An analysis of popular phrases from the perspective of language and society

【Abstract】Language is a symbol of society and culture， which is closely related with peoples daily life.Popular phrase is a language-based popular social culture.This paper selects some typical popular phrases from political， economic and cultural fields based on contemporary language environment to briefly analyze the relations between society and language from the point of view of synchronic linguistics， and it tries to investigate What role does language play in our daily life and what social functions of language have brought in the process of social development.

【Key words】modern popular phrases； synchronic linguistics； social functions

【摘要】語言是社會文化的符號，與人們的日常生活密切相關(guān)。流行語是一種以語言為載體的社會流行文化現(xiàn)象。本文基于當(dāng)代的語言環(huán)境，從語言的共時性入手，在政治，經(jīng)濟(jì)和文化三個領(lǐng)域中篩選出具有代表性的流行語，淺析流行語與社會變遷的關(guān)系，并探討語言的社會功能在社會發(fā)展過程中的作用。

【關(guān)鍵詞】流行語 共時性 社會功能

1. Introduction

Language， as a symbol of social culture， is playing an indispensable role in peoples daily life.Popular phrase， as a very distinctive part of contemporary discourse， has brought intangible influences on the ways of peoples expressions and social interactions gradually.It is a kind of language in its current existence， and synchronic linguistics is thought of a description of language in its current existence. Thus， this paper aims to analyze languages social functions based on some particular popular phrases in contemporary discourse environment， and try to figure out social functions of language and what language have brought in the process of social development.

2. Linguistic theories

Saussure， who is often described as “the father of modern linguistics”put forward Synchronic study of language， which is the description of a language at some point in time， From the synchronicity of language， M.K.K.Halliday inherited Saussures perspectives of linguistics and made detailed explanations on languages functions creatively.Halliday developed Systemic-functional grammar which is a socially oriented functional linguistic approach， he thought that language is inseparable from social activities of human， and emphasized the social function of language which studies the relation between language and society， that is， how social factors influence the structure and use of language.This paper tries to analyze some popular phrases on the basis of linguistic theories above to illustrate the relation between language and society.

3. The analysis of popular phrases

Popular phrase is a prevalent discourse in some social communities at a certain period and it is also political， economic， cultural and psychological behaviors of people in language.It reflects the issues and things of peoples common concern. Different popular phrases arise in different social periods.They reflects different stages of vocabulary system in language.In this paper， the author selects some popular phrases from three aspects：politics， economics and cultures.⑴Politics：As Chinese government is rolling out nationwide two-child policy in2016， “two-child policy”which called“二孩兒”（er hai）in Chinese is becoming a popular phrase in daily life.It reflects changes of Chinese family planning policy.However， before 2016， it was declared that “One family has only one baby” as family planning policy in China， which means the second child in a family is illegal and if a family gives birth to a second baby， it would be punished by lawsin other words， the “two-child is” limited， .And Chinese people often saw the slogans like that “have fewer kids， live better lives”.But now， “two-child”has become a catchword， for this trend that government tries to fix aging problem and balance the sex ratio by the second-child policy.Now some families plan to give birth to another baby， which satisfy peoples wishes.In this way the changes of language result from changes of political policy， they influence each other.⑵Economics：新常態(tài)（xin chang tai）which called“New Normal”is a catchword in economical filed.It is a new economic strategy aiming to balance the growth rate and healthily national sustainable development.It embodies languages social function.It was first to be mentioned by President Xi Jinping during Henans investigation.Since “New Normal” was born， it has appeared in Chinese government reports or national conferences in high frequency.At the same time， when people talk about economic condition， new normal always be used to show opinions.It guides peoples ideology and changes the concept of public economy.It really brings Chinas economy into a brand-new age as a powerful political language.From this point， popular phrases give a full play as a kind of language power in economic filed. ⑶cultures：“中國范兒”（zhong guo fan） which called “Chinese Style”is a catchword in cultural filed. At first， it is a popular song in China， later it is used to stand for Chinese Image.In other words， it is the essence of Chinese cultures.Chinese style actually is inherently stable structure of Chinese traditional culture， and it is also Chinese world outlook， ways of thinking， behaviors and core values condensed down through Chinese traditional excellent cultures.With the growth of Chinas power， more and more Chinese unique cultures emerge on the international stage， such as Chinese clothes， kungfu， national spirits.When foreigners see these images， now， they often thumb up：“Chinese Style”.This popular phrase makes Chinese images more prominent and intensive， and it plays an important role in cultural transmission and Chinas images building.endprint

4. Conclusion

Language is regard as a mirror of society， through which we can understand the social activities of a certain society better， which is fully embodied in popular phrases.Popular phrase is a language-based popular social culture.“Secod-child”“New Normal”and “Chinese Style”representing a special language in recent years， can help understand the dynamic development of society and history， and get insight into main parts of peoples life and values.Besides， it also plays the social function of language vividly.This paper analyzed some popular phrases to illustrate the relation between language and society from the perspective of synchronic linguistics， and explain what the functions of language have brought in the process of social development. In a word， popular phrase as an effective language media， provides more broad perspectives in the study of social linguistics.

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作者簡介：楊婷婷（1991.2-），女，漢族，河北農(nóng)業(yè)大學(xué)，碩士研究生，研究方向：理論語言學(xué)，話語分析。endprint