13 In English, international variety is exemplified by the distinction of British
English and American English. The differences exist in their pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar Holmes, 2001. This phenomenon does not only occur
between British and American English. It is also discovered in other countries which use English as their first language. For example, the differences are also
found among British English, American English, Canadian English, Australian English, Singaporean English, and New Zealand English.
The international varieties are not only represented by standard variation, but also by slang. Regional variety classifies slang into particular types based on
the area Mattiello, 2008. Eble 1996 says some slang words are associated with certain area. English slang in one country may differ to other countries. For
example, bloke is used in British and Americans use guy to refer „a man‟ Eble,
1996. The distinctions are possibly laid on the meaning of the same slang word as well. In United Kingdom, the terms of baby buggy
is used to denote „a mini metro car‟ whilst it means „a convertible Volkswagen beetle‟ in America Dalzell
Victor, 2007. In the regional variation the distinction is discovered in the slang terms to denote particular object. Ayto 1998 reveals the British slang speakers
use johnnies as slang words for „condom‟. Meanwhile, it is called scumbag by the
American slang speakers Ayto, 1998.
3. Language change
Language surely changes over times Keller, 1994. Holmes 2001 reveals, the phenomenon occurs because the new words are invented by the
14 speakers then they are spread. As soon as they are widely dispersed, the old
vocabulary will be replaced by the new one Holmes, 2001. There are two possibilities of the sustainability of the new words. According to Holmes 2001,
the outspread new word probably stays or die, it depends on whether it is accepted by other speakers or it is rejected. If the word is rejected, thus, it will die and will
be replaced by another new invention. This kind of phenomenon occurs in slang. In 1989, Eble has tried to
conduct a study on the use of slang in the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill over fifteen years to attest the rapid change on slang vocabulary as cited in
Eble, 1996. She used students from fifteen period years. In addition, she tabulated 200 slang words that used on the fall of 1972, 200 words employed the
fall of 1980, and 500 words applied in the fall of 1987 cited by Eble, 1996. The finding stated that there were only two percent out of two hundreds slang words
that were from 1972 reapplied in 1980. In Addition, there were only one percent of slang words from 1972 that were found on 1987. As the result, her study
strengthens the evidence of the ephemerality of slang. Based on Holmes 2001, language change can spread widely from group
to group interaction. She states that the change spreads from an age group, then to a social group, and the last it spreads to the regional group. People who interact
with more than one social group have the biggest role of the distribution process of language change Holmes, 2001. This phenomenon may occur in slang. At
first, the new slang word is used by a particular individual or social group. Then it is spread in the wider social group.
15 In addition, Holmes 2001 states that language changes are possible to
infiltrate through the style to style. It occurs because the individual style is adapted by someone who is a member of particular social group Holmes, 2001.
Then, the change spreads from social group to another. Holmes 2001 reveals the case occurs when someone from working-class who adapts a middle-class style.
Moreover, the middle class style is applied widely in the working-class group. It also occurs in the local worke
rs‟ speech. The members of high social class use their speech to show the solidarity for the lower class Holmes, 2001.
According to Fromkin, Rodman, and Hyams, 2003, language change occurs in the linguistics aspects, such as: phonology, morphology, and syntax.
They also add that the change in lexicon is also discovered. The lexical change engages some processes, namely: addition of new words, borrowing words
alcohol from al-kuhul in Arabic, and loss words, and semantics change Fromkin, Rodman Hyams, 2003. This is in line with Croft 2000 who states ,
“society can alter its language through borrowing coinage, calquing, and creation of new constructions, and development of written style in order to extend the
language to new domains or stylistic registers or by not doing so, thereby allowing another language to occupy that social niche instead” p.266
The addition of new words process in language change occurs by coinage new words, deriving new words from names, blends, back-formation,
abbreviation or clipping, and acronym Fromkin, Rodman Hyams 2003. According to Fromkin, Rodman, and Hyams 2003, coinage word
is “the construction the invention of new words that then become part of lexicon”
16 p.577. They reveal, the example of coinage is the word 247 pronounced twenty
four seven to denote „all the time‟.
Generified word is a process to create a new word from a particular name Akmadjian, Demers, Farmer Harnish, 2010. Usually, the new vocabulary
enters the language from a brand of product. Xerox is one of the generified word examples. At first it originates from a brand name of photo copy machine but it is
used to denote a verb „to photocopy‟ now Akmadjian, Demers, Farmer Harnish, 2010.
Blends may affect the lexical change as well. In this process, each part from two words is combined. O‟Grady, Archibald, Aronoff, and Rees-Miller
2010 defines blend as “a word that is created from parts of two existing items” p.612. The word is made by mashing up two chunks of words. It is exemplified
by word smog which consists in smoke and fog Fromkin, Rodman Hyams 2003.
Back-formation is one of processes that change the words. According to Fromkin, Rodman, and Hyams 2003, back-
formation is process of “removing an affix from an old word” p.575. Basically, suffix is deleted from the existing
word. For example, edit originates from editor Fromkin, Rodman, and Hyams, 2003. Moreover, it is exemplified by scavenge from scavenger Akmadjian,
Demers, Farmer Harnish, 2010. Abbreviation process is possible to cause the language changes. Fromkin,
Rodman, and Hyams 2003 state “the abbreviation of longer words or phrase
17 may become lexicalized” p.97. The process is applied by omitting the last part
of the words. The process is exemplified by doc that is from doctor, bro that is from brother, and mom that is from mommy. This process is also called as
clipping process Fromkin, Rodman Hyams 2011. A lexical change may be created by acronym. It is similar to the
abbreviation. However, it is not read each one by one. It is read just like words. The process happens by taking the first letter of the words that created a phrase
Napoli, 1996. The examples of acronym are UNICEF United Nations Children Fund and ASEAN Association of South East Asian Nations.
Furthermore, based on Fromkin, Rodman, and Hyams 2003, the addition of new word in lexical change occurs by derivational processes. Derivational
processes are the process of affixes attachment to stems to create new words Akmadjian, Demers, Farmer Harnish, 2001. It is exemplified by
“uglification, finalize, and finalization
” Fromkin, Rodman, and Hyams, 2003, p.511. Compounding process is applied to make a lexical change as well. This process
forms a new word by combining two or more existing words. The compound words are exemplified by: blabbermouth, bighead, and beat-box.
In the lexical change, the existing words can be lost from the language Fromkin, Rodman, and Hyams, 2003. The phenomenon occurs because the
words are stopped to be used and replaced by the new words. It may happen in standard language, such as acutiator Fromkin, Rodman, and Hyams, 2003.
18 Moreover, the process of words lost is found in slang. Eble 1996 reveals slang
can be stopped to be applied because the new slang appears. Lexical change is also attained by meaning modification. The process is
classified into broadening, narrowing, and meaning shift process. Broadening is defined as the sense of a word becomes broader. So the words that used to refer a
specific thing now it means everything Fromkin, Rodman Hyams, 2003. For example, cool, which was a jargon of jazz musician, is used widely now
Akmadjian, Demers, Farmer Harnish, 2010. According to Fromkin, Rodman, and Hyams 2003, narrowing is the process of specifying a word meaning which
is more general before. Radfod, Atkinson, Britain, Clahsen, and Spencer 2009 suggest narrowing is exemplified by the word girl that meant a young male or
female but now it only denotes a young female. Fromkin, Rodman, and Hyams, 2003 state that meaning shift process is a process of alteration a negative
meaning to positive either from positive to negative. For example, silly meant happy, however, now it means foolish Fromkin, Rodman Hyams, 2003
4. Slang
