De djos à hoes en passant par morrays et igos : comment le rap influence la circulation des lexèmes identitaires pour les jeunes

• Published in: Revue d'Études Françaises no. 27; pp. 159 - 173
• Main Authors: Fiévet, Anne-Caroline, Mudrochová, Radka, Podhorná-Polická, Alena
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 2023
• ISSN: 1416-6399; 1416-6399
• DOI: 10.37587/ref.2023.1.12

Rap songs serve as an important vector for disseminating slang lexemes, which become part of youth identity. By cross-referencing the results of several methodologies (searches in 10 online dictionaries and questionnaires completed by 14 teenagers), we observe the circulation of 6 lexemes with different diffusion patterns. While boloss and kho are widely and since a long time known lexical items, igo and djo are considerably less known, and morray appears to be declining in usage. As for the anglicism hoe, its diffusion in French is well attested in rap lyrics but not in dictionaries neither in questionnaire responses, so its circulation needs to be monitored. These examples are representative of the ways in which new words enter bottom-up in French and underscore the variability in their dissemination and description in dictionaries.