阻，以此作为对客户的补偿。
orange Goods：具有中等利润的商品。
Problem-solution：一种广告形式。首
先提出一个问题，然后推出某一商品
作为解决途径。
Puffery：夸张式的商业广告。
Red Goods：利润虽然小，但是十分
畅销的商品。
Slice of Life：非常现实，具有生活
气息的商业广告。
Spot：广播、电视为媒介的广告。
Talent：指制作商业广告中演员、歌
手、舞蹈人员、播音员、模特的总
称。
Up-Cutting：剪切广播或电视节目的
一部分内容以便有更多的时间进行
广告宣传。
Yellow Goods：利润高的耐用品。
Variation according to Status:
(polite, colloquial, slang, etc. )
Variation according to
Singularity: (the style of
Dickens, of Hemingway, etc.)
Buffon, a French writer and naturalist
of the 18th century once said:
Style, it is the man himself.
Jane Austen saw life in a clear,
dry light. She was not without
deep human sympathies, but
she had a quick eye for vanity,
selfishness and vulgarity and
she perceived the frequent
incongruities between the way
people talked and the realities
of a situation.
Her style is quiet and level. She
never exaggerates, she never, as it
were, raises her voice to shout or
scream. She is neither pompous,
nor sentimental, nor flippant, but
always gravely polite, and her
writing contains a delicate but
sharp edged irony.
Here is a very
differe nt w a y o f
writing. Charles
D i c k e n s i s
des cribing S tone
Lodge, the home of
Mr. Gradgrind, in
Hard Times:
To his matter-of-fact home, which was called
Stone Lodge, Mr gradgrind directed his
steps….
A very regular feature on the face of the
country, Stone Lodge was. Not the least
disguise toned down or shaded off that
uncompromising fact in the landscape. A
great square house, with a heavy portico
darkening the principal windows, as its
master’s heavy brows overshadowed his
eyes.
A calculated, cast up balanced, and proved
house. Six windows on this side of the door
six on that side; a total of twelve in this wing,
a total of twelve in the other wing; four-and –
twenty carried over to the back wings. A
lawn and garden and an infant avenue, all
ruled straight like a botanical account-book.
Mr. Gradgrind and Stone lodge suggest
hardness, cold fact, the absence of
tenderness and grace. The description of
the house reinforces this point. Notice that
the regularity and strict arithmetical
proportions of the house are not just
mentioned once but repeated again and
again.
A calculated, cast up balanced, and
proved house. Six windows on this
side of the door six on that side; a
total of twelve in this wing, a total of
twelve in the other wing; four-and –
twenty carried over to the back wings
Dickens’s criticism of “the Gradgrind
philosophy”, of the utilitarian attitude
to life that took account only of facts
and statistics and disregarded human
feelings, is direct and forceful. Detail
is heaped upon detail to create a
suitable house for Mr. Gradgrind, a
house that hardly resembles an actual
house.
Steed (poetic)
Horse (general)
Nag (slang)
Gee-gee
(baby language)
domicile (very formal,
official)
residence (formal)
abode (poetic)
home (general)
Cast (literary, biblical) diminutive (very
formal)
Throw (general)
tiny (colloquial)
Chuck (casual, slang) wee (colloquial,
dialectal)
1)They chucked a stone
at the cops, and then
did a bunk with the loot.
2)After casting a stone
at the police, they
absconded with the money.