In cyberspace, a new word can spread to every corner of the world in a few seconds. Therefore, using the Internet to spread new words is popular among people because of its speed and efficiency. With the rapid development of computer technology and the popularity of the Internet, people have begun to use the Internet and Internet terms in large quantities. As an internationally recognized lingua franca, the use of English on the Internet has undergone significant changes due to the influence of communication media, with a large number of new words being produced. As the most active part of language, vocabulary responds most directly and quickly to the constant changes in society and technology. Internet English vocabulary also reflects the characteristics of the Internet age and embodies the characteristics of people's communication in this era. , enrich and enrich the vocabulary of English. Therefore, research on the basis of new words in Internet English will undoubtedly help us understand and grasp the laws and trends of English vocabulary development.
1 Definition of new English words
Language symbols are a combination of sound and meaning, so how is this combination formed? Since the publication of Saussure's "Course of General Linguistics", the principle of arbitrariness of linguistic symbols has been considered the first principle in the field of linguistics. Saussure believed that “in fact, any means of expression accepted by a society are in principle collective habits, or it can also be said that they are based on conventions” (Saussure, 2001: 102). On the other hand, at the beginning of the 19th century, Humboldt, the founder of general linguistics, pointed out that "the laws of language structure are similar. Through its structure, language stimulates people's highest and most humane forces to engage in activities, thus helping people to understand deeply. formal features of nature” (Humboldt, 1997: 72). Obviously, Humboldt insisted on the rationality principle of language. According to the explanations of Webster's New World Dictionary, Macmillan English Dictionary and other dictionaries, new English words include two meanings. One refers to new words that appear with the development of society, and the other refers to new meanings derived from old words in the process of language development. and new usage.
In view of this, the English cyber-neolo-gism discussed in this article refers to the new English words that appear in the Internet language, including both new words and words that have been given new meanings. Old word. According to estimates by John Simpson and Edmund Wein-er, editors-in-chief of the Oxford English Dictionary (Second Edition), there are about 2,000 new words entering English every year (Wang Rongpei, 2000: 7-11). However, due to their rapidity and contemporary nature, new English Internet words have not yet entered the core vocabulary, so most of them have not yet been included in dictionaries.
2 Reason types and analysis of new English words
The so-called reason, that is, the reason, is "the expression of the characteristics of the thing used as the basis for naming in the word" (Zhang Yongyan, 1982:27). There are still different views on the rationale issues of simple words and compound words. According to Saussure, a composite sign has a demonstrable aspect, but each sub-symbol that constitutes it - a simple sign - is not demonstrable (Saussure, 2001: 102). However, some scholars believe that reason is the driving force for the occurrence and development of language symbols. Therefore, whether it is a composite symbol or a simple symbol, it can be demonstrated and therefore has reason. According to Wang Ailu (2003: 1-8), synthetic symbols have internal forms, and the combination of their sounds and meanings is analyzable, so they are justified. Although simple symbols do not have the internal formal characteristics of "combination" of morphemes, they do have their own etymological characteristics of the combination of sound and meaning, and this unnatural humanistic connection between sound and meaning is demonstrable and therefore justified.
According to the composition methods and production factors of new English words, this article follows the classification method of Lu Yun (2002: 3841) to divide the reasons for new English words into word-internal reasons and extra-word reasons, and combines simple Discuss the rationale of words and compound words.
2.1 Intra-word reasons
Intra-word reasons refer to linguistic reasons. According to Ulmann (1962), the reasons for words are divided into the following three types: onomatopoeic reasons, morphological reasons, and semantic reasons. Justification. Since there are very few onomatopoeias in new words, only the impact of morphological and semantic reasons on new words will be analyzed below.
2.1.1 Morphological justification
The meaning of a word can be obtained through morphological analysis of the word. This kind of justification is called morphological justification. The morphological analysis of words generally starts from the internal form of the word, and the internal form refers to the sum of the grammatical structure and semantic structure of the word. Only language symbols with grammatical structure and semantic structure have internal forms, and composite symbols have internal forms.
