春晚流行语的社会语言学研究

【Abstract】Spring Festival Gala is the main platform for the birth and use of catchwords， and the catchwords in lingual items constitute a large portion of the whole. They are representative of catchwords not in Spring Festival Gala but also in the social catchwords as a whole. By means of monitoring， analyzing and researching catchwords， the changes of language rules are found out， which can helpful to the healthy development of language.

【Key words】catchwords； rhetorical devices； sociolinguistics

【摘要】春晚是流行词语诞生与使用的一个主要平台，而春晚语言类节目中所体现的流行词语则占据了一席之地，它是春晚流行语的典型代表，同时也是我国当代社会流行语中的重要组成部分。与此同时，通过对流行语的观察与分析，可以更加有效地掌握语言的变化规律，促进语言的健康发展。

【关键词】流行语 修辞方式 社会语言学

1. Introduction

Catchword， as a language symbol， is the immediate language phenomenon which can reflect the social changes or the social psychology.

CCTV Spring Festival Gala （hereafter referred to as SFG） is always the best sample for language study. In recent years， with the development of our society， the demand for the spirit part of SFG also has been lifted to a new height. People are watching the show with a critical eye. With the increasing adoption of internet catchwords in SFGs， the curious and enthusiastic audience gather online to predict the choices of the catchword in SFGs.

2. The Characteristics of Catchword

2.1 Timeliness

Timeliness means that the vitality of catchword is closely related to the time. From the definitions in the previous chapter， we found that the expressions like “in certain time” and “in certain period” is the main determiner. Therefore， catchword is the product of the time. For instance， catchword like “大字报” would remind us of the Cultural Revolution， and catchword like “特区”，“市场经济”and“小康”would bring us back to Chinas inception of the reform and opening up program in 1978.

2.2 Popularity

The catchwords have deeply influenced every aspect of human social life， especially in this information world. The catchwords become popular in masses with the help of TV， advertisements， internet and newspapers. For example， the catchword “cool” became well known in American music in the 1950s， and it appeared not only in daily conversation， films and advertisements of American， but also in many other countries such as China. It was translated into “酷” in Chinese and has been in wide use among the Chinese teenagers.

3. The Sociolinguistic Study of Catchword in SFGs

Language， on the one hand， is the product of society and largely influenced by the society， but on the other hand， language can reflect the change of politics，the development of economies and the progress of technology. In other words，it is the reflection of social culture.

3.1 Borrowed Word from Foreign Languages

Linguistic borrowings take place very often in language. Borrowing is one of the sources of catchwords. We cannot find even one language which is immune from heterogeneous linguistic elements， especially when the whole word is becoming a global village in the present information age. In recent years， owing to the international exchanges， lots of borrowed words have their Chinese name and some of them become catchwords such as “芬达” and “粉丝” which are directly borrowed from English.

《妈妈的今天》“唐戈儿揍是趟呀趟着走，三步一回头，五步一招手，然后接着趟呀趟着走。”

In the short sketch A Day of Moms “探戈（唐戈儿）”is borrowed from English word Tango which is a kind of dance with ones foot walking without leaving the floor.

3.2 Semantic Shift from Existing Chinese Words

Semantic change plays a very key role in the increase of the vocabulary of a language. Language is kind of symbolic； therefore， each word serves as a symbol in relation to a specific meaning. For example， “下海” has undergone semantic change from its original meaning “go to sea” to “engage in trade”.

《昨天·今天·明天》宋丹丹：“秋波就是秋天的菠菜。”

The meaning of QiuBo should be the bright eyes of beautiful woman， while after the sketch has been broadcasted， people have begun to use its wrong explanation of spinach in autumn as a joke more and more often.

From the above observation it is found out that catchwords can be both regarded as a language phenomenon and a social phenomenon. Its changing characteristic is full of linguistic value and social-cultural value. Catchwords， as a symbol， can best reflect the changing of the society and the changing of peoples mind.

References：

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作者简介：蒋侃婕（1988.12-），女，浙江嘉兴人，硕士学位，助教，英语笔译。