Neologisms and polysemy in social media: A morpho-semantic analysis An M.A Thesis in Linguistics Submitted to

Abstract

This thesis aims at investigating the effect of using social networks onto the language of users in terms of word meanings and forms. It looks into the role of social media in improving or worsening the linguistic performance of users. The thesis deals with up-to-date data in order to be examined from a morpho-semantic perspective. The sample of the study consists of random users of social media such as Twitter, Facebook and other applications that people usually use to communicate. Findings of the study indicate that social media and communication applications often determine the users’ choices of words and vocabulary. Hence, this thesis offers a closer look at the morpho-semantic characteristics of the language of social media through analyzing vivid examples of daily posts on social media. Moreover, the spelling of words is also influenced by social networks, as they encourage people to communicate with the least possible letters or symbols used.