INTRODUCTION
In every society, speakers recognise some norms for the use of their language and they stick to these norms as much as possible whenever they use language. With these norms in place, speakers are able to recognise any instance of the use of the language that deviates either slightly or greatly. In spite of the generally accepted norms for language use, it is still a fact of language use that some speakers are motivated to use language in a different way from the set norms. Such speakers deliberately make the choice to deviate in different ways for different reasons.
It is the deviant use of language that we shall be looking at in this Unit. We shall be primarily concerned with three instances of such usage that have been considered as deviant because of their peculiar expressions, which do not follow the norms of language use. These varieties we are considering are slang, graffiti and jargon.
3.1 What are Deviant Varieties?
Deviant varieties are varieties that deviate from the generally accepted norms of language use in a particular society. Deviant varieties are peculiar creations of an individual or a group of people who just choose to use language the way it suits them for some particular reasons. A deviant variety does not take cognizance of the rules and norms of the language. Its usage is determined by the speaker(s). Creative writers deviate from the norms of language use, especially poets. They do this to create some effect on the reader or listener and pass across meaning in a very forceful way.
Apart from creative writers, a group of other users in the society may also explore the creativity value of language to formulate their own code, which will only be intelligible to the members of the group. One major feature of deviant varieties is that they are limited in their scope of usage.
3.2 Deviation and Deviance
The term deviation is different from another term, which is closely related to it, i.e. deviance. A good writer may choose to deliberately deviate from the norm for creative and artistic purpose. In his deviation, however, such writer makes sure he/she does not break the grammatical rules of the language. A writer may deviate from the standard syntactic, morphological and lexical usage, but the writing of such writer will not be considered deviant. This is common in the writings of some popular Nigerian writers, such as Chinua Achebe, Wole Soyinka, Femi Osofisan, Ola Rotimi, and so forth.
However, some users clearly deviate from the norms and their usage is considered deviant because they break the rules of grammar. A very good example of this is Chika Okpala (Zebrudaya).
3.3 Slang
Slang can be described as informal, non-standard words or phrases, which tend to originate in sub-cultures within the society. Since slang is an in-group usage, it embodies attitudes and values of group members. Slang expressions may take the form of metaphors, similes and other figures of speech. They may also be old expressions, which are given new meanings or connotations in current usage. They may also be entirely new coinages or neologisms.
Slang expressions are highly colloquial and they are also considered as below the level of educated standard speech. Crystal (1994) describes slang as “language of a low vulgar type”. It has however been observed that slang is not only a feature of speech of the lower groups in the society. Slang is also used by the highly placed members of the society. Some reasons why people use slang are:
(a) to express concepts in a different way from the generally accepted ones;
(b) to be novel in their use of language;
(c) to be humorous;
(d) to be unmistakably arresting or startling;
(e) to be secret, so that not many people will understand them;
(f) to mark their identity as members of a group.
3.4 Graffiti
Graffiti is a form of writing that originated from drawing or inscription scratched on an ancient wall. According to Crystal (1994), graffiti is used nowadays to refer to any spontaneous and unauthorised writing or drawing on walls, vehicles and other public places. Graffiti often has political undertone or character, being used essentially as a humour. In most cases, graffiti is hidden in humour. It can sometimes be obscene, but, underlying the humour and obscenity is a serious societal issue, which the writer is using the graffiti to highlight.
Graffiti, especially when it is devoted to obscenity and dirty jokes is written on lavatory walls. It is almost the case that the more hidden the graffiti, the more obscene it is likely to be. Graffiti has become a permanent feature of most public toilets, walls, notice boards, public vehicles, train coaches, bridges and even billboards. It is a universal phenomenon and not characteristic of any race, nation, creed, sex or age. Students are the most prolific writers of graffiti. On most university campuses, any release or announcement is surely bound to be blotted by graffiti.
Graffiti is the most powerful outlet of the inner thoughts of language users. They can easily hide their identity and express in the public glare what they would not have ordinarily been able to express because such expressions may outrage the public or even embarrass the government and attract a penalty. People who cast aspersions on other religions, beliefs and the government or a powerful organisation in the society find it easy to hide their identity and still cast such aspersions.
