This article investigates the reduction of Netspeak in Mandarin computer-mediated communication (CMC). It provides a classification of Chinese Netspeak reductions (two-, three-, or four-character reductions at lexical and syntactic levels, and atypical reductions). The study proposes that Zipf's Principle of Least Effort, typically applied at the lexical level, also operates at the utterance level, driving the increasing use of Netspeak reductions. The frequency of Netspeak reduction use determines its vitality and distribution.
Publisher
Humanities and Social Sciences Communications
Published On
Jun 18, 2024
Authors
Yong Zhou, Yicheng Wu
Tags
Netspeak
Mandarin
computer-mediated communication
reduction
Zipf's Principle of Least Effort
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