Morphological Neologisms: The Emergence of Social Media Slang on TikTok

Neologisme Morfologi: Kemunculan Slanga Media Sosial di TikTok

Authors

  • Atifah Wan Mohd Muzani Department of English Language and Literature, AHAS KIRKHS, International Islamic University Malaysia, P.O. Box 10, 50728 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia https://orcid.org/0009-0000-2343-2779
  • Maskanah Mohammad Lotfie Department of English Language and Literature, AHAS KIRKHS, International Islamic University Malaysia, P.O. Box 10, 50728 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3053-7357

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.33102/sainsinsani.vol9no1.597

Keywords:

Morphological neologisms, semantic shifts, slang words, TikTok

Abstract

Abstract: This study explores recent social media slang, neologised or popularised on TikTok, the social media application that allows the creation and sharing of short videos. It identifies the slang words and investigates semantic shifts, functions, origins and morphological processes involved in slang formations. Twenty new slang words were identified from extracts collated from fifty-one TikTok videos. Of the four criteria of slang: low degree of formality, taboo term, regular usage, and special familiarity, it is found that all the slang words fulfil the fourth criterion as they are only familiar to social media users. Most of the slang words are used as a form of group association in which these words are commonly known to people who are aware of TikTok or social media trends. For the word formation methods of which there are eight: affixation, compounding, conversion, shortening, sound-imitation, reduplication, creative respelling, and semantic shift, the identified slang words were largely formed through semantic shifts, whereby these words are existing ones that have evolved into having new meanings. Results of the analyses of the identified slang words lead to the deduction that all of them are unrelated to the health or medical sector even though these words were made popular during the COVID-19 pandemic that was ravaging the whole world.

 

Abstrak: Kajian ini meneroka slanga media sosial terkini, yang dicipta dan dipopularkan di Tiktok, iaitu aplikasi media sosial yang membenarkan penciptaan dan perkongsian video-video pendek. Kajian ini mengenalpasti slanga dan mengkaji perubahan semantik, fungsi, asal-usul dan proses morfologi yang terlibat dalam pembentukan slanga. 20 slanga baru telah dikenalpasti daripada ekstrak yang telah dikumpulkan daripada 51video TikTok. Daripada empat kriteria slanga: tahap formaliti yang rendah, istilah pantang-larang, penggunaan biasa, dan kebiasaan khas, telah didapati bahawa semua slanga memenuhi kriteria keempat kerana slanga tersebut hanya dikenali oleh pengguna media sosial. Kebanyakan slanga digunakan sebagai tanda asosiasi kepada kumpulan tertentu, dimana perkataan-perkataan ini hanyalah dikenali oleh orang yang tahu tentang TikTok dan trend media sosial tersebut. Untuk kaedah pembentukan perkataan dimana terdapat lapan kaedah: imbuhan, kata majmuk, penukaran, pengurangan, imitasi bunyi, reduplikasi, ejaan kreatif, dan perubahan semantik, slanga yang telah dikenalpasti sebahagian besarnya dibentuk melalui perubahan semantik, dimana perkataan-perkataan ini adalah perkataan yang sedia ada, namun telah diberikan makna baharu. Hasil analisis slanga yang telah dikenalpasti membawa kepada kesimpulan bahawa kesemuanya adalah tidak berkaitan dengan sektor kesihatan atau perubatan walaupun kesemuanya telah dipopularkan semasa pandemik COVID-19 yang telah menjejaskan seluruh dunia.

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Author Biography

Maskanah Mohammad Lotfie, Department of English Language and Literature, AHAS KIRKHS, International Islamic University Malaysia, P.O. Box 10, 50728 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia;

Department of English Language and Literature, Associate Professor

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Published

2024-05-31
CITATION
DOI: 10.33102/sainsinsani.vol9no1.597
Published: 2024-05-31
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How to Cite

Wan Mohd Muzani, A., & Mohammad Lotfie, M. (2024). Morphological Neologisms: The Emergence of Social Media Slang on TikTok: Neologisme Morfologi: Kemunculan Slanga Media Sosial di TikTok. Sains Insani, 9(1), 103-113. https://doi.org/10.33102/sainsinsani.vol9no1.597
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