The ways in which new English words are produced mainly include forming new words using traditional word formation methods, deriving new meanings from old words, absorbing foreign words, creating new words, etc. Among them, among the new words formed using traditional word formation methods, compounding methods, abbreviations The word formation frequency of method and derivation method is relatively high (Wang Rongpei, 2000: 7-11), and the new words formed by these word formation methods are all synthetic symbols, so they can be analyzed rationally.
(1) Compound method
Compound words account for the largest proportion of new words, and the rationale for their generation comes from the innovation of original things and the abstract refinement of original simple concepts. . For example: generation gap, summit meeting, laid-off worker, network, test-tube baby, silicon valley, etc.
Modern English attaches great importance to the simplification of expression and the freedom of expression. It is not restricted by syntax under certain conditions. When people cannot find accurate words to express, they will use the words or sentences in the phrase Several words in are connected with hyphens to form a new compound word, and its meaning is also obvious. For example: a now-dry fiver, a stand-up collar, There was an-I-told-you-so air on his face. ” expression).
(2) Abbreviation method
With the development of society and the accelerated pace of people’s lives, more and more new words are formed by abbreviation method. The main reason is that abbreviation method The new words formed by this method are concise and easy to remember, and they spread quickly. For example: expo (exposition) World Expo, GDP (gross domestic production) gross national product, PK (player killing) duel, competition, CEO (chief executive of-rice) CEO, etc. These abbreviations have rationality in their original full names, but it is not easy to find their rationality after abbreviation. However, due to the gradual increase in the use of English abbreviations in Chinese, many people also know what GDP and GPS are. (3) Derivative method
English is a phonetic text in phonetic writing. Its combination form is letter-phoneme. It has the ability of morphogenesis. It is widely equipped with morphological function markers and part-of-speech markers, and its grammatical structure is explicit. , except for no change in word form during the transformation of word categories, other word formation methods have word form changes, among which the derivation method is the most common (Guo Jia and Chen Li, 2009: 107-111). Because new words formed by derivation have obvious internal forms, the relationship between their meaning and form is also analyzable and rational.
Some of the affixes that form new words are brand-new affixes, and some are old affixes given new meanings.
For example: the development of biotechnology has given rise to new affixes Franken- (genetically modified): Frankenfmit (genetically modified fruit), Frankenfood (genetically modified food); socioeconomic changes have led to the emergence of new affixes, such as Eur (o)- (European, and European Related): Eurosocialism (European socialism), Europhoria (euphoria about European unity), Eurosis (European crisis); with the development of the Internet, the old affix tele- was given a new meaning, meaning "long-distance, telecommunications" ”, the new words formed are: teleconferencing (teleconferencing), teleprocess (teleprocessing), teleordering (electronic ordering).
2.1.2 Semantic justification
The semantic justification of a word can be carried out through the extension and metaphor of the basic semantics of the word, which is a kind of psychological association. One of the ways in which new words are produced is that old words are given new meanings, and this process can be analyzed using semantic arguments. Whether the words involved in semantic justification are simple words or compound words, they can be demonstrated, that is, they are justified.
For example, the original meanings of the words hawk and dove are "hawk" and "dove". In the new era, the former is often used by journalists to refer to those in the government cabinet or parliament who advocate the use of force to solve the problem. "Hard-liners" in international disputes can also be called "hawks". The latter often refers to "moderates" who advocate the use of peaceful means to resolve disputes, also called "doves." The new meanings of these two words are obviously related to "hawks." The nature of "Eagle" and "Dove" are related.
Another example is that in computer terminology, mouse has become "mouse"; Mr. Clean has changed from the brand name of detergent to "incorruptible person", especially "government official"; Red eye (red eye) has been given a new meaning of "flying at night"; plastic (plastic) has a new meaning of "credit card"; according to white collar (white collar), golden collar (gold collar) and blue collar (blue collar) have been produced.
It can be seen that the reason for these old words to acquire new meanings is to use metaphor, metonymy, synecdoche, analogy and other methods to make people have psychological associations with the meanings of these old words, and then extend the metaphorical meaning of the old words. Give it new meaning.
