Transgressive Codes in Contemporary English: An Analysis of Lexical Creativity in the Field of Music

Abstract

[Abstract] This paper reports the results of the morphological analysis of a corpus of names of singers and bands ascribed to alternative musical trends. The analysis evinces that language is a suitable instrument to convey their desire for self-assertment and their rejection of stablished commercialism; therefore, it is used to break away from the norm, and also from what is foreseeable or even politically correct. In morphological terms, this innovation through trangression is reflected in inflectional and derivational deviation (Red Sparrowes, Unsane), as well as in the productive use of word formation devices (The Boredoms, Funkadelic, VNA). Moreover, the fragile correspondence between an orthographic word, a phonological word and a lexeme is constantly challenged by a creative use of graphemes and punctuation, and semantically anomalous word combinations (P:ano, Sixtringcanvas). The study concludes that this domain of human interaction illustrates the invaluable capacity of language to adjust itself to the users’ needs and provides further evidence on the importance of usage vs. prescription in language development.