Variations of Mandarin Slang on Weibo: A Linguistic Trend in Social Media
Keywords:
Mandarin Slang, Digital Communication, Social Media, Weibo, Language EvolutionAbstract
Communication plays a vital role in human social interaction, with language serving as the primary tool for conveying messages, expressing identity, and shaping cultural development. Mandarin, as one of the most widely spoken languages, includes both formal and informal variations, such as slang. Slang is an evolving linguistic phenomenon that reflects social and cultural dynamics, particularly among young people. This study explores the characteristics, formation mechanisms, and social functions of Mandarin slang, with a focus on its usage on Weibo, one of China's most influential social media platforms. The research adopts a qualitative descriptive approach to analyze slang terms used in digital interactions between September and December 2023. The findings indicate that slang in Mandarin follows various linguistic patterns, including phonetic changes, abbreviations, metaphors, loanwords, and morphological adaptations. Additionally, slang serves multiple functions, such as strengthening social identity, fostering group cohesion, and enabling creative self-expression. Weibo significantly contributes to the dissemination and evolution of slang, as public figures, celebrities, and media organizations actively engage in language innovation through their posts. This study provides insights into the dynamic role of digital platforms in shaping modern language trends and highlights the impact of slang on communication patterns among Chinese youth.
References
Anggini, N., Afifah, N. Y., & Syaputra, E. (2022). Pengaruh Bahasa Gaul (SLANG) Terhadap Bahasa Indonesia Pada Generasi Muda. Jurnal Multidisiplin Dehasen (MUDE), 1(3), 143–148.
Arikunto, S. (1998). Pendekatan Penelitian Bab III Metodologi Penelitian.
Baan, A. (2013). Fungsi Komunikatif Dalam Bahasa Slang Remaja di Kelurahan Tandung Kecamatan Makale. Jurnal Keguruan Dan Ilmu Pendidikan, 2(2), 181–192.
Chaer, A. (2013). Pengantar Semantik Bahasa Indonesia. Rineka Cipta.
Gea, S. M., & Salliyanti, S. (2023). Tindak Tutur Ekspresif Pada Podcast Deddy Corbuzier Tentang Komisi Penyiaran Indonesia: Kajian Pragmatik. Jurnal Pendidikan Tambusai, 7(3), 25948–25955.
Gunawan, F. (2015). Implikasi Penggunaan Bahasa Gaul Terhadap Pemakaian Bahasa Indonesia Di Kalangan Siswa SMAN 3 Kendari. Al-Izzah: Jurnal Hasil-Hasil Penelitian, 8(1), 56–72.
Hayashi, Y. (2020). Shingeki no Kyojin: The final season. MAPPA.
Hirose, Y. (1995). Direct and Indirect Speech as Quotations of Public and Private Expression. Lingua, 95(4), 223–238.
Ichikawa, Y. (2005). Shokyuu Nihongo Bunpoo to Oshiekata no Pointo (3A Nettowaaku). スリーエーネットワーク.
Iori, I. (2001). Atarashii Nihongogaku Nyuumon. Surii E Nettowaaku.
Khoirurrohman, T., & Abdan, M. R. (2017). Analisis Pemakaian Variasi Bahasa Slang Pada Remaja Desa Kalinusu : Kajian Sosiolinguistik. Jurnal Ilmiah SEMANTIKA, 1(2), 1–11.
Kim, S. E., Lee, K. Y., Shin, S. Il, & Yang, S. B. (2017). Effects of Tourism Information Quality in Social Media on Destination Image Formation: The Case of Sina Weibo. Information and Management, 54(6), 687–702.
Mahsun. (2012). Metode Penelitian Bahasa: Tahapan Strategi, Metode, dan Tekniknya (Revisi). Rajawali Press.
Masrur, M. F., Faizah, B. U., Rahmanita, N. I., Rajagukguk, T. A. P. M., & Xiang, S. (2023). The Art of Influence: Analyzing Xi Jinping's Illocutionary Speech Acts at Bo’ao Asia Forum 2022. Paramasastra: Jurnal Ilmiah Bahasa Sastra dan Pembelajarannya, 10(2), 207-223.
