The Language in British and Slovene Football Anthems

Abstract

Football is probably the world's most popular game, with a huge number of fans. There are numerous ways in which football fans express dedication to their club and the feelings they have for their team, for example, wearing certain colours, waving banners and flags, and singing. Football anthems are nothing new for football fans, and many clubs have a long-established tradition of them. In this paper, I will address and compare the language in some popular British and Slovene football anthems, and attempt to explain its contribution to the creation of fan identity, to the fans' sense of belonging, unity, and motivation. The linguistic analysis identifies the linguistic resources used in football anthems to express attitudes, form bonds and create identities.Keywords: attitudes; football anthems; identity; linguistic analysis; linguistic resources Jezik v britanskih in slovenskih nogometnih himnah POVZETEK Nogomet je verjetno najbolj priljubljena igra na svetu, ki ima veliko privržencev. Obstaja veliko načinov, s katerimi nogometni navijači izražajo svojo pripadnost klubu, občutke, ki jih gojijo do svojih ekip, in razlike z drugimi klubi, kot so na primer, nošenje določenih barv, vihranje transparentov in zastav ter petje. Nogometne himne niso za nogometne navijače nič novega in mnogo navijaških himn ima dolgo tradicijo. Avtorica obravnava in primerja jezik v nekaterih priljubljenih britanskih in slovenskih nogometnih himnah in skuša razložiti njegov doprinos k ustvarjanju navijaške identitete, občutka pripadnosti, povezanosti in motivacije. Jezikoslovna analiza prepoznava jezikoslovne vire, ki so uporabljeni v nogometnih himnah z namenom, da izrazijo odnose, oblikujejo vezi in ustvarjajo identitete.