UNDERSTANDING SLANG IN EMINEM’S THE MARSHALL MATHERS LP 2

Abstract

Slang is a non standard language occuring in casual conversation which is mostly used by teenagers in daily conversation. One of the important role in forming slang words is using word formation processes theory. Therefore, this research is conducted to describe the word formation processes of slang words in Eminem’s album The Marshall Mathers LP 2. The goals of this research are (a) to understand the types of word formation processes that are involved and the lexical meanings of the slang words; and (b) to expose the most frequently used process in forming the slang words. This research apply qualitative methods. To analyze the data, I use Yule’s theory (2006) to categorize the formation processes of slang words. As the result of this research, there are 197 slang words in Eminem’s album The Marshall Mathers LP 2. Those words are grouped into nine types of formation processes. They are clipping (43.51%), blending (32.99%), compounding (13.70%), derivation (13.70%), mutiple process (4.56%), acronym (2.53%), coinage (2.03%), borrowing (1.52%), and conversion (1.01%). From all slang words used in the song lyrics, the most dominant process in forming the slang word(s) is clipping and blending. The finding shows that the meaning of the slang words found was suitable with word or phrases in the song lyrics. Based on the result, this study reveals that many slang words can be formed through word formation processes. It is obvious that word formation processes play a significant role in slang words such as borrowing, acronym, clipping, compounding, blending, coinage, multiple processes, derivation and backformation. They create new words from the original words or words which are related to each other.