A structuralist-functionalist account of border slang

Abstract

This article argues for a structural-functional analysis of modern slang. V sing data from three groups (rural Spanish-speakers, urban blacks, and middle-class Anglos) the discussion asserts that slang used among all social classes of young people in modern America shows age-graded themes. For youngsters between the age ofeight and early adolescence, the major theme establishes in-group and out-group membership. From middle adolescence through the College years, the central theme censures badpersonal judgment. Between a persons middle and late twenties, the major theme reinforces responsible performance in one's career or on the Job. Thus in different age-graded phases, slang usage reinforces patterns for social closure in the majority society.