Youth sociolect of the network space and its written form as an attribute of modern Japanese youth subculture

Abstract

The present study outlines a comprehensive analysis of the Japanese youth sociolanguage of the network space as an attribute of modern youth linguoculture and its component part of the written form of communication. The article considers the youth sociolanguage of the network space 「若者語の SNS言葉」[wakamonogo no SNS kotoba] as the newest linguistic phenomenon in the modern Japanese language, which functions in youth communities of the network space, transforms the communication of young people and has its own “written and spoken” form of speech, where the function of intonation is performed by paralinguistic means of language. For the first time, the lexical items of the youth sociolect of the network space are classified in order to systematise them depending on the method of notation. The author focuses on the uniqueness of the Japanese writing system and thus distinguishes four methods of notation acts: hybrid input method; incorrect conversion; graphemic similarities; representative symbols of emotional expression. Special attention is paid to monitoring of paralinguistic means of communication as a resource for textualisation of youth oral speech. The study also identifies and analyses the differences between the oral language 「話し言葉」 and the written language 「書き言葉」 of youth network communication. The analysis of the factual material shows the presence of a significant number of written units of the youth sociolect, which entered the circulation of oral communication through secondary transformation, and it indicates their interaction and complementarity. The analysis of the Japanese youth sociolanguage of the network space, in particular its written form, is quite appropriate and promising in predicting the process of change and enrichment of the standard Japanese language. It opens up new perspectives in the study of youth sociolects at different levels and expands understanding of the linguistic worldview of the modern Japanese youth.