On Language Deviation In Netspeak From The Perspective Of Memetic-adaption

As one of the greatest things ever created by human beings in the 20th century, the Internet is exerting an incredible influence on people's lives all over the world. The popularity of the Internet not only brings people an unprecedented technological revolution, but also creates a new language—Netspeak. Netspeak refers to all the language forms being widely used on the Internet. Generally speaking, netspeak can be classified into three types:the jargon connected with computer and the Internet, the special terms of cyber culture, and the unique language forms used by netizens in network communities (chat-rooms, computer games, BBS, etc.) when communicating with each other. The study in this thesis mainly focuses on the netspeak used in network communities. In order to meet the special need of online communications, netspeak deviates from conventional language in many aspects and has drawn attention from researchers in different fields.This thesis is a tentative study of netspeak deviation from the perspective of memetic-adaption. Memetics is a theory originated from Darwin's biological theory, and it is used to explain the cultural evolution. "Meme" is the basic unit of cultural evolution, and it is coined by an analogy to "gene". Language itself is a meme. The replication and transmission of memes play an important role in the development of human languages. Thus, netspeak can also be regarded as a kind of meme. Taking the Internet as a medium, netspeak memes compete for the opportunity to be replicated and transmitted by non-genetic means. But not all netspeak memes can survive in this competition, only those strong memes with certain characteristics get replicated and transmitted successfully. Meanwhile, according to the Adaption Theory, language use is a process of making choices, in which people have to adapt to not only the communication intentions, but also the communication environment. The deviation of netspeak also abides by the adaption theory. Thus, on the basis of the combination of memetics and the adaption theory, this thesis mainly analyzes and discusses the the forms of netspeak deviation, the process of its replication and transmission as well as the causes of netspeak deviation and its influence. The research finds that the deviation of netspeak is the result of adaptions to netizens'mental world, social world and physical world, and the ultimate purpose is to better its replication and transmission.The thesis first talks about in what ways netspeak deviate from conventional language. It analyzes the phonological deviation of netspeak, the graphological deviation of netspeak, the lexical deviation of netspeak, the semantic deviation of netspeak and the grammatical deviation of netspeak respectively. Then, based on memetics, the thesis explores the inner drive of netspeak deviation from the perspective of memetic-adaption. Finally, the thesis discusses both the positive and negative influence of netspeak and tries to better people's understanding of netspeak.