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In linguistics, an Americanism is a particular usage, i.e., it is a word or phrase being used by the native speakers of English in the United States. Every culture develops new words or adds new connotations to existing words. It is a part of the code system that adds distinctiveness to each group, large or small, e.g., the vocabulary of words, dress and attitude will vary significantly between, say, fans of hip hop (including gangsta) and punk rock. (Mrs! Cut the bullshit!) These usages are dynamic rather than rule driven, and evolve capriciously according to current fashion trends. Each major group of native speakers has its own "isms", i.e., Britishisms, Australianisms, etc. These are usages that are exported to, and adopted by, the native speakers of English who live in other countries, especially through the popular media of television and movies. Some usages exported from America are coinages, while others are archaisms (e.g., "Fall" in the sense of "Autumn") that may linger in local dialects. Jump to: navigation, search Broadly conceived, linguistics is the scientific study of human language, and a linguist is someone who engages in this study. ...
The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ...
Look up Culture on Wiktionary, the free dictionary Wikinews has news related to this article: Culture and entertainment Dictionary of the History of Ideas: Cultural Development in Antiquity Dictionary of the History of Ideas: Culture and Civilization in Modern Times Classificatory system for cultures and civilizations, by Dr. Sam Vaknin...
In semiotics, connotation arises when the denotative relationship between a signifier and its signified is inadequate to serve the needs of the community. ...
In semiotics, the concept of a code is of fundamental importance. ...
Hip-hop music uses a varied accumulation of slang terms that have changed as hip-hop itself has evolved and changed. ...
Gangsta rap, also known as hardcore hip-hop, was the name given to the subgenre of hip hop which often involved lyrical subjects based on the violence and misogyny inherent in the lifestyle of street thugs and gangsters. ...
Punk rock is an anti-establishment music movement beginning around 1976 (although precursors can be found several years earlier), exemplified and popularised by The Ramones, the Sex Pistols, The Clash and The Damned. ...
A neologism is word, term, or phrase which has been recently created (coined) —often to apply to new concepts, or to reshape older terms in newer language form. ...
Jump to: navigation, search Autumn (often referred to as fall in North America) is one of the four temperate seasons, the transition from summer into winter. ...
A dialect (from the Greek word διάλεκτος, dialektos) is a variety of a language used by people from a particular geographic area. ...
Many words regarded by non-North American English speakers as "Americanisms", such as "apartment", "fall" (meaning autumn), "pacifier", "elevator", and "diaper", are also used just as often by Canadians.
Explanation
This topic falls within the scope of linguistics because it looks at how sounds (or their written representations) communicate meaning between members of a group. The methodology used is functionalist and based in the field of Semiotics, i.e., it looks at all the signs that are combined to make up the message, and links linguistic facts to non-linguistic facts to give a broader empirical coverage. It recognises that one can only understand language in its social context, analysing the way in which people interact. The problem with pure linguistics is that it dismantles language into its component sounds, analysing usage in slow-time. Whereas, in the real world, there is an often chaotic blur of language and signal exchange when people communicate with each other. Yet, no matter how chaotic, social interaction to communicate the meaning(s) intended cannot be effective unless all the participants are using the same rules. That some of these rules are learned behaviour and unconsciously applied, e.g., for decoding the subtle shifts of facial expression or body language, does not diminish their reality or significance. Hence, what constitutes a usage (American or otherwise) can best be explored by using a combination of linguistics and semiotics in a functionalist framework. The introduction to this article provides insufficient context for those unfamiliar with the subject matter. ...
Methodology is the study of the methods involved in some field or endeavor, or in problem solving. ...
The article is about functionalism in sociology; for other uses, see functionalism. ...
Semiotics - also known as semiology - is the study of signs, both individually and grouped in sign systems, and includes the study of how meaning is transmitted and understood. ...
In semiotics, a sign is generally defined as, ...something that stands for something else, to someone in some capacity. ...
Empirical is an adjective often used in conjunction with science, both the natural and social sciences, which means an observation or experiment based upon experience that is capable of being verified or disproved. ...
In semiotics, the process of interpreting a message sent by the addresser to the addressee is called decoding. ...
An example As an example, let us take the denotative or surface meaning of two words in English. As a noun: In semiotics, denotation is the surface or literal meaning encoded to a signifier, and the definition most likely to appear in a dictionary. ...
- an elephant is large, grey-skinned, herbivorous pachyderm having its origin in either Africa or Asia; and
- a room is an enclosed space within the broader structure of a building, usually accessed through a door and admitting light through a window.
Thus, we come to the phrase, "an elephant in the room" which America is currently exporting to the world. In semiotics, a particular usage comes into being through the manipulation of connotative or implied meanings and of the value of the signifiers. The term for the process of adding a new meaning is encoding. In cognitive linguistics and rhetoric, this would be considered a metaphorical usage. In communication theory, the more general process is described as framing, i.e., the packaging of a certain piece of media content to predispose the audience to make the desired interpretation and to exclude others. In semiotics, connotation arises when the denotative relationship between a signifier and its signified is inadequate to serve the needs of the community. ...
In semiotics, the value of a sign depends on its position and relations in the system of signification and upon the particular codes being used. ...
In semiotics, the process of creating a message for transmission by the addresser to the addressee is called encoding. ...
Cognitive linguistics is a school of linguistics and cognitive science, which aims to provide accounts of language that mesh well with current understandings of the human mind, and is generally opposed to the more syntactocentric approaches to meaning in generative linguistics. ...
Jump to: navigation, search Rhetoric (from Greek ÏήτωÏ, rhêtôr, orator) is one of the three original liberal arts or trivium (the other members are dialectic and grammar) in Western culture. ...
In language, a metaphor is a rhetorical trope where a comparison is made between two seemingly unrelated subjects. ...
Jump to: navigation, search There is no unified human communication theory but a collection of communication theories that try to explain localized and specific communication processes and behaviors. ...
The term framing can have several possible meanings: framing (telecommunication), where it relates to synchronization framing (economics), where it relates to rational choice theory framing (World Wide Web), where it relates to the use of multiple panes within a web page framing (communication theory), where it relates to the contextual...
Applying the commutation test requires the analyst to substitute words. Thus, for "elephant", alternatives might be "ant", "goat", "hippopotamus", etc. For "room", alternatives might be "box", "enclosure", "Astrodome", etc. It is therefore reasonable to infer that the value significance in the relationship between the two words is a reference to relative sizes. If a small area is occupied by a large animal, any other animal or human seeking to share the same space must take care to avoid injury, thus decoding the connotative meaning. The process for analysing the metaphorical implication is similar. But, the usage has also acquired a further ironic quality from some contexts in which those occupying the space decide that it is prudent not to mention the presence of the elephant. In semiotics, the commutation test is used to identify the value or signficance of any of the signifiers used in the material to be analysed. ...
For the form of speech, see Irony. ...
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