Analysis on the use of Slang on Eminem’s lyrics

ABSTRACT

This study concerns with the analysis of slang in Eminem’s song lyrics. This study proposes a problem what are the characteristic of slang used in Eminem’s song lyrics?. This analysis is specially focused on slang language in song lyrics. Hopefully, this study will be useful for students of English Department, especially to help them understand slang language used in Eminem song lyrics.

One use of slang is a simple way of circumventing social taboos. The mainstream language tends to shy away from explicitly evoking certain realities. Slang, and also the informal forms of language, permits one to talk about these realities in a special language stripped of a usual connotation in the normal register. Slang vocabularies are particularly rich in a certain domains, such as sexuality, violence, crime, and drugs.Originally, certain slang designated the speech of people involve in the criminal underworld, hooligans, bandits, criminals, etc. therefore, their vocabulary carried very vulgar connotations, and was strictly rejected by the speakers of “proper” language. Other groups, generally those on the margins of mainstream society who were excluded or rejected by it, developed their own slangs. Slang is a language based off of shortened words; something like a contraction but used to shorten speech in a hasty manner.

This analysis used descriptive method because it is to describe the meaning of slang language in Eminem song lyrics of slang language in them. The data were taken randomly, that there are ten songs lyrics.

From the data that have been analyzed, it was found the characteristics of slang language in Eminem song lyrics are (a) Creativity means that slang language has cleverness, imagination, productivity, and talent. (b) Flippant means that slang language has irrelevant word of the contexts. (c) Fresh means that slang language has familiar words, different words, up to date words. (d) Onomatopoeic means that slang language has imitation words.

First of all, it is suggested to other researchers and the students of English Department who are interested in similar researches, to discuss about slang language more deeply. Secondly, it is also suggested that the other researchers can discuss the message in lyrics which maybe have hidden meaning or not which directly stated in the lyrics. The last, it is also suggested to analyze the slang language not only in the slang lyrics but also in the poem or other works.