The Sociolinguistic Features of Gangster Argot in The Godfather

Abstract

Modern linguists reached an agreement on the argument that language capability makes human species unique among all group-living species on the planet so it can be hypothesized that a language could not survive if it were disconnected from interpersonal relations Despite a well entrenched consensus on language equality among modern linguists there is an intangible pyramid of languages due to linguistic discrimination Gangster argot which is subjected to a subliminal censorship from the vast majority of people has seldom been considered as a decent and valuable topic in the field of modern linguistic studies In view that The Godfather is exemplary of the way Mafia members speak in real-life scenarios this novel is sampled as an optimal literary discourse to study what makes gangster argot different from ordinary speech On the basis of literary specimens excerpted from the novel this research concludes that gangster argot which juxtaposes conciseness with confidentiality is characteristic of adaptive resilience absorptive capacity and provocative rhetoric