Computer Mediated Communication: Enregisterment of Gamerspeak and Intertextual Borrowings by 4chan Users

Richoux, Natalie Regina Chambers

Computer Mediated Communication: Enregisterment of Gamerspeak and Intertextual Borrowings by 4chan Users

dc.contributor.author	Richoux, Natalie Regina Chambers	en
dc.contributor.committeechair	Carmichael, Katie	en
dc.contributor.committeemember	Eska, Charlene M.	en
dc.contributor.committeemember	Walker, Abby	en
dc.contributor.department	English	en
dc.date.accessioned	2017-12-23T07:00:40Z	en
dc.date.available	2017-12-23T07:00:40Z	en
dc.date.issued	2016-06-30	en
dc.description.abstract	Digital spaces are opening the doors to developing types of registers within languages that rely on computer mediated communication. Participants in the video game community have enregistered language that is concise and efficient for the purposes of game play to make snap decisions. However, the register is being borrowed by 4chan users, adapted to their sociocultural needs, and employed by some to communicate threats of violence. The aim of this thesis is to understand the structure of gaming language both inside and outside of a gaming platform and to examine how some users of 4chan make use of this less commonly understood register for expressions of violent intent. I observe professional eSports athletes in game play, interviews, and news articles to establish a baseline of gaming terminology and examine the structure within this enregistered facet of language. I found that much of gaming terminology is derived through processes already common in the development of slang and other forms of language change, and I used the results of this analysis to generate a survey about understanding of these language forms. This survey was distributed to participants who had different amounts of experience with video games (mega gamers vs. non-mega gamers) to determine each groups' awareness of gaming terminology and their understanding of certain phrases as communication of a threat. The survey revealed that mega gamers more commonly define terms in relation to video games than non-mega gamers, but that they were not more likely to identify phrases with gaming terms as threats except in a few isolated cases.	en
dc.description.degree	Master of Arts	en
dc.format.medium	ETD	en
dc.identifier.other	vt_gsexam:8093	en
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10919/81406	en
dc.publisher	Virginia Tech	en
dc.rights	In Copyright	en
dc.rights.uri	http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/	en
dc.subject	Linguistics	en
dc.subject	Enregisterment	en
dc.subject	Internet	en
dc.subject	Video Games	en
dc.title	Computer Mediated Communication: Enregisterment of Gamerspeak and Intertextual Borrowings by 4chan Users	en
dc.type	Thesis	en
thesis.degree.discipline	English	en
thesis.degree.grantor	Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University	en
thesis.degree.level	masters	en
thesis.degree.name	Master of Arts	en