Digital Communication And The Evolution Of Language: A Sociolinguistic Analysis Of Online Interactions

Abstract

This paper aims at giving a detailed description of the use of language in different aspect in computerized communication, with reference to its sociolinguistic consequences. It also examines the development of new socio-political artifacts including using abbreviations in communication, using emojis, and other types of multimodal communication that characterize modern civilized world’s communication. The work engages with the question of how the confines of digital media – for example, the character limit of Twitter, have impacted on the morphology and functionality of language, hence resulting in shorter and sometimes innovative modes of communication. Furthermore, the paper explores the practice of code switching and language blending especially in social media sites where individuals in the[1] course of their communicating shift between one lang from another. It also reviews the social consequences of these shifts in linguistic patterns, with focus on identity representation and formation, as well as building of various forms of new digital dialects. This paper will then consider long-term implications of digital communication on the diachronic changes of language and the value of developing knowledge on the same within the sociolinguistic framework.