Jargon

ENGL3005 Language in Contemporary Societies

A case study of the language used in the Hong Kong ground service airline discourse

2014/15 Semester 2

Wong Sui Wa, Selena 14059699D

1. Introduction

Jargon is a group of words not diffused to the mainstream society which is recognized and shared by members in a particular cultural system (Joshua, 1968). It is used for specialized varieties associated with a profession and well-defined social sub-group of which the linguistic varieties are overlapping complex, constantly and contextually changing and constantly and contextually interacting with creation of meanings (Joshua, 1968). Over the years, there have been scholar investigating different jargon groups trying to decipher the encoded linguistic items including Fauth, Bernardo, Camara, Resetarits, Van Buskirk, and McCollum on jargon study in America in 1996, Castro, Wilson, Clifford, Wang and Schillinger’s work on medical jargon in 2007 and Kertesz and Benson’s work on a clinicopathological study in 2013.

There is a few study on jargon research in Hong Kong including Yuen’s research on Hong Kong police jargon in 1981, Law and Ngai’s work on travel websites in 2005 and Yeung and Law’s study on hotel web sites in Hong Kong in 2006. However, none is conducted in the Hong Kong airline service discourse to explore the jargon terms the staff uses and the meaning behind. Therefore, the present study aims to 1) explore the jargon terms in the Hong Kong airline ground service discourse 2) the linguistic environment of the use of jargon terms 3) the reasons of using jargon terms.

2. Literature review

Yuen’s Hong Kong police jargon and some sociolinguistic correlates (1981)

Yuen has suggested that the development of the jargon terms is due to differentiation which is related to psychological reasons. His study findings oppose to that in Fauth, Bernardo, Camara, Resetarits, Van Buskirk, and McCollum’s work in 1996 of which the findings suggest...