LANGUAGE OF THE INTERNET – THEORETICAL ISSUES OF FUNCTIONING

Abstract

The purpose of the study is to analyze some theoretical issues related to the functioning of language on the Internet: the choice of the term for the language serving Internet-communication, analysis of the combination of oral and written speech features, and linguistic features on graphic, lexical, syntactic levels, and on the level of word formation. Methods. The method of information analysis, the synthesis method, and the descriptive method were used to solve the tasks set in the work. Research results. The national and especially foreign Internet-linguistics are characterized by a large number of terms to denote the language operating on the Internet (Language of the Internet, language serving electronic means of communication, Netspeak, e-language, computer-mediated language, etc.), due to the constant development of Internet technologies and conducting communication through electronic communication channels. Internet-communication combines features of both written language (typing the message, lack of visual contact, hypertext availability) and oral (informality, phatic content, fast message exchange, use of emoticons, ignoring spelling and punctuation rules, etc.), which allows talking about the emergence of a new kind of language – oral and written. Changes in the language of the Internet occur on different levels: graphic (multiple punctuation; capitalization of words, groups of words and sentences; multiple repetitions of the same letter in a word; use of @, #); lexical (use of words that convey emotional and expressive meaning and imitate the user’s mood, terms, neologisms); syntactic (use of nominative, elliptical sentences); on the level of word formation (use of alphasyllabic and alphanumeric ways of writing words, initial abbreviations). Conclusions. Language of the Internet is a complex, unique phenomenon that is rapidly changing due to the ever-evolving information technology and the emergence of new formats of communication, which poses new challenges and indicates the prospects for further research.