A Study Of Lettered Words From The Perspective Of Meme Theory

It has been more than a century since the emergence of lettered words. However, the number, user, media and use of field were so limited, so there were not many researches on lettered words. With the implementation of reform and opening- up policy in China, lettered words have developed and expanded a lot. After that, for the rapid development of economy and culture, the increase of international contacts and communication between China and foreign countries, lettered words have been appearing more frequently than ever before. Gradually it is accepted and absorbed by Chinese language. Lettered words have become one indispensable part of Chinese vocabulary, such as VCD,卡拉OK and WTO. Since then, the concept of lettered words has been paid more and more attention to and discussed heatedly by the academic circle. There is a great difference of viewpoints among the scholars, concerning the definition, classification, category ascription, and the standardization of it. The scholars haven't come to agreement on these issues. Based on the previous studies, the present paper has discussed several aspects of lettered words by investigating entries of lettered words in the Chinese dictionaries in different periods. Meme theory, firstly put forward by Dawkins in 1976, grounded on Darwinian evolution. Meme duplicates and propagates itself through imitation. It is a new theory explaining cultural evolution. Based on the meme theory, the present paper makes efforts to discuss several aspects of lettered words, including the features, causes of their uses and the comparison of lettered words in different periods. Finally, the author gives the general principles and concrete methods for the standardization of lettered words.