The Style of Danmaku Language.docx

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1、The Style of Danmaku LanguageBy Chen JiaqiInstructor: Ruan QuanyouClass 01, Grade 2016, Business EnglishSchool of Foreign LanguagesZhongnan University of Economics and LawMarch, 2020ContentsIntroduction11.Literature Review22.Research Design32.1Research Questions32.2Methods33.Research Results43.1Lexi

2、cal Features43.2Syntactical Features63.3Rhetorical Features83.4Style of Danmaku114.Discussion134.1The register of Danmaku134.2Danmaku and Subculture15Conclusion181.Implications182.Limitations18Bibliography19AbstractDanmaku is a commentary system which overlies directly on to the video. As an emergin

3、g language practices in online communication, it performs a distinct linguistic style, thus arouses attention in linguistic study. This study aims to clarify the style of language used in Danmaku. The research performs a text analysis on sampled Danmaku, and examines its lexical, syntactical, and rh

4、etorical features, and then concludes the style of Danmaku. This study finds: 1) Danmaku employs homophony, jargon on the lexical level; 2) It is constructed in short, simple, and incomplete sentences on the syntactical level; and 3) It employs rhetorical devices including exaggeration, irony, etc.

5、The research concludes that the style of Danmaku language is concise, colloquial and informal. This study provides more insight into the style of the language used in Danmaku. Key Words: Danmaku; video comments; linguistics; style; IIntroductionDanmaku commenting is a real-time commentary system whi

6、ch displays user-generated comments synced to a specific playback time overlaid directly onto the video (see Figure 1).These comments are Danmaku, and the videos with Danmaku are Danmaku videos.Danmaku commenting enjoys great popularity in China in recent years. Originally, it was developed by NikoN

7、https:/www.nicovideo.jp/, a Japanese video sharing website. B is one of earliest introducers of Danmaku, and the largest Danmaku video sharing website in China Source: . The websites average monthly active users had reached 85.04 million, 78% of whom aged 18-35. With over 120,000 users sending Danma

8、ku per minute in average, 2,120,000 Danmaku have been generated and viewed on B every day Source: .Figure 1 A screenshot of Danmaku comments in a video in ( ).The popularity Danmaku enjoys among the youth has drawn attention from many disciplines, chiefly in the school of communication and others in

9、 the school of culture and psychology (Li, 2019; Zhou, 2019; Hu, 2019; Gao, 2018, Chen et al. 2016; Huang & Zhu, 2015). Some scholars have analysed the language of Danmaku in recent years with a focus on the origins, phonetic, semantic, syntactic or grammatical features of Danmaku and its taxonomy (

10、Yan, 2016; Chang, 2019; Li, 2018). In recent years, owning to the increasingly universal appliance of Danmaku commentary, Danmaku has presented an intriguing style, which deserves further researches.This research aims to study the style of Danmaku. It will start with the lexical, syntactical and rhe

11、torical features, and finally focus on the style of Danmaku. The study will also discuss the causes of the style by employing Hallidays model of register and subcultural theories, which will offer a new insight into the linguistic and cultural analysis of Danmaku language, and may aid future study o

12、f Danmaku.1. Literature ReviewThe researches on Danmaku mainly focus on three aspects, namely: the taxonomies of Danmaku, the coding and decoding of Danmaku, and the linguistic features of Danmaku.The precedent researches have provided multiple taxonomies. Fu (2015) gives two taxonomies of the expre

13、ssions of Danmaku. First, Fu classifies Danmaku according to its usage. Second, Fu classified Danmaku into 3 categories, namely: Danmaku of practice, Danmaku of emotion, and Danmaku of references. According to the rhetorical devices Danmaku adopts, Yan (2016) classifies Danmaku into Danmaku derives

14、from abbreviation, homophonies, references, and metaphors. Li (2018) provides a categorisation based on morphology, and categorises Danmaku as Danmaku composed of Chinese and Danmaku composed of non-Chinese. The coding of Danmaku has been analysed from the perspective of cognitive linguistic by Wang

15、 in A Cognitive Approach to Bullet Curtain Language in Bilibili (2017). To start with, Wang (2017) finds Danmaku to be coded in adherence to iconic principles. Wang (2017) also finds that the propositions, metaphor, metonymy, and symbols, four elements of idealized cognitive model (ICM), have been e

16、mployed in Danmaku coding, and thus developed ICM of Danmaku coding accordingly.The linguistic features of Danmaku are often analysed from multiple aspects. Li (2018) has done lexical and syntactical analysis and finds that abbreviation and neologies are common in Danmaku in the lexical level and th

17、e syntactic structure of Danmaku is broadly in line with standard Chinese. Chang (2019) holds that conversion of word class and variation of word order occurs with high frequency in Danmaku and thus results in unstandardized syntactic structure. Chang (2019) then argues the language of Danmaku requi

