ENGLISH WORDS ADOPTED AND USED BY POLISH GRAFFITI WRITERS. A REVIEW OF SOCIO-LINGUISTIC ASPECTS
Marek Krawiec
Wielkopolska Wyższa Szkoła Humanistyczno-Ekonomiczna JarocinAbstract
The issues presented in the article concern English loanwords and their role in the process of
shaping a specific variety of the language which is characteristic of the subculture of Polish graffiti
writers.
The article describes various forms, styles and techniques by means of which young people
signal their presence and express their thoughts and feelings. The paper is, first of all, an analysis
of the linguistic component and an attempt of classifying English lexical units which are borrowed
and most frequently used in the conversations of Polish graffiti writers. This study also concentrates
on the categorization of the linguistic content which is adopted from the English language to
various forms of Polish graffiti writings.
The article presents the results of the survey which was conducted at the turn of April and
May 2006. The obtained results suggest the widespread use of English words in the daily talk of
Polish graffiti writers, the evidence of which comes from the quoted expressions and utterances
that are applied by artists in their environment and their description of the so called "crime work".
The article in the final part also enumerates the main factors which are believed to have
a significant impact on such frequent use of English words among Polish graffiti writers.
Keywords:
graffiti, forms/styles, lexical borrowings, English loanwords, reasons for useReferences
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Wielkopolska Wyższa Szkoła Humanistyczno-Ekonomiczna Jarocin
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