Mailani, O., Nuraeni, I., Syakila, S. A., & Lazuardi, J. (2022). Bahasa Sebagai Alat Komunikasi Dalam Kehidupan Manusia. Kampret Journal, 1(2), 1–10.
Martell, J. (2017). Idiomatic Images: Derrida and the Forgoten Japanese Film Irezmi. Journals Edinburgh University Press, 2, 210–227.
Oktaviani, V., & Pratiwi, A. (2022). Ragam Bahasa Slang Dalam Media Sosial Twitter. Jurnal Pendidikan Bahasa Dan Sastra Indonesia, 5(2), 1–12.
Pohan, D. D., & Fitria, U. S. (2021). Jenis-Jenis Komunikasi. Cybernetics: Journal Educational Research and Social Studies, 2(3), 29–37.
Rahmah, Y. (2019). Omamori dalam Kepercayaan Masyarakat Jepang . Jurnal Kiryoku, 3, 92–99.
Sari, N. M., & Siagian, I. (2023). Dampak Penggunaan Bahasa Gaul yang Menjadi Bahasa Superior Masyarakat Terhadap Bahasa Indonesia. Jurnal Pendidikan Tambusai, 7(1), 2596–2600.
Sudaryanto. (1988). Bagian Kedua. Metode dan Aneka Teknik Pengumpulan Data. In Metode Linguistik. Gadjah Mada University Press.
Sudaryanto. (2015). Metode Dan Aneka Teknik Analisis Bahasa : Peng Penelitian Wahana Kebudayaan. Duta Wacana University Press.
Sugiyono. (2013). Metode Penelitian Kuantitatif, Kualitatif Dan R&D (19th ed.). ALFABETA, CV.
Sumarsono. (2014). Sosiolinguistik. Pustaka Pelajar.
Sutedi, D. (2019). Dasar-Dasar Linguistik Bahasa Jepang (Revisi 2019). Humaniora Utama Press.
Theodora, N. (2013). Studi Tentang Ragam Bahasa Gaul Di Media Elektronika Radio Pada Penyiar Memora-Fm Manado. Journal “Acta Diurna,” 11(1), 1–11.
Yang, F., Liu, Y., Yu, X., & Yang, M. (2012). Automatic Detection of Rumor on Sina Weibo. Proceedings of the ACM SIGKDD Workshop on Mining Data Semantics, 1–7.
Yuming, L. (2015). Language Planning in China. In Boston: De Gruyter Mouton (Vol. 4).
Zakariah, M. A. , A. V. , & Z. K. M. (2020). Metodologi Penelitian Kualitatif, Kuantitatif, Action Research, Research and Development (R&D). Yayasan Pondok Pesantren Al Mawaddah Warrahmah Kolaka.
Zhang Yan (张艳). (2007). Analyzing the Characteristics and Styles of English Slang (浅析英语俚语的特征与风格). 安徽工业大学学报, 社会科学版, (05):127-128.
Li Shujuan, & Yan Ligang (李淑娟, & 颜李刚). (2001). New Slang Of China (Chinese Edition) (Reprint). New World Pr.
Malyk, M. V. (2014). Sincere backhanded compliments: Exploring social, semiotic and cognitive dimensions of cryptosemic interaction. Rutgers The State University of New Jersey, School of Graduate Studies.
He, Y. (2024). Exploring Linguistic Innovations Within Chinese Internet Slang in Language and Social Media. Journal of Linguistics and Communication Studies, 3(1), 29-34.
Chen, C., & Wen, X. (2024). Metaphorical richness: A corpus study of money metaphors in English and Chinese language. Cognitive Linguistic Studies, 11(2), 334-369.
Youwei, S. (2020). Loanwords in the Chinese language. Routledge.
Xie, C., Handayani, W. R., Ana, I. D. P. W., & Hariri, T. (2023). Language and Gender: Investigating the Representation of Chinese Women in Mandarin Slang and Its Implications for Professional Communication (1970s-1990s). Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 13(10), 2689-2696.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 International Journal of Chinese Interdisciplinary Studies
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Abstract views: 129
,
PDF Downloads: 115
