Slang expressions as a representative of Social Identity of Baghdadi Community
الباحث الأول:
Israa Ali
الباحثين الآخرين:
Sahar Qaiser,, Noor Alhuda Ahmed
المجلة:
The Islamic University College Journal
تاريخ النشر:
25 أغسطس، 2025
مختصر البحث:
Language is a tool of communication and it is basically a means of expressing human's feelings and needs. Generally, the form of language use can be divided into formal and informal settings depending on the context. Besides, these expressions are c…
Language is a tool of communication and it is basically a means of expressing human's feelings and needs. Generally, the form of language use can be divided into formal and informal settings depending on the context. Besides, these expressions are considered as being nonsensical words. However, the informal use of language has not received an adequate attention. Hence, slang is an informal way of communication which is described as vulgar or colloquial. Slang is an innovation of language change formed by particular group of people to reflect their social and cultural identity. Studies on the sociolinguistic study of slang in Baghdad's community have not received the attention of researchers. Therefore, the present study attempts to answer the following questions: what are the most commonly slang words used among Baghdadi teenagers? What are the social and pragmatic functions of using slang expressions among teenagers in the city of Baghdad? To what extent the usage of slang expressions is influenced by the context? The aim of this study was to gain an in-depth understanding of slang as a manifestation of a person's cultural and social identity of Baghdadi community. That is, to investigate the relationship between the slang expressions and social identity. It also aims to find out which are the commonly slang expressions used among Baghdadi community and what are their social and pragmatic functions. It also sheds light on examining the various motivations behind using these slang expressions since there is no relationship between these linguistic expressions and standard language. The study followed a mixture of qualitative and quantitative research method, including questionnaires. More specifically, the data collected for this study is a survey that systematized as a questionnaire in which these expressions are classified into different types according to their functions, taking into consideration the importance of context in interpreting their pragmatic meaning. As a result, the present study found that Baghdadi community has uniqueness since they utilized different slang expressions in their interaction. The most commonly slang expressions used are to show intimacy. The findings of the study showed that the context has an important role in providing a full understanding of the intended meaning of slang words. Ultimately, this paper revealed how the choice of these expressions is utilized differently depending on certain social and pragmatic functions.
Key Words: Sociolinguistic variation, Dialect, Slang, Social identity and Pragmatic meaning.
