Analysis of Alternative Language Representation in Chinese Language ()
1. Introduction
A language is a tool used by humans to communicate, it is an objective existence of human society, and it is also a carrier for human preservation to know the results. [1] Language knowledge is part of human science and a sense of understanding of language and related issues. Since the reform and opening up, China has been deepening exchanges with the outside world, and my country’s economic culture has developed rapidly. As a result, new things and new concepts have continuously emerged. As an important foundation for national soft power, Chinese and foreign languages have largely collided with sparks. As a well-known language recognized in the world, the penetration and influence of Chinese is more than any other language in the world, and it will continue to affect Chinese at a fast speed. Many foreign words in English are even entered Chinese in the form of English-Chinese mixed in the form of Latin letters, distributed in many fields, such as networks, medical care, daily communication, sports, etc., such as “NBA”, “BYE-BYE”, “E-Mail”, “Vitamin B”, “T-shirt” and so on. In this trend, there are also a large number of self-created Latin letter combinations in Chinese. Through the form of imitating English words, Chinese Pinyin abbreviation is obtained, such as “RMB” (RMB). Combined, the “HSK” (Chinese level test) is composed of the pinyin first letters of each word expressing each word. These two pinyin combinations are imitated in the form of NBA. The team of Pinyin letters gradually grows.
With the maturity of Internet technology, the Internet has become one of the main places for people’s communication. The comprehensive coverage, low cost and convenient use of online media have enabled the daily communication of most young groups in China to rely on this tool. With the popularity of the Internet, online language, as an emerging thing, has attracted widespread attention from language researchers. In general, online language is a language function variant based on the language of the nation in the network environment. It is a unique social dialect in the network environment. On this platform, people’s text communication mainly depends on the Chinese pinyin input method. [2] In the Pinyin input method, the pinyin we entered is a symbol of sound, not the symbol of Chinese characters. In the process of using the keyboard to typing by netizens, the letters are favored by users due to the convenience, simplicity of its input form, and the richness of the corresponding text. For example, OMG (OH My God), HE (Happy Ending), BE (Bad Ending); Chinese Pinyin abbreviations, such as XSWL (laughing at me), ZQSG (true feelings), DBQ (sorry), DDDD (understanding you know). Network pinyin deflation is used as a combination of alphabets transformed into local words, occupying a very important position in the network space. This is not only the result of people’s creativity in the communication of the virtual world, but also reflects the vivid interpretation of social development and cultural fashion. As a language phenomenon, online language lateralization is a product of social and language development. Because of the fuzziness of pinyin abbreviations and the basic expression of the actual expression of the alphabetic abbreviation combination, it is different from the letters in Chinese. Therefore, the phenomenon of internet pinyin abbreviations needs to be explored as an independent linguistic phenomenon. Pinyin abbreviation has both the nature of the letters and its own characteristics. What is their relationship with the letters, what kind of nature do they have, why are they widely used on the network platform, and what attitude should we adhere to such emerging language phenomena? These are all issues that need to be explored. The innovation of this paper lies in exploring the value of the latest popular Chinese network pinyin abbreviations, thereby indirectly understanding the psychological state of contemporary netizens.
2. Characteristics of Pinyin Abbreviation Combinations on the Internet
In the virtual world of the Internet, due to the strong personal style of communication, Internet language often appears as a variant of everyday language, for example, “xdm” is a pinyin acronym for “brothers”, “yygq” “xdm” is a pinyin acronym for “brothers”, “yygq” is a pinyin acronym for “yin and yang”, and “dddd” is a pinyin acronym for “all those who know”. Because of the need to rely on the keyboard when using language communicatively on the Internet, such pinyin combinations are less time-consuming than typing by typing out the full pinyin name. Such a form of language requires people to mentally encode the information as they receive it in order to decipher the meaning, and there is a certain amount of ambiguity due to contextual issues, making the same pinyin acronym exhibit a number of slightly deviant meanings that manifest as semantic markers. The research on linguistic markedness by R. Jakobson has made groundbreaking contributions. He has provided an insightful discourse on this topic, stating that “the meaning of a marked category implies the existence of a certain feature, while the meaning of the corresponding unmarked category does not imply existence but primarily, though not exclusively, indicates non-existence.” [3] Because of the rapid generation of Internet pinyin abbreviations and their use for specific groups or domains, there is a characteristic of distributional tagging.
