New characteristics of new Internet words

The continued rise in interest in online interaction among young people in my country has not only brought about changes in their own behavioral habits, but also enriched social discourse practices. A significant phenomenon is that new Internet words continue to emerge, refreshing public horizons, breaking through the traditional Chinese expressions, and giving people a sense of A refreshing feeling. As a vocabulary spontaneously created by Internet users, Internet neologisms are a mixture of Chinese and foreign words, emoticons, numbers, pictures and other expressions, and use this as a basis to form a discourse style, showing the characteristics of youth subculture. This is mainly demonstrated through the following three levels.

Semantics - both solemn and humorous, conveying cultural reality issues in a humorous and euphemistic way. When Internet users face real-life issues of concern, they often express their opinions, moods and attitudes through language variations. Internet language involves a wide range of perspectives. If there is a unique understanding after being stimulated by an emergency, there are To deal with the emotional appeal of a certain common phenomenon, there is a desire to use online platforms to gain empathy and seek social relief. Conventional new words on the Internet generally consciously avoid sensitive words, avoid risks of speech, and avoid provoking new contradictions or conflicts due to sharp and sharp words. For example, use "awsl" to express happiness, "YYDS" when complimenting someone, and "very humble" when you don't like someone. For some embarrassing things that are inconvenient to say, the original meaning of the words will be deliberately distorted to convey the extended meaning or metaphorical meaning in an implicit and humorous way. As in the saying "being invited to drink tea by the leader", the word "tea" does not really mean tasting the drink, but means being questioned and taught.

The tone is simple, cute, confusing, and wrong, and the gamification performance presents the cultural psychology of giving back. As the mainstream group of Internet users in my country, teenagers’ language expressions and pragmatic habits naturally bear traces of the socialization process of this group. It can be said that the gamification of simplicity, cuteness, inversion and wrongness is a distinctive feature of new Internet words. Simplicity means simplicity, short sentences and syllables, easy communication and high efficiency. Meng means cuteness, childish words, cute and interesting. Inversion, that is, inversion, the style of speaking is used to shorten the distance between communicators regardless of age, gender, or identity. Wrong, that is, misplacement, is used in both ancient and modern Chinese and foreign discourse vocabulary. These characteristics make Internet new words simple, clear, and full of interest. From a cultural and psychological perspective, the gamification of online language can be seen as a special way for teenagers to confront adult culture and mainstream culture. The emergence of "home" and "social fear" reflects the "post-80s" and "post-90s" ” growth anxiety and interpersonal fear. "Loli" and "little sister" etc. show this group's escape from adult identity. For young people who are subject to higher education and social pressure, the Internet not only allows the anxious and individualized "self" to gain a territory for free expression, but can also gather into communities, circles, and teams of like-minded people to construct a new value system. , establish your own cultural participation space. Once Internet language becomes a popular term, it will help young people cross the generation gap, infiltrate subculture into dominant culture and adult society, and even form new "disciplines", showing the practical significance of nurturing culture.

Language style - whatever you want, open format structure to realize cultural creativity. New words on the Internet contain a kind of structural openness and randomness. Users spontaneously generate new word forms, which are not restricted by the rules of traditional grammatical sentences, showing colorful cultural creativity. Some borrow traditional usage to form new meanings, such as "Xiaobai" (novice), "dinosaur" (low-looking), "diving" (watching silently), etc. Some are restructured and combined based on the original words. For example, "go first" means to go first. Some are compatible with different language styles to express emotions, such as integrating conversational style and book style, using "hehe" to express pride and "hehe" to express reserve. Some use non-verbal symbols to convey connotations, such as using pictures of smiling faces to express satisfaction. Some new words have no rules in generating discourse structure, such as Zhen Huan style, Roar style, etc. Due to unlimited creativity, new words on the Internet are difficult to capture and grasp, and therefore have a unique charm that is constantly changing and always new. As long as readers can understand their meanings, new words have the value of existence.

The popularity of new Internet words reflects the new cultural demands and individual characteristics of my country's youth in the 21st century, and reflects the creative value of the progress of the times and society to cultural development. But at the same time, some new Internet words show a rough, complicated and willful side, and their impact on social civilization and mainstream culture is often revealed.

Regarding the use and functions of new Internet words, we must first get rid of the "one size fits all" thinking, resist and abandon vulgar and vulgar Internet terms through identification and standardization measures, and enhance the rational understanding of Internet language in the whole society. Secondly, adhere to the principle of standard guidance. It is necessary to actively play the normative and guiding role of the culture and education departments, such as compiling dictionaries and dictionaries to collect Internet languages, and provide the public with usage guidelines for new Internet words and phrases. Finally, adhere to the principle of combining heteronomy and self-discipline. Strengthen the cultivation of Internet literacy among digital citizens, especially young people, and promote and help them become users and guardians of standardized and civilized language. Internet platforms should play their main responsibilities and consciously take measures to optimize the online language environment. Internet culture management should be strengthened in accordance with relevant laws and regulations, and the combination of self-discipline behavior and supervision should be promoted to effectively create a clean and upright cyberspace.

(Author: Meng Wei is the director and researcher of the Network Research Office of the Institute of Journalism and Communication, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences)