Semantic Change in African American Slang

Semantic change is an important part of African American slang and involves two mechanisms: figuration and shifting. Both are enormously productive and account for numerous slang expressions based on standard English. This paper presents these processes in detail. Partially drawing from the author’s...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Widawski Maciej
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Sciendo 2013-06-01
Series:Studia Anglica Posnaniensia
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.2478/stap-2013-0002
Description
Summary:Semantic change is an important part of African American slang and involves two mechanisms: figuration and shifting. Both are enormously productive and account for numerous slang expressions based on standard English. This paper presents these processes in detail. Partially drawing from the author’s earlier publications, the presentation is based on lexical material from a sizable database of citations from contemporary African American sources collected through extensive fieldwork in the United States in recent years.
ISSN:0081-6272