Graffiti are mostly written, but sometimes, they could be pictorial, especially when they are obscene. When written, graffiti may be
reactionary that is, a reaction to an opinion, act or belief. It could also be conversational, in cases where someone wrote graffiti and another replied it, e.g:
I
G: Awo the saint,
M: God bless him
F: Awo is a thief
Proper, proper, madman (were)
II
Y: ABACHA MUST GO!
P: No way, Abacha is our man
B: Then you must go with him
Graffiti I shows different opinions of writers on the late Chief lp, one of the foremost Nigerian politicians who fought for Nigerian independence. Graffiti II also demonstrates in a humorous way the attitudes of Nigerians to the late despotic head of state of Nigeria, General Sanni Abacha.
SELF-ASSESSMENT EXERCISE
i. Collect some graffiti from any public building. Identify the topics
addressed by these graffiti.
ii. Read a work each of Chinua Achebe and Wole Soyinka and
identify how they deviate from the standard English usage.
3.5 Jargon
Jargon is the specialised or technical language of a trade, profession, or similar group. But the term has also come to mean inflated, vague, meaningless language of any kind. It is characterised by wordiness, abstractions galore, pretentious diction, and needlessly complicated word order. Whenever you meet a sentence that obviously could express its idea in fewer words and shorter ones, chances are that it is jargon.
One important feature of a jargon is that it relates to a specific activity, profession, or group. It is generally used to express ideas that are frequently discussed between members of a group. This makes it possible also to distinguish those belonging to such a group from those who do not. This is sometimes called "guild" or "insider" jargon. Those who are newcomers and those who are unfamiliar with the subject can often be tagged by their incorrect use of jargon.
The use of jargon by outsiders is considered by insiders to be audacious, since it constitutes a claim to membership of the insider group. Conversely, since outsiders may not see the reference made via jargon, they are all the more sensitive to its more visible elitist social framing.
Jargon to the outsider usually comes across as pedantic, nerdy, and divorced from meaning (Wikipedia Dictionary
Jargon is not the same thing as the word teminology in that it is informal and essentially part of the oral culture of a group, with limited formal or written expression. Many jargon terms have their non-jargon equivalents which would be used in ordinary daily language use, in print or when addressing non-specialists. Below are some jargons used by some professionals:
Please allow the system to butt before giving it any command or else there may be an error and it could shut down in the process. (Computer Jargon)
His prayer to the court for an interlocutory injunction was answered, so the company had to stay action until the case is finally determined. (Legal Jargon)
He was diagnosed as having kidney sclerosis, since then, he had done several dialyses. (Medical Jargon)
You will notice the specialised use of some lexical items such as butt, command, prayer, interlocutory injunction, kidney scelrosis, dialysis, and so forth.
The other sense of seeing a jargon, i.e, as a language characterised by abstraction, and needlessly complicated word order can be seen in the expression below:
A winged nocturnal mammal gyrated into my domicile through the aperture in my kitchen.
This expression uses unnecessarily complicated items to construct an idea, which would have been expressed with simpler ones as:
A bat flew into my kitchen through the window
4.0 CONCLUSION
The varieties of language that are used to express the different peculiarities of a group were examined in this unit. These varieties differ on the extent of their deviation from the norms of general usage and the mode through which the speakers disseminate information. For instance, a slang is openly used, but only by a few members of the group that uses it. Graffiti is more diverse and not restricted to any particular group of users. It cuts across the societal rung. A slang is also restricted to a group in a sense. It could also be the creation of a person who wants to be clumsy in his expressions.
5.0 SUMMARY
In this unit, we have examined three varieties considered as deviant because of their peculiar use by a group of speakers. We also looked at the different connotations these deviant varieties have been associated with.
6.0 TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT
1. What are deviant varieties?
2. Identify the major features of graffiti.
3. Discuss some reasons why people use slang,
4. Explain the two ways the word jargon can be used, using adequate examples.
7.0 REFERENCE/FURTHER READING
Crystal, D. (1994). An Encyclopedia of English Language. London: Longman.
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