Russian Musical Jargon as an Object of Linguistic Study

Abstract

e paper deals with Russian musical jargon treated as a professional sociolect of musicians. The material has been taken from the data presented in the Internet. Stylistically, musical jargon belongs to a colloquial register of the Russian language. A thematic classification of Russian musical jargon has been offered. This class of words and expressions may be subdivided into two unequal groups – specialized and non-specialized jargon units. The former comprises units reflecting the sphere of musical performance whereas the latter refer to various spheres of everyday life. Specialized musical jargon group is subdivided into three subgroups – nominations of subjects, objects and ways of musical performance. Nomination technique of the jargon described includes occasional affixal word formation, word composition, metaphorical transference, borrowings (mainly from the English language), dialectal and dated words, and onomatopoeia. Transference of musical notions into various sphere of reality is also a feature of the jargon described.