2.1. Economy and Ambiguity
The context of Internet communication is very specific. In everyday life, the speaker and the listener generally communicate through direct conversation, expressing their thoughts and feelings through spoken language and physical gestures, and thinking and speaking basically in sync. In cyberspace, however, the text typed by netizens in the context of the Internet using keyboard input in Pinyin is a highly colloquial form of language. Because speaking face-to-face is always faster than typing, the synchronization between online language and thinking is far less than that of everyday spoken communication. So to reduce the impact of this, people tend to favour quicker methods of typing brings us to the issue of the Principle of Labour Saving. The Principle of Least Effort, also known as the economic principle, can be summarized as the greatest good for the least cost. It is a fundamental principle that guides human behaviour. The economical use of language is an essential tool for online communication, such as “yyds” (eternal gods), “yygq” (yin and yang), “xmsl” (envy (dead), “yysy” (have a say), “zqsg” (truthful), “blbl” (bleep), “pdd” (pin duo duo), “pxx” (pin xi xi), etc. The efficient and rapid nature of online language allows the principle of economy to prevail, expressing rich connotations in as simple a form of language as possible. It is the use of simple and intuitive linguistic symbols to represent rich content that the Pinyin alphabet combination is used. When Internet users use the Hanyu Pinyin input method for communication, the combination of abbreviated pinyin letters is the inevitable result for reasons of simplicity and convenience. However, with the abbreviation of pinyin comes the challenge of recognizing the abbreviations. In Pinyin input methods, we type pinyin as a symbolic form of sound, not as a symbol of Chinese characters. The letters as sound symbols are not identical to the sounds they refer to, although they are related in some way, so they exhibit an ambiguous form of language that is justified by sound. There are advantages and disadvantages to ambiguity: those who are not familiar with the abbreviations used will not understand their meaning, will be confused by the expressions and may even resist them, while those who are familiar with the use of such expressions, some highly emotive expressions will become more euphemistic with the addition of ambiguity, reducing the incidence of conflict.
2.2. Semantic Markers
The distinction between “marked” and “unmarked” units of language is a common analytical tool in recent linguistics. [4] Marker theory is one of the most important theories in structuralist linguistics, first developed by the Prague School in the early 1930s. The concept of marking was first introduced by the phonetician Rudetsky in his book Principles of Phonology, where “one component of a pair of phonemic oppositions is characterized by marking while the other component has no such marking”. [5] The marking theory includes semantic marking, which means that “a semantically marked word is more specific lexically than a semantically unmarked word”. For example, “teacher” is more semantically specific than “teacher”, and “red flower” is more specific than “flower”. This is because “female teacher” refers specifically to a teacher of the female gender, whereas “teacher” can refer to both male and female teachers; “red flower” refers specifically to a “red the term”. “Red flowers” refers to “red flowers”, whereas “flowers” includes red flowers as well as flowers of other colors.
As a “code word” for a specific group of people, letters not only replace specific words, but also convey specific meanings beyond words. For example, the Chinese Dictionary explains “sorry” as a polite way of saying sorry, and Baidu explains “dbq” as simply an abbreviation of the word “sorry”. It is a form of the acronym for these three words, which are now commonly used in the rice circle. When discussing celebrity gossip, many fans often use the abbreviated form of “dbq” in order to avoid the impulsive behavior of some fans in defense of their beloved celebrities. “dbq” is one of them. The meaning of “dbq” has long since changed as a result of linguistic variation and has been widely circulated in the rice circle. For example:
1) Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha dbq (对不起), so unethical. (Weibo, 2023-02)
2) #WuGang Blessed are those who have no nose bridge The first thing that popped into my head when I saw this hot search was Voldemort, dbq (对不起). (Weibo, 2023-02)
3) I’m a little bit taken aback by my own beauty (narcissistic dbq对不起), even though we don’t have a date today for Valentine’s Day, we need to go out and have some fun. (Weibo, 2023-02)
In example (1), the context is that a celebrity has been exposed to a scandal, and the respective media accounts on the online platform are scrambling to report on it, and many netizens and fans have also flirted with the star in a sarcastic manner, with one of the netizens’ sarcastic tweets being retweeted by the speaker in the example with the above text. Although “dbq” is the pinyin abbreviation for “sorry”, in this sentence it does not mean sorry at all, but rather expresses a mocking tone, seemingly apologizing for his immoral behavior, but in reality it feels like “what can you do to me? What can you do to me”. In example (2), the netizen expressed his opinion on the topic “Wu Gang, blessed are those without a nose”, saying that Voldemort is the first person he associates with no nose (Voldemort is the villainous character in the novel Harry Potter series), and that “dbq” seems to express his embarrassment for offending this image, but in fact it is somewhat shaky. The meaning of “dbq” is a bit of a joke. In example (3), the speaker compliments himself on his beauty and immediately adds that he is narcissistic and attaches “dbq” to it, not to apologize to anyone but to cover up his shyness.
