The popularity of the Internet as a vehicle for communication has considerably influenced French written language. This has lead to the development of a new kind of written code, French cyberlanguage. Although cyberlanguage is a recent development, it is actually the product of various pre-existent processes. Some of these influences include constraints on time and space, the impact of informal oral language, and the impulse to be creative and playful with language. Thus it is a new phenomenon that creates modern lexicon by using traditional methods. The purpose of this study is to describe the aspects of French cyberlanguage and to analyze the discursive choices made by its users using actual chat transcripts. It explores various aspects of this phenomenon, including the demographic of its users, categorization of cyberlanguage, and the many processes that are utilized in order to create new lexicon and methods of expression. The choices of lexicon and style that are a result of these processes reflects the varied nature of cyberlanguage: because it is coconstructed by its users, cyberlanguage consists of a wide array of variable words and tactics available to Internet users. There is a certain amount of controversy surrounding the use and popularity of cyberlanguage. The arguments for and against its use are given, in addition to a discussion of the future of cyberlanguage. Current research makes it very clear that the phenomenon of French cyberlanguage is not a temporary or passing fad, but is instead an interesting new means of written communication that is actually progressing beyond the isolation of the Internet and into mainstream usage.
Language, Linguistics, Modern language, Education, Philosophy of
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