Abstract:
Fluidity and lexical variation in the Sheng language have of late been
a subject of discussion and a concern to many scholars. Sheng users
seem to have numerous lexical items that are used to refer to the
same thing, person, process or situation. Moreover, the words keep on
changing in reference to the same item, person or situation. This paper
investigates the reasons why words in the Sheng language change after
a short time of usage. The paper seeks to explain the reasons behind
the lexical variations and the fluidity. The data are collected from field
interviews. The interviews are conducted through random sampling
where different youths from different regions are interviewed and
the lexicons used are recorded and noted. Besides, Sheng words that
refer to specific items and situations under research in this paper are
collected from existing publications on Sheng. The paper is guided by
the Social Identity Theory (SIT) and employs it in analyzing reasons for
the fluidity and lexical variations in Sheng, focusing specifically on the
in-group and out-group mentality of users. The findings of this research enable us to explain the main reason behind the lexical variation in
Sheng by the use of the primary and secondary data that is obtained
from the interviews and various academic literature. An understanding
of the aspect of lexical variation will add to the knowledge that already
exists about Sheng and help those who want to learn the language to
be aware of the confusion that might arise during the learning process
due to its fluidity. The findings show that there are indeed variations
in preferred Sheng lexicons due to secrecy, privacy and the linkage of
some of the words with insecurity and crime, etc.
