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Hong Kong Slanguage

Introduction
The word language consists of two original English words, slang and language. ‘Slang’ means informal usage in vocabulary and idioms that is characteristically more metaphorical, while ‘Language’ means a body of words in which people who are of the same culture, community or nation share the system.

Hong Kong slanguage consists of commonly used vocabularies or trendy expressions in Hong Kong which are in Cantonese only. This type of language is used both in written and spoken words. As Hong Kong slanguage mainly consists of trendy expressions that are commonly used in the Internet and other social medias, it broadly represents the culture or social issues which take place in a certain period of time. Therefore, Hong Kong slanguage usually changes with time and some words would be eliminated over time. However, due to usage of non-standard words or phrases, Hong Kong slanguage is still relatively less accepted and understood by Cantonese speakers.

History
The rise of local slanguage is so-called a social phenomenon in Hong Kong.

Nowadays, Internet is an essential media for people to get involved in interpersonal communications. In Hong Kong, there are approximately 5400000 active Internet users. This immense number of Internet users apparently gives an impetus to the evolution of Hong Kong online forums and the birth of Hong Kong slanguages.

The trend started with the development of local online forums. The two dominating online forums in Hong Kong, HK Golden Forum and HK Discuss Forum, were found in 2000 and 2003 respectively. As they gradually became more popular, it resulted in a drastic increase of Hong Kong forum users in 21st century. Interestingly, forum users, especially members of younger generation, found typing formal words and sentences on the Internet old-fashioned. They wanted to be distinct as well as innovative. Therefore, they decided to introduce some new words with various meanings as online buzzwords.

In the beginning, those words were exclusively used and posted in online forums. Younger Internet users were on the whole satisfied with that scenario. Unexpectedly, some of them had been extensively spread and soon became ‘lingua franca’ in Hong Kong as they somehow symbolise the trend. Not only getting used among teenagers, but also having enhancing popularity among adults and mass medias. Those newborn vocabulary and words are now widely accepted by the public and they are classified as ‘Hong Kong slanguage’.

In 2008 Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination, local slanguages were included in the questions by the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority in Chinese paper five. In 2009, a form-three student was found using slanguages in Territory-wide System Assessment. Therefore, Hong Kong slanguages genuinely influence our lives.

Examples
There are several examples of the usage of slanguage.

1.Hea -To describe someone who stroll around without any purpose and heedless of everything.

2.Fong Fei Gei (放飛機) -To fail to turn up on a date.

3.Add oil (十卜) - Sounds like the English word, support. To cheer someone up.

4.Fu Luk(負碌) - Sounds like the English word, fluke. Meaning something that is unlikely or surprising and only happens because of luck.

5.O jui (O嘴) - To feel astonishing and stunning, meaning Oh my Gosh. Thus, jaw drops and shape of the mouth assembles English letter, O.

6.Cyun Zoei(串嘴) - To behave arrogantly and rudely.

7.Wat Gei(屈機) - An adjective describing someone who is tremendous and excellent.

8.Sing Ne (升呢) - To gain a higher level in video game.

9.Baan Haai (扮蟹) - To behave pretentiously

10.Pan Faan (噴飯) - Something makes you burst into laughter.

11.Maai Fei Fat (賣飛佛) - My favorite.

12.Dik Hon (滴汗) -To feel speechless and reticent.

13.Taat Zoek (撻著) - Two people fall in love and become a couple.

14.Gwai Cuk (龜速) - Extremely slow speed.

Relationship with Cantonese and Culture
From the aspect of linguistics, the lexicon of Hong Kong slanguage can be classified into three types, including compounds, simple words and accessional words. Over 80% of 237 Hong Kong slang words consist of compound, a word with more than one radical element, which indicates that Cantonese slangs are usually composed by the existing words. Aforementioned examples such as Fong Fei Gei (放飛機) ,Cyun Zoei(串嘴) and Wat Gei(屈機) are all compounds, while Hea, Add oil (十卜),Fu Luk(負碌) are simple words, which cannot be broken down into different words and O jui (O嘴) is accessional word.

Cantonese has an array of unique features and the classification in usage of Cantonese is particular. The components of a Chinese word relate to each other compactly. For instance, radicals in Chinese symbolize various gestures and actions. It paves a way for Cantonese to possess strong expressiveness. Therefore, people nurture and create slanguage in Cantonese easily. Some words simply do not exist in other Chinese dialects. For example, there is no formal Chinese character for jiu(𡁻), which is verbal Cantonese for chew in which the word is simply made up by Hong Kong people.

Teenagers, being the most innovative and dynamic language users in a society, create new terms frequently. Youngsters is probably responsible for spreading slangs directly because they are much more susceptible to the world of television comedies, commercials, comic strips and so on. This explains why a large portion of slang expressions originate and spread out from youth communities. It also states that slanguage is not only for communications, but also for recording the current culture. Thus, through the wide acceptance of Hong Kong slanguage, culture of Hong Kong teenagers or even the entire society can be realized.