American slang in Friends: Morphological, semantic and sociological features

Slang is an elusive phenomenon which has been hitherto studied mainly for its sociological impact (e.g., Dundes and Schonhorn 1963; Mencken 1967; Olesen and Whittaker 1968; Eble 1996; Munro ed. 1997; Allen 1998; Stenström 2000; Stenström et al. 2002; Adams 2009), but long neglected for its linguistic features (cf. Dumas and Lighter 1978), or marginalised to the irregular facts of the language. Yet the descriptive theory-grounded account of English slang given in Mattiello (2008a) shows that slang has a locus among word-formation mechanisms as well as in the lexicon, and that its pragmatic relevance is vast and intriguing. First, slang formations are analysable in terms of both grammatical (regular and productive) and extra-grammatical (irregular) morphology. Second, the associative relations between slang novel meanings and the meanings associated with the same words in the standard language may be either predictable, because logical and transparent, or unpredictable, unconventional, and therefore opaque. Third, the socio-pragmatic functions and effects of slang are not confined to the creation of one’s identity or to group cohesiveness, but extend to other heterogeneous social aspects, which contribute to its spread and pervasiveness (see Mattiello 2005b). This study investigates the linguistic features of a regional variety of slang, i.e., the slang spoken in the United States. Today, American slang is a favourite choice in the mass media. For instance, it is widely used in television programmes that are meant to reproduce real conversations, such as reality television series, talk shows and situation comedies. The language of sitcoms’ characters is construed as fresh, innovative, yet colloquial and down-to-earth. This colourful language is generally used to produce immediate humorous effects upon the hearer, but, with the passing of time, it may also have a remarkable influence on the language of society at large. That is, people tend to learn the novel slang words and expressions that they hear on TV, and re-use them with their peers in ordinary life. This process highly contributes to the general evolution of slang. The data collected for this study are all drawn from the popular NTC’s sitcom Friends, whose characters are a group of friends, who occasionally live together and share living expenses in Manhattan, New York City. All episodes of the first (1994-1995), ninth (2002-2003) and tenth (2003-2004) seasons have been explored in order to provide a wider and more heterogeneous view of American slang. Yet the analysis conducted here is qualitative rather than quantitative, and the perspective adopted is synchronic rather than diachronic.