Comparative Analysis Of English Netspeak And Chinese Netspeak From The Perspective Of Lexicology

Internet is one of the most remarkable things human beings have ever made. It is having incredible influences on every aspect of our lives. The Internet brings us not only a technological revolution, but also a cultural and linguistic revolution. Under this circumstance, the language used on the Internet has been catching on. Some linguists even predict that"Web Linguistics,"a new branch of linguistics, is coming into being. Netspeak is the language used in web and in on-line communication. Study on netspeak is a new field and also an urgent demand.In an attempt to study this phenomenon, the author probes into netspeak from a totally new aspect, that is, comparative study of English and Chinese netspeak. First of all, in this thesis, netspeak is introduced from macro aspect, and the author defines netspeak as a language variety, based on sociolinguistic theories and Halliday's Register Theory. Then a brief view of related research of netspeak and a literature review of lexical theories which serves as the theoretical foundation of the thesis are presented. This paper focuses on the similarities and differences between English and Chinese netspeak from the aspect of lexicology. It also summarizes the factors resulting in similarities and differences of the two. At last, it discusses the regulation of nonstandard ways of using English and Chinese netspeak briefly.Based on the present comparative study of the two kinds of netspeak, the author concludes that English netspeak has a leading position over Chinese netspeak, and Chinese netspeak is influenced by English. Meanwhile Chinese netspeak is also vigorous. All this will enrich the range of communicative options available to netizens on the Net, thus there seems little doubt that the web is going to be increasingly bilingual or multilingual. And our everyday speech will be influenced by netspeak at large in future.