I can has cheezburger? (‘Can I have a cheeseburger?’) is probably the most famous example of Lolspeak (also known as Kitty Pidgin), a variety of English attested on the web since 2006 that can be labeled as a Special Internet Language Variety. The general features of Lolspeak concern nonstandard orthography, morphology and syntax. The creativity and playfulness of people who write Lolspeak can give the impression of extreme variability. In this paper I will examine some of the characteristics of Lolspeak, relying on data collected from the website icanhascheezburger.com and particularly focusing on verbal morphology, in order to establish whether it is possible to find any regularities in such a peculiar language variety.
ZOMG! Dis iz a new language: the case of Lolspeak
FIORENTINI, ILARIA
2013
Abstract
I can has cheezburger? (‘Can I have a cheeseburger?’) is probably the most famous example of Lolspeak (also known as Kitty Pidgin), a variety of English attested on the web since 2006 that can be labeled as a Special Internet Language Variety. The general features of Lolspeak concern nonstandard orthography, morphology and syntax. The creativity and playfulness of people who write Lolspeak can give the impression of extreme variability. In this paper I will examine some of the characteristics of Lolspeak, relying on data collected from the website icanhascheezburger.com and particularly focusing on verbal morphology, in order to establish whether it is possible to find any regularities in such a peculiar language variety.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
