Research on Features of Chatroom Netspeak From a Stylistic View

Abstract

With the development and popularization of Internet, the appearance of computer mediated communication (CMC) has generated a new variety of language—netspeak, which received a wide publicity in modern linguistics. This paper focuses on the features of netspeak. Firstly, it gives an introduction of its background. Secondly, it discusses its features by employing a lot of examples from English and Chinese. In this part, this paper makes the analysis from the view of stylistics, focusing on phonological, lexical, syntactical and discoursal aspects. Special mention is given here to some differences and similarities found in English netspeak and Chinese netspeak. Thirdly, the great influence of netspeak on written language is involved, which reflects in morphology, meaning, grammar and the degree of politeness. Finally, a conclusion of the features of netspeak is given as well as a reasonable anticipation of its tendency. Lacking in the knowledge of the stylistic features of netspeak, chitchat on line will result in failure in communication. Therefore, this paper, through the systematic analysis on netspeak, aims at revealing its distinctive features and getting netizens to communicate better. As the cyber culture is evolving, netspeak is also changing, which will generate more new features. The study on netspeak needs further analysis and it is never ended.