ENGLISH GAMING SLANG IN MODERN LIFE

АНГЛИЙСКИЙ ИГРОВОЙ СЛЕНГ В СОВРЕМЕННОЙ ЖИЗНИ

Сахарова Наталья Евгеньевна

студент 1 курса, Прикладная информатика, Государственный университет управления,

РФ, г. Москва

Федорахина София Вадимовна

студент 1 курса, Прикладная информатика, Государственный университет управления,

РФ, г. Москва

Белов Владимир Иванович

студент 1 курса, Прикладная информатика, Государственный университет управления,

РФ, г. Москва

Сухарева Наталья Александровна

научный руководитель, старший преподаватель кафедры иностранных языков Государственный университет управления,

РФ, г. Москва

ABSTRACT

This article deals with the popular concept “gaming slang” in English and its importance in modern speech and gaming life among youth. By the way, slang used to be in the past and it is changing rapidly nowadays because IT area is improving rapidly. Gaming slang is used by young people for expressing emotions, thoughts in the games and besides it can be easily understood by gamers. Moreover, it saves time during communication. It is a “youth language” that facilities the new generation to make their own world. The purpose of the article is to study the specifics of the language of gamers as a type of modern youth jargon. A survey was conducted and the results of this survey were analyzed. The relevance of the chosen topic is determined by the low level of study of this material in Russian, the lack of dictionaries and manuals that can reflect the communicative sphere. The results of this article can be used in sociolinguistics, lexicology, modern Russian (section of lexicology, word formation), also the material will be served to create a fragment in an explanatory morpheme-word-formation dictionary.

Keywords: gaming slang, youth, game, speech, language, informal, group, word, age, young people, gamer, computer.

There are a lot of languages in the world and every language is changing every day because there are words which are disappearing, outdating, appearing with new meaning. Any language has to meet modern time demands. It is impossible to interrupt this process because a language helps people communicate, share and exchange the information. There are a lot of traditions, cultures, habits of different people that helps to develop society and to know more and more about other human values.

Slang – is viewed as very informal language that is usually spoken rather than written, used especially by particular groups of people. [1].

In general, youth gaming slang shows how the linguistic society is changeable, balancing between formal language and jargon. The youth language is like its native speakers. For example, it is sharp, harsh and loud. It can be called the result to reconfigure society to communicate on “wavelengths”. However, the language of the older generation is different from that of the youth’s.

The gaming slang appeared in 1974 when the game “Dungeons and Dragons” started. Nonetheless, the gaming slang first came into existence from this game and it was practiced when a lot of players got together.

Why do the gamers use slang?

1. Shortness and brevity of their thoughts. A large number of words are monosyllabic, two-syllable, three syllables are possible. The gamers often do not have time to explain the situation because the enemy in the game is attacking or the teammate wants to tell how to win quickly in the game. Sometimes a second can be crucial. Therefore, the number one task is the rapid exchange of information. That is the reason why players invent the word or acronym and abbreviations that can be understood by all players.  For example,

“strength” – the ability to do things is “STR”

“dexterity” – the ability to perform a difficult action quickly is “DEX”

“constitution” – a person`s physical condition is “CON”

“intelligence” – the ability to understand and learn well is “INT”

“vitality” – strength and energy is “VIT”

“experience” – “Exp” or “XP”

“have fun” – “HF”

“Non-Player Character” – NPC [2]

2. Emotionality. It's pretty easy to explain. Any game is a gamble. Computer games are no exception. When passions run high, the only way to express your emotions are words. If a person plays badly, he can be called a number of offensive words: “new player”– “noob” or “newb”. A good player will be called approvingly “pro” (professional).

3. Versatility. Many users around the world are fond of games. Being in the same game space, they need a language that is understandable to speakers of different languages. Such gaming slang allows you to understand quickly each other and interact easily to achieve high results. The basis of gamers' slang is English, because the USA is the first country that creates new advanced computer technologies.

Some words are new only because native speakers are not familiar with the vocabulary of a certain group. One of the main sources of words for slang are commonly used literary words. Here are examples of some of them: “all” – it is the calling of player to get together, “blink” is the teleportation for a short distance (type of abilities), “leaver” (graduate student)– when the player leaves the game before it ends.