Another example is that the Chinese Dictionary explains “you yi shuo yi” as you can say what you think. It describes honest speech. Baidu explains “yysy” as an internet buzzword, commonly used in e-sports commentary, which is approximately the same as “to reason”. It can be used alone in response to a comment about something, to show that one agrees with the other person’s ideas, or it can be followed by a phrase to introduce a new point, where it serves as an emphasis. The spelling of the abbreviation adds an extra layer of “emphasis” compared to the original idiom. For example:
4) How can someone give such a rustic and beautiful gift! Haha yysy (有一说一) still has heart~ (Weibo, 2023-02)
In example (4), the speaker complains that the gift he received is good-looking but rustic, which seems to fall short of his satisfaction, but then “yysy” emphasizes that the person who gave the gift has put his heart into it. The second half of the sentence is introduced by “yysy”.
2.3. Distribution Markers
Linguists have found in their research that the marked and unmarked items in a pair of oppositions are not exactly equivalent. [6] Usually marked items are more restricted in their distributional range than unmarked items. As a result, there are distributional deviations between the pinyin abbreviations and the Chinese words they represent. For example, the pinyin abbreviation “xdm” is both similar to and somewhat different from the full word “brothers”. For those who use the expression, the meaning is obvious; for those who do not know or are not familiar with the expression, however, the connotation and function are unclear. Therefore, Internet pinyin abbreviations are only suitable for a certain circle and can be seen as a marker for a certain intellectual and cultural group. Since Internet users mainly use pinyin input methods to communicate online, pinyin abbreviations are new and different, so for some people with a certain level of English language knowledge it is a way to show off their distinctiveness. Since the 21st century, Pinyin abbreviations have continued to appear in the public eye, from “MM” (beautiful girl) and “GG” (terms of address for older men) to “dssq” (the general trend) “zqsg” (true feelings), the use of these pinyin abbreviations within youth groups has increased the speed of text input and the efficiency of communication. However, this is limited to those groups who are familiar with the usage of such expressions, so their distribution is more limited than that of the full Chinese expressions.
3. Exploring the Value of Language
With the emergence of pinyin abbreviations, their increased frequency of use, and the expansion of their scope of application, they are taking up more and more weight in language life, and their linguistic values are showing a variety of ways to be explored. Because of the simplicity of their form and their ability to express meaning in its entirety, they are favored in the online world, greatly improving the efficiency of expression, saving linguistic resources, and expressing a different connotation from that expressed in Chinese characters in a variety of contexts, making it easy to achieve a better communicative experience with less effort. The use of such expressions when expressing strong emotions can effectively mitigate the impact of emotional use, making the language euphemistic and more acceptable, and avoiding situations where strong subjective emotions cause conflict, thus facilitating the creation of a clearer online environment and even improving the ethos of social communication. The creation of phonetic abbreviations in the form of English abbreviations reflects the development of social productivity and changes in cultural patterns, and is an alternative but not negligible cultural representation.
3.1. Improving the Efficiency of Expression
In the online world, phonetic abbreviations often appear in people’s communicative expressions and in various media reports, covering a wide range of topics. From a linguistic point of view, this phenomenon follows the principle of economy, highlighting the economic mechanisms of language. The simplicity of the abbreviated form of the acronym expresses a wealth of semantic content with fewer symbols, saving linguistic resources and improving the efficiency of language expression.
The economy of pinyin abbreviations is reflected in the fact that they express the complete meaning of words through the simplest form of the alphabet, rather than using pinyin combinations to confirm the corresponding Chinese characters, bringing into play the convenience of alphabetic input and reducing the burden of using the keyboard to type. For example, “nsdd” only requires the communicator to tap four letters, whereas “you are right” requires four syllables (ni shi dui de), and even if the Chinese character is spelt by initial letter concatenation alone, it still requires character recognition to find the correct Chinese character. The “nsdd” avoids the need for a lengthy process of inputting Chinese characters.
