Dublin Core
Title
Because Tumblr-Internet-Speak: Four Assumptions of Discourse Analysis Within New Rules of the English Language
Abstract
The literature has described linguistic deviations from the conventional use of English in
Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC) as distinguishing aspects of language used on
the Internet. (Page, Barton, Unger, Zappavigna, 2014) The purpose of this paper is to analyse
the unique language patterns seen on Tumblr, a popular microblogging platform, and how
these patterns fit into four assumptions of discourse analysis as described by Rodney H. Jones
(2009). Using a textual analysis method on a corpus of 60 texts extracted from Tumblr, this
paper shows how four assumptions of discourse analysis can be found in Tumblr posts. The
four assumptions of discourse analysis are that language is ambiguous, it is always in the
world, it is used to show belonging to social groups, and it is never used alone. The ambiguity
of language is taken advantage of, and Tumblr users use this ambiguity as a way of creating
new vocabulary. New terms on Tumblr are coined and used by different social groups to show
their association or aversion to said groups. Furthermore, textual analysis shows how Tumblr
users mostly use language such as contractions, abbreviated forms, and acronyms in their
blogs, which indicates that the said language is always in the world - the context in which,
when, and for what a language is used determines what it signifies. Lastly, the analysis shows
that the language is never used all by itself: non-standard use of punctuation adds tone to the
text, and it functions as a ranting tone that impersonates rhetorical speech.
Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC) as distinguishing aspects of language used on
the Internet. (Page, Barton, Unger, Zappavigna, 2014) The purpose of this paper is to analyse
the unique language patterns seen on Tumblr, a popular microblogging platform, and how
these patterns fit into four assumptions of discourse analysis as described by Rodney H. Jones
(2009). Using a textual analysis method on a corpus of 60 texts extracted from Tumblr, this
paper shows how four assumptions of discourse analysis can be found in Tumblr posts. The
four assumptions of discourse analysis are that language is ambiguous, it is always in the
world, it is used to show belonging to social groups, and it is never used alone. The ambiguity
of language is taken advantage of, and Tumblr users use this ambiguity as a way of creating
new vocabulary. New terms on Tumblr are coined and used by different social groups to show
their association or aversion to said groups. Furthermore, textual analysis shows how Tumblr
users mostly use language such as contractions, abbreviated forms, and acronyms in their
blogs, which indicates that the said language is always in the world - the context in which,
when, and for what a language is used determines what it signifies. Lastly, the analysis shows
that the language is never used all by itself: non-standard use of punctuation adds tone to the
text, and it functions as a ranting tone that impersonates rhetorical speech.
Keywords
tumblr, internet linguistics, internet, discourse analysis, language deviations,
language ambiguity, textual analysis
language ambiguity, textual analysis
Publisher
International Burch University