Current E-neologisms In Chinese:a Rhetorical Perspective

With its emergence in the late20th century, Internet brings not only the revolution of telecommunication but also new cultures and languages. A large number of E-neologisms have emerged along with the evolvement of the Internet. In China, since the2008event associated with the term "push-up" took place in Weng’an county, E-neologism began to act as the spokesman for the public. With its increasing influence, E-neologism has won much attention from different walks of the society.As we know, the changes of language cannot be separated from the relevant political, economical, cultural and social backgrounds. However, most of the researches on E-neologism tend to focus on its linguistic aspect alone. Few of the researches in this field examine E-neologism from a macro perspective that goes beyond language per se. In addition, few scholars offer explanations for key questions such as "Why is it these common expressions, rather than others that become popularized as E-neologisms?""What is there in them that enables them to be accepted by the public?" Since answers to questions of this kind are closely related to rhetoric, we undertake to reexamine recent E-neologisms in Chinese from a rhetorical perspective.Western rhetoric, the practice of influencing thought, feeling, attitude and behavior through symbolic means, plays a pivotal role in the invention and popularization of E-neologism. Within the theoretical framework of rhetoric, this paper focuses on studying the mechanisms for the invention and popularization of E-neologisms and, on the basis of rhetorical assumptions about its own social functions, proposes an appropriate attitude toward these new phrases and terms. We conclude that the widespread use of E-neologisms not only helps the public gain more discursive power, defend their rights for social participation, but also facilitates the solution of the social incidents that give rise to these expressions. Therefore, it is important that we adopt a more positive attitude towards these new expressions.