It is worth noting, however, that the use of pinyin abbreviations is only effective in specific cultural circles that are familiar with such expressions, and that for those unfamiliar with Internet terms, such combinations of letters only make communication more difficult and confusing. For example, “dddd” is similar to a coded phrase used in young people’s groups, meaning “all those who know”, but for those unfamiliar with this abbreviation, “dddd” can be interpreted in several ways For those unfamiliar with the acronym, “dddd” can be interpreted in a number of ways: “drip, drip, drip, drip”, “blah, blah, blah”, “solo”, “drip, drip, drip”, “drip, drip”, “drip drip drip” and so on, which, instead of being economical, makes it more difficult to understand. For example, “tb” is often seen as short for “taobao” (shopping) in life, but in the field of information technology it is “terabyte” (terabyte), a unit of computer storage capacity. It can also be interpreted as “transport block”; it can also be seen as Intel’s Rare Frequency Technology, which is a technical means of increasing the main frequency of a chip by adjusting hardware settings to obtain performance above the rated frequency. In conclusion, the same acronym “tb” can be understood and interpreted differently by specific groups of people with different knowledge backgrounds. Therefore, the economic principles reflected in internet language must be based on and premised on people’s understanding of pinyin abbreviations. Otherwise, such communicative methods will not only fail to facilitate communication between individuals, but also increase confusion when interpreting language texts for both parties.
3.2. Easing the Tone
Hanyu Pinyin abbreviations, as alternative linguistic representations in the life of the Chinese language and as an alternative linguistic phenomenon created by the Chinese, are ultimately at the service of the nation and are used in an environment inseparable from that of a people who have been concerned with etiquette since ancient times. The avoidance of language is a sign of a nation’s civilization. In written language and on occasions where respect is required, avoidance makes language more appropriate and is a reflection of etiquette, education and learning, and is more acceptable to a wider audience. For example, the word “xmsl” (dead with envy) is often used on social media platforms, and the word “death” has been avoided since ancient times, as there is nothing more unpredictable in life than death, and people fear death more than ghosts and gods. There is also a local custom that if you say the word “death” all the time, you will become more and more unlucky. In order to avoid saying the word directly, the ancients would say it as “death”, “no”, “thank you”, “death”, “death”, “death” or “death”, In modern times, the word “death” is often used in the sense of “death by crane” or “death to the world of bliss”, In modern times, the word “death” is often replaced by such words as “going to the world of bliss” and “going to the world of happiness”. In the Internet, “xmsl” is replaced by the initial “s” of the word “death”, as online communication is carried out on electronic devices such as mobile phones, tablets and computers, people tend to As online communication is conducted on electronic devices such as mobile phones, tablets and computers, people are often visually exposed to the words of communication, which are then transmitted to the brain, so the “s” brings less visual impact than the word “dead”, if not minimal. Similar abbreviations in pinyin include “bt” (pervert), “xswl” and “x harassment”. In some entertainment and communication platforms in the online world, Internet users are mostly in a relaxed mood, and often communicate with others from a distance and not face-to-face, “hiding” behind electronic devices, so they do not control their emotions as decently as they do in the real world, and there have been many cases where inappropriate and subjective language has led to There have been many instances where various groups of people have been “torn apart” by inappropriate and subjective language, so there is a need for witty and humorous acronyms to euphemistically express sentences with strong emotions. For example, the pinyin abbreviations “dbq”, “bhys”, “xsl”, etc., and their native words The abbreviations are more humorous and flirtatious than the original words “sorry”, “excuse me” and “laugh out loud”, although they are less formal and dignified. Therefore, although the abbreviations do not have the clarity of the text, it is precisely because of this ambiguity that they have the function of alleviating conflicts in communication.
3.3. Cultural Mirroring
Young Internet users are growing up in a new century marked by innovation, and their minds are more active. The use of pinyin abbreviations instead of Chinese characters is a different way of linguistic expression, reflecting the structure of teenagers’ desire for newness and differences. Teenage Internet users are also the creators of youth subcultures. With the rapid development of information technology, the online world has become a fertile ground for the growth and spread of Chinese youth subcultures and a cultural venue for youth groups to seek a sense of belonging. In the online world, young people are trying to establish their own culture and want to have their own independent space, so pinyin abbreviations have come into being. Pinyin abbreviations have the characteristics of a dialect, they are not independent, their form tends to change with the language, and they are accepted only by certain groups. This is where “ambiguity” comes into play. Thus, the tendency for phonetic abbreviations to be used in online language tends to create multiple circles in the online world, with each group having its own corresponding online language, and the existence of phonetic abbreviations accelerates communication and the fragmentation of the network.
