Shattered Dream of Purism: Sociolinguistic Dynamics of the Emerging Hybrid Social Media Language in Sri Lanka
The rapid digitization of communication in the last decade, especially in social networking spaces, has contributed to radical changes in the virtual language environment in Sri Lanka. It has not only reshaped the way individuals communicate, but has also fueled the emergence of new linguistic trend...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Sciendo
2024-12-01
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| Series: | Research on Education and Media |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.2478/rem-2024-0016 |
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| author | Dassanayake Noel |
| author_facet | Dassanayake Noel |
| author_sort | Dassanayake Noel |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The rapid digitization of communication in the last decade, especially in social networking spaces, has contributed to radical changes in the virtual language environment in Sri Lanka. It has not only reshaped the way individuals communicate, but has also fueled the emergence of new linguistic trends that reflect the dynamic nature of language in the contemporary virtual landscape. The present study seeks to explore the prospects of a pure language ideology in Sri Lanka with special reference to the use of Sinhala and English in the virtual space. The study used a corpus of memes extracted from social media and analyzed them from a sociolinguistic standpoint using Critical Discourse Analysis. The results show that social media have created a safe space for less competent language users to interact within their linguistic capacity. The adaptation of words and the invention of neologisms have occurred due to the unavailability of terms in users' L1 or L2, as well as to avoid taboos or prohibitions. Given the rapid evolution of communication technology, added to the dynamic changes that have already occurred within languages, aspirations to linguistic purism have become unrealistic optimism. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-bbe3c6000ea944e6908c33e61b9e9098 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2037-0849 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-12-01 |
| publisher | Sciendo |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Research on Education and Media |
| spelling | doaj-art-bbe3c6000ea944e6908c33e61b9e90982025-01-02T06:05:47ZengSciendoResearch on Education and Media2037-08492024-12-0116210.2478/rem-2024-0016Shattered Dream of Purism: Sociolinguistic Dynamics of the Emerging Hybrid Social Media Language in Sri LankaDassanayake Noel01Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka, Sri LankaThe rapid digitization of communication in the last decade, especially in social networking spaces, has contributed to radical changes in the virtual language environment in Sri Lanka. It has not only reshaped the way individuals communicate, but has also fueled the emergence of new linguistic trends that reflect the dynamic nature of language in the contemporary virtual landscape. The present study seeks to explore the prospects of a pure language ideology in Sri Lanka with special reference to the use of Sinhala and English in the virtual space. The study used a corpus of memes extracted from social media and analyzed them from a sociolinguistic standpoint using Critical Discourse Analysis. The results show that social media have created a safe space for less competent language users to interact within their linguistic capacity. The adaptation of words and the invention of neologisms have occurred due to the unavailability of terms in users' L1 or L2, as well as to avoid taboos or prohibitions. Given the rapid evolution of communication technology, added to the dynamic changes that have already occurred within languages, aspirations to linguistic purism have become unrealistic optimism.https://doi.org/10.2478/rem-2024-0016linguistic purismsocial medialanguagesri lanka |
| spellingShingle | Dassanayake Noel Shattered Dream of Purism: Sociolinguistic Dynamics of the Emerging Hybrid Social Media Language in Sri Lanka Research on Education and Media linguistic purism social media language sri lanka |
| title | Shattered Dream of Purism: Sociolinguistic Dynamics of the Emerging Hybrid Social Media Language in Sri Lanka |
| title_full | Shattered Dream of Purism: Sociolinguistic Dynamics of the Emerging Hybrid Social Media Language in Sri Lanka |
| title_fullStr | Shattered Dream of Purism: Sociolinguistic Dynamics of the Emerging Hybrid Social Media Language in Sri Lanka |
| title_full_unstemmed | Shattered Dream of Purism: Sociolinguistic Dynamics of the Emerging Hybrid Social Media Language in Sri Lanka |
| title_short | Shattered Dream of Purism: Sociolinguistic Dynamics of the Emerging Hybrid Social Media Language in Sri Lanka |
| title_sort | shattered dream of purism sociolinguistic dynamics of the emerging hybrid social media language in sri lanka |
| topic | linguistic purism social media language sri lanka |
| url | https://doi.org/10.2478/rem-2024-0016 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT dassanayakenoel shattereddreamofpurismsociolinguisticdynamicsoftheemerginghybridsocialmedialanguageinsrilanka |