The Study On Symbols Formation And Development Of Cyber Language

Cyber language has become a prevailing linguistic phenomenon with the prevalence of computer and internet. Along with the progress of information technology in China, Chinese cyber language is booming rapidly. Internet community has promoted the information exchange, providing the netizens with free space in which they are able to realize self-presentation, emotional release and ideas exchanges. It revitalizes and enriches standard language greatly but at the same time, has an impact on traditional pattern language. Since the birth of cyber language, the researches on this field have become a major domain and a heated issue in the cycles of linguistics. There are considerable academic works both abroad and at home investigating its formation, development, and particularly, characteristics,however,they are mostly and basically descriptive qualitative researches employing the method of literature research. Based on the perspectives of semiotics and sociolinguistics, the present study employs the method of natural observation and the combination of quantitative and qualitative researches on the basis of corpus, along with the adoption of the instruments of investigative questionnaires,to analyze the symbols formation of cyber language as well as to predict its oncoming development. It is laid out in six chapters:Chapter 1 is an introduction focusing on the research background, objective, methods and significance of the study.Chapter 2 presents the literature review focusing on the true pictures of cyber language research abroad and home.Chapter 3 focuses on the theoretical foundations of this study. Theories in Linguistic Semiotics include Saussure's theory of binary relations and Roland Barthes'semiotic theory, namely, language and speech; signified and signifier; syntagm and system as well as denotation and connotation. Theories in Sociolinguistics include speech community theory put forward by Leonard Bloomfield and speech accommodation theory established by Giles.Chapter 4 is the semiotic analysis of cyber language. Firstly, the corpus collection of the cyber language in this study are classified into two categories, namely, character symbols and non-character symbols, according to their lexical formation and origins; secondly, a semiotics analysis is conducted to describe the symbol features of cyber language based on Roland Barthes'semiotic theory, say, language and speech; signified and signifier; syntagm and system as well as denotation and connotation, holding that cyber language is the language based on the traditional language and accepted by people with its unique features.In Chapter 5, the thesis mainly discusses the transmission rules and development of cyber language so as to investigate the impact of cyber language on standard language. The analysis is based on speech community theory and speech accommodation theory, taking the data from the questionnaire into consideration.Chapter 6 concludes that there is difference between cyber language and standard language in terms of symbols formation. In cyber language, the symbols formation is much varied owing to its unique features. Cyber language is a particular cultural phenomenon in the development of the internet age. As language in the network community, cyber language preserves the integrity of the traditional language symbols due to the limited scope of its spread.Some limitations meet with the present study, in which the questionnaire investigations to people of other careers except students are unavailable because of the difficulties and inconvenience of the participants involved. However, after all, as an exploratory research, the present study systematically analyze and investigates the static formation and dynamic usage of cyber language in the perspective of both semiotics and sociolinguistics, therefore, it's expected that the present study shows a comprehensive and profound panorama of cyber language.