However, the youth subculture has not been rejected or abandoned by the mainstream culture; on the contrary, the phonetic abbreviations have gradually penetrated into the outside world of the original circles, expanding their distribution outwards. Pinyin abbreviations are also frequently featured in major media reports under the mainstream culture, for example, “The new breakthrough of “Central Youth Summer” by Three Winged Bird is a strong punch, becoming the first original online variety show of the main station to be featured on the “News Broadcast”. 179+ hot search hits on the whole network, 900 million+ video plays on the whole network, 2 billion+ total readings on the whole network topics! Central young summer evening, netizens love him! The “YYDS” “Yoyo’s God” is serious about creating a treasured variety show.” (CCTV Finance) The news outlet used the annual super-hot internet pinyin acronym “yyds” in its headline, expressing praise for the variety show and reworking “yyds” by using the pinyin acronym to create. This creative use of internet pinyin abbreviations has brought the distance between youth subculture and mainstream culture closer, even blurring the boundaries between the two, showing the tolerance of mainstream culture towards sub-cultural circles, reflecting the advanced development of society and strengthening the group’s sense of cultural identity. It also shows that young people have become a group with the power of expression in society, and that their words and actions are highly valued and their demands are responded to.
4. Summary
In summary, the emergence of phonetic abbreviations in Internet language is a linguistic variation and a stage in the development of the language to date. The distinctive feature of the Internet is that it is quick and fast, so the terms used in it are reasonably adapted to the environment in which they are used, which is why the phonetic abbreviation was formed. Although phonetic abbreviations have a similar appearance to traditional foreign alphabetic words, at the root of this, the base forms directly represent are different, and there are multiple pronunciations of the former, so it would be prudent to consider them as one and the same linguistic phenomenon. However, given their similarity, pinyin abbreviations naturally share some of the characteristics of traditional alphabetic words, making them simple and convenient to use within a group of people with the same intellectual background or in certain circles, making expression economical and efficient. In contrast to their Chinese counterparts, pinyin abbreviations are often more semantically inclined, or can convey meanings that the words they refer to do not, making for a humorous and hedge-less conversation, and helping to create a more atmospheric online communication environment. Of course, these terms tend to be used more frequently on the internet, and in real life or more formal contexts they appear significantly less often, and their distribution is more limited than that of the Chinese words they refer to. With the development of society and the influence of English words and abbreviations, the phenomenon of Hanyu Pinyin becoming popular on the Internet is inevitable. Some Hanyu pinyin abbreviations will be as fleeting as buzzwords, but others, once known, may develop steadily and maturely, remaining in use for a relatively long time, and even being used by official media and newspapers. The emergence of Internet Hanyu pinyin has made language expressions more concise, satisfying people’s psychology of seeking simplicity and new expressions, expanding the choice of civilized avoidance of phonetics and fonts, fully reflecting the social psychology of the nation, and enriching the expression of modern Chinese. Hanyu Pinyin abbreviations are widely used, not only in our spoken language, but also in written language such as news and newspapers and other media. It is worth considering that there are limitations to the extent to which such linguistic expressions are perceived differently, depending on age, cultural background, occupational field or other social groups. Language is for people to communicate, and people must know the alphabetic words and know their meanings in order to use them correctly and rationally. While taking advantage of the simplicity that pinyin abbreviations bring to our language, they should also be regulated so that they can play more and better social roles, such as being explained in written language. In addition, young people are the main drivers of abbreviations, a group of people who are often creative and willing to break with traditional norms to create their own culture. The popularity of abbreviations reflects the active thinking of people and the tolerance of the mainstream culture towards youth subcultures, demonstrating the development of a thriving society that encourages innovation. In the end, internet abbreviations are a normal revolution and innovation in language and writing. We need not look at this phenomenon with rejection and alienation, but only with reasonable regulation and proper guidance, recognizing the reasonableness of this phenomenon, but not allowing it to develop and abuse it freely, which is the direction that language workers should work together. The limitations of this study include the lack of a large corpus as the research subject, as it only focuses on explaining popular pinyin abbreviations. Future research should aim to collect a larger amount of online language to increase the credibility of the article.