The gaming slang can be divided into 2 groups: oral and graphical. [3]

Both oral slang and graphical one are always informal and have a dialog form, while graphical slang includes signs, symbols, numbers, for example,

“4U” – for you,

“U2” – you too.

The players are often use phraseological units. Some units were picked up from computer games and exist in online spoken English dictionary:

To reach the limit break (to tilt) – to get mad after irritation for a long time;

To waste one`s master ball (to waste) – to blew a chance.

The scientists make the point that abbreviation is the most popular way to make new slang words [4] The often-used abbreviations are:

1. “AFK” – away from the keyboard;
2. “DGU” – do not give up;
3. “WD” – well done;
4. “GJ” – good job;
5. “PP” – pause, please or power points. [5]

During the studying of new meanings for commonly used words, there was one characteristic feature. All words that acquired new meanings in the game, have something similar in the meaning with commonly used word. When the word passes from the common vocabulary into the gamers’ slang, it does not change the meaning completely only partially. Thus, there is such a linguistic fact as innovation brings into the meaning of words. It is based on differences in the use and understanding of words. The changes in the word meaning is quite logical and can be caused by various situations in the game.

In English, there are a large number of words that are formed from simple words (compound words). The meaning of such words is guessed easily because it is made up of the meaning of each simple word. Sometimes the translation does not match with the literal meaning of each word [5]. For example, “bunny hopping” is a special jumping technique that allows you to move faster, “double–line” is a situation when two heroes are on the line, “jumpshot” is a shooting of jumping at the same time, “passive skill” is a passive ability that always works, without activation, “wallhack” is a shot through the wall.

In order to find out the using of gaming slang in the speech, the survey has been conducted among teenagers. 70 people (from 15-20 years old) have taken part in the survey. After conducting a survey among students, it is found out that the majority of teenagers (94%) play online games actively. At the same time, 80% of them use chat during the game to communicate with other players. The majority of respondents (75%) answer that they use game slang in their speech. Moreover, 70% admit that they use English words both during the game and during the everyday communication and do not discuss gaming topics. The question about the reason for using slang, many people answer (69%) that it is modern and everybody do it. A smaller percentage of respondents (20%) consider that English words more expressive than Russian and 10% use them to assert themselves. Also, as the survey shows, the majority (75%) agree that sometimes you cannot speak without slang, it is more convenient to express emotions. A minority (25%) conclude that the using of slang spoil the native language.

It can be concluded that the slang has found the place in youth speech as the speech is an integral part of language culture.

In general, nowadays it has become trendy to use English gaming slang. Young people and teenagers are trying to imitate Western culture. In most cases, it happens due to the lack of an analogue word in the Russian. The language of the younger generation can be compared with fashion in clothes – both concepts are characterized by variability and transformation.

In conclusion, it is necessary to say that nowadays the changes in communication plays a big role due to the material values change. In future the new slang concepts will continue developing and games vocabulary will be enriched. To sum it up, slang is an important part of our modern life.

In this work the literature and Internet sources were studied, it was shown ways of forming slang and lexical meanings of gaming slang. The data obtained the assumption that modern youth uses slang of online games not only during the game, but also in everyday life. The main reason for their using is trendiness, modernity, besides the speech become more expressive and vivid.

References:

1. Cambridge Dictionary. Режим доступа: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/slang Форум по Dungeons and Dragons. Режим доступа: http://dungeonsanddragons/ru
2. Горшков, Павел Алексеевич. Сленг хакеров и геймеров в Интернете: автореферат дис. кандидата филологических наук: 10.02.19 / Моск. гос. обл. ун-т. — Москва, 2006. — 19 с.
3. Булочова О. В. Язык геймеров как вид современного молодежного сленга // Проблемы формирования единого научного пространства: сборник статей Международной научно — практической конференции (5 мая 2017 г., г. Волгоград). В 4 ч. Ч.3 / — Уфа: АЭТЕРНА, 2017. 20–22 C.
4. Urban dictionary. Режим доступа: https://www.urbandictionary.com/
5. Царев П.В. Сложные слова в английском языке (учебное пособие). – Изд-во Московского университета, 2008. – 65 с.