A Study Of IRC Language From The Perspective Of The Register Theory

Along with the rapid development of the Internet, Internet Relay Chat (IRC), as a form of Computer-mediated communication (CMC), becomes more and more popular in China. Gradually, the language of IRC takes its own form and formulates a special variety of language, which has interested many linguists.This thesis aims to give a comprehensive study of IRC language in Chinese chat rooms from the perspective of the Register Theory. IRC language is a distinctive form of language with its special contextual features and linguistic features. In this thesis, an analysis is carried out from these two aspects respectively and then a discussion is made in respect to the influence of the contextual features of IRC to its linguistic features. This thesis consists of six chapters.Chapter 1 is an introduction to the Internet, the CMC (computer-mediated communication) and the IRC (Internet Relay Chat).Chapter 2 gives a comprehensive study of the register theory: the emergence of the theory of register, the three variables of field, mode and tenor proposed by Halliday, etc.Chapter 3 tells the reader the methodology adopted in analyzing the IRC language.Chapter 4 provides an analysis of IRC language from the aspect of its contextual features: field of IRC language, mode of IRC language and tenor of IRC language.Chapter 5 is an analysis of IRC language from the aspect of its linguistic features: orthographic, lexical, grammatical and discourse features.Chapter 6 is the part of conclusive discussion.Due to the limited sources of data and other reasons, this analysis may not be exclusive and absolutely objective. However, it is hoped that this paper may offer some provocative help to those interested in this field of study.