2.2 Extralexical justification
According to Saussure, language is a system of symbols, and symbols are composed of signifiers and signifieds, and the relationship between the two is arbitrary (Saussure , 2001). At the same time, he also discussed the relationship between arbitrariness and convention. He believed that the two are in a unified relationship of opposites. Arbitrariness is the essential feature of language symbols, but this does not mean that someone can choose the signifier at will, the signifier and what is meant. It means that once a relationship is established, it remains stable for a long time. This is what we call a convention.
On the other hand, while acknowledging the random emergence of language, we should also admit that language symbols all have or had reasons, because their development and changes have their motivations. Reasons reflect psychological associations, cultural differences, and people's understanding of things. Due to differences in people's ways of thinking, cognitive characteristics, aesthetic habits, naming orientations, etc., reasons are also different. Language is not only a tool for conveying information, but also a carrier for inheriting culture. Words, as symbols for referring to things, are the part of language that best reflects cultural characteristics. The rationale for words is the crystallization of national culture.
External reasons for words refer to cultural reasons, that is, the cultural background in which words are produced. The formation of words and the acquisition of names of things are closely related to objective reality. People name word formations based on the various characteristics of the objective things represented by words and people's understanding and evaluation of them. They always hope to embody things in their names. relevant information. As the gene of language life, rationale records the origin, variation and development of words, and contains rich and complex cultural information, including history, geography, society, politics, economy, religion, customs, folk sentiments, etc., with strong national significance. Color and distinctive cultural personality reflect different social and cultural mentality.
Since both simple words and compound words have rationality, the analysis of extra-lexical rationale is also applicable to simple words and compound words.
2.2.1 Reasoning and seeking novelty
The emergence of new concepts and new things has given rise to people’s mentality of seeking novelty in the use of language. In recent years, some new English words have gradually become popular in Western media, such as informa- tion, glocalization, blog, etc. The popularity of these new words reflects brand-new concepts, and the popularity of these concepts also reflects new changes and trends in the global media industry. Infortain-ment is information (information) and entertainment (entertainment), that is, "news entertainment", which refers to the alienation of news functions; glocalization is global-balization (globalization) localization (localization), which can be translated as "localization under globalization" "", indicating the convergence of media, refers to the promotion of global media products to the local area or the transplantation of localized packaged programs; blog is web (network) log (log) is translated as "blog", which is the true independence of online news Logo, associated with the personalization of media.
In the commodity economy society where market competition is becoming increasingly fierce, in order to occupy market share, manufacturers pay special attention to being innovative and unique when expressing product names. Such as: Kiss Me (the brand name of a lipstick), Magic Marker (the brand name of a rollerball pen). Another example is that the suffix -ex is popular in English brand names because it is associated with "excellent". The paper towel Kleenex is composed of clean excellent, and the door and window glass cleaner Windex is composed of window excellent. Another example is Sunkist, the brand name of a best-selling orange juice in the United States. It is a variant of Sunk-issed, which can easily remind people of the vitality of orange juice. As these novel and unique new words for product names enter people's daily vocabulary, it is not difficult to find people's psychology of seeking novelty and differentiation in modern society.
2.2.2 Justification and Simplicity
With the acceleration of the pace of life in modern society, speed and efficiency have become the primary way of life and work that people pursue. This reality is reflected in language The key is simplicity in wording. According to statistics, there are more than 400 abbreviations in the "Supplement to the English-Chinese Dictionary" compiled by Lu Gusun et al., accounting for more than 11% (Lu Gusun, 1999). The trend of simplification of new English words reflects people's desire for simplicity in modern Western society. For example: With the changes of the times, people's concept of childbearing has changed, from the original DEWK (dual employed, with kids) "double-employed" family (a family with two earners and many children) to the current "DINK" family (Dual-career, childless family). In addition, the speed of online communication is fully reflected in the simplification of words, which injects new vitality into traditional words, such as BRB, TIA, and BTW. 2.2.3 Justification and elegance
In English, when people want to express indecent or taboo things, they often use euphemisms, which reflects the tendency of native English speakers to avoid taboos and seek elegance. Social phenomena and cultural psychology. Almost all humble professions have acquired a pleasant name: hair stylist means "barber", sanitation engineer means "cleaner", meattechnologist means "butcher", chimney consultant means "chimney worker", mortician means "funeral" work".
