Die internet as dinamiese taalomgewing: taalveranderingsverskynsels in Internetafrikaans

Abstract

The internet as dynamic language environment: manifestations of language change in Internet Afrikaans

It is generally accepted that the growing interest in the Internet has opened up new horizons for language research. Chenault (1997:1) asserts that the Internet is not about technology or information, but about communication. The aim with this article is to explore the Internet as a dynamic language environment in which emerging patterns of language change in modernday Afrikaans could be traced. Firstly, attention is paid to ways in which the internet speech community could be defined as a coherent speech community. A second aim with this article is to scrutinise the dichotomy between spoken and written language. This is done in order to indicate that linguistic innovations, which usually emerge from social interaction, find their way into written language in digital communication. The third aim is to take a close look at various forms or patterns of language change in Afrikaans as they are presently used in Afrikaans chat rooms on the Internet. The article concludes that Internet Afrikaans could be regarded as an aspect of virtual reality for Afrikaans because systematic patterns of language change which started long ago in Afrikaans are confirmed by the Internet language environment.