In politics, military, and diplomacy, people beautify objectionable topics: for example, people refer to bombing raids as air action, and invasion and raid. attack) as military action (military action) or involvement (intervention), etc.
In addition, in order to show respect for human rights, when referring to "disabled people", people use differently abled, otherly abled or physically-ly different instead of handicapped or disabled. Short people are called As vertically disadvantaged, fat people are said to be gravitation-ally challenged. It is not difficult to find from these words that people are willing to pursue elegance in language use.
To sum up, regardless of the pursuit of novelty, simplicity, or elegance, this series of social and cultural cognitive perspectives and values ??provide impetus for the generation of new words and reflect the cultural factors of justification. Regardless of the process or result of the formation of new words, cultural rationale is a part that cannot be ignored. Without this part of "cause", a complete "effect" cannot be formed.
3 Analysis of the changing trajectory of rationality of new words in Internet English
Is the essence of language arbitrary or rational? Scholars have conducted many discussions on this issue. In the end, most research tends to the coexistence of the two. They believe that arbitrariness and rationality are not opposite categories, and rationality and arbitrariness are "harmony but different". , same origin but different names” (Wang Ailu, 2003: 1-8; Han Kun and An Fuyong, 2007: 89-92; Zhao Hongyu and Hu Quansheng, 2009: 64-67). At the beginning, linguistic symbols may be more arbitrary and less rational, with primitive irrational characteristics. However, with the evolution of human beings, the cognitive ability to deal with things has gradually improved, the thinking ability to create language symbols has become stronger, and the proportion of rationality has increased. Today, when human abstract thinking is highly developed, new symbols are always created on the basis of old symbols. Therefore, in general, the rationality of language is gradually increasing.
The emergence of new words in Internet English also develops along with this change in trajectory. Lin Jiejun (2005) collected 731 new English Internet words and conducted a rationale analysis. He found that 95.5% of the new English Internet words were rational words, while only 0.5% were non-justifiable words. Almost all of the new English Internet words had rationale. This once again confirms that the composition of most English words has the characteristics of rationality. When further analyzing the generation methods of new English Internet words, Lin Jiejun (2005) found that most of the current Internet English new words only change the meaning of words on the basis of original English words through abbreviation, compounding, new meanings of old words, derivation, etc. Rise, spread, transfer, etc., thereby producing new meanings or new words, and less often new words with absolute meanings that have both new word forms and new meanings. Lin Jiejun (2005) came to the following conclusion through calculation: among the onomatopoeic justification, morphological justification, semantic justification and etymological justification, the morphological justification is the most significant, followed by the onomatopoeic justification, and the etymological justification is the weakest. The reason why there are no traditional onomatopoeic arguments in new English Internet words is related to the fact that Internet communication mainly uses keyboard input and rarely uses audio communication. Among the morphological arguments, abbreviations and compound words are the strongest, followed by derived words. This trend has changed the characteristic of derived words being the most active in traditional word formation. The strong rationality of abbreviations and compound words reflects the characteristics of English new Internet words that are easy to understand, vivid and appropriate, concise and easy to remember, and fast to input.
At the same time, from the development and change of Internet English, we should also see that the rationale of English language has also gradually weakened. This is due to the fact that English absorbs a large number of foreign words. From the nature of language, as a phonetic text, English has only more than 200 syllables with strong collocation ability. Therefore, on the one hand, English must make full use of old words and give them new meanings. On the other hand, English must also absorb foreign words. From the perspective of historical changes, Britain's colonial expansion and the rise of colonial powers with English as their official language have made English the most open language in the world. The absorption of a large number of foreign words has become one of the ways for the emergence of new English words (Guo Jia, Chen Li, 2009: 107, 111).
Moreover, since most of the foreign words in new Internet English words are directly borrowed, the rationality of their source languages ??has not been implanted in English, which also makes the rationality of English gradually weaken.