18、res immediate regulation since it is informal, and sometimes involve cyber violence.As the above literature review suggests, the precedent linguistic research on Danmaku has offered different taxonomies of Danmaku and detailed analysis of its lexical and syntactical properties. Few researches, howev

19、er, has explored the stylistic features of Danmaku. Additionally, the ever-changing language of Danmaku has been updating time to time, and presenting more new-emerging characteristics, which calls for updated linguistic researches.2. Research DesignThe examination of the style of Danmaku language r

20、equires an analysis on elements which contribute to a style, including: lexis, sentences, and rhetorical devices. So, the research employs the method of text analysis. This research collects Danmaku from B as samples, as B is now the most visited video platform in China and is able to provide adequa

21、te amount of samples. 2.1 Research QuestionsThis research tries to answer the following two questions:(1) What are the lexical, syntactical, and rhetorical features of Danmaku language?(2) What is the style of Danmaku language?2.2 MethodsThis research employs the method of textual analysis. To under

22、stand the style of Danmaku, the research examines Danmaku language on lexical, syntactical, rhetorical, and stylistics level. The research includes the following steps:(1) Sample selection and data collection This research selects Danmaku videos posted on B and collects the Danmaku attached. The vid

23、eo samples in this study satisfy requirements that: (1) to be viewed for over 10,000 times, and (2) to contain over 500 piece of Danmaku. This research selects 5 Danmaku videos as the samples and collects 8734 sampled Danmaku on March 5th, 2020(see Table 1).Table 1: the amount of Danmaku of Danmaku

24、video samplesVideo DV1DV2DV3DV4DV5Total Quantity of Danmaku2999306196110216928734(2)Lexical analysis This part examines the lexical features of Danmaku. First, the research describes the lexical phenomena observed among the samples. Then, the research analyses the jargon of Danmaku from the aspects

25、of origin, meaning, and usage.(3)Syntactic analysisThis part analyses the syntactic features of Danmaku. First, the research measures the length of Danmaku. Here, a Chinese character, Latin letter, punctuation or space shall account one character. Since in Danmaku, space is used as punctuation, so s

26、pace shall be regard as an equivalence of punctuation. Then, the research analyses the sentence structure of Danmaku.(4)Rhetorical analysisThis part examines the rhetorical features of Danmaku. First, the research analyses the devices applied in Danmaku, and then the literature form of Danmaku by ex

27、ploring their origins, meanings, and usage. (5)Stylistics analysis Finally, the research concludes the stylistic features of Danmaku via a summary of the lexical, syntactical and rhetorical features observed in the research. Then, the research will elaborate the style of Danmaku.3. Research Results3

28、.1 Lexical FeaturesThe research finds three lexical phenomena, namely: the use of homophony, and semantical changes, and development of jargon. In addition, the research also finds that these homophonous words, words with alternative meanings, and new words created by Danmaku senders compose the jar

29、gon used exclusively in Danmaku, and build an informal, casual and humorous situation of communication.3.1.1 Use of HomophonyHomophony occurs frequently in sampled Danmaku. Homophonous words are words having the same pronunciation as another or others but different meaning, origin, or spelling. Tabl

30、e 2 demonstrate 7 examples of homophonous pairs which are classified into two categories according to their origin.Table 2: Examples of homophony in DanmakuDanmaku OriginusageHomophony of Chinese words蜜汁mi41 (syrup)密之mi41, (weird)蜜汁尴尬 石锤2i2 (stone hammer)实锤2i2, (confirmed)偷看石锤药丸jau4wn2, (pill)要完jau4

31、wn2, (doomed）考试药丸666lu4lu4lu4, (six six six)溜溜溜lu4lu4lu4, (awesome)666666Transliteration of non-Chinese words因翠丝听in1 tsi4 sz1 t1Interesting ntrst赛高sai4 kau1最高sa/iko, (the best)四国一sz4ko2i1s/oi, (awesome)The first category is Danmaku derived from Chinese words. When used in Danmaku, these homophonous

32、words are usually equivalent to the original words, as they share the same meaning and usage. For example, 蜜汁and 密之are a pair of homophony. These two words share the same pronunciation mi41, but the former one means syrup or syrupy, and the latter means weird or mysterious originally. When used in D

33、anmaku, these two words both mean weird or mysterious, and are used as an adjective to joke about a confusing scene. For an example, 蜜汁尴尬mi41kn1ka4 and密之尴尬mi41kn1ka4 both means “a weird, amusing and awkward situation” in Danmaku.The second category is Danmaku derived from non-Chinese words. Danmaku

34、of this category are Chinese transliteration of the foreign words. The transliteration usually requires knowledge of the two languages to achieve the same effect of communication. Additionally, ones fandom or their devotion to foreign works can facilitate their use of transliteration. Since the sous

35、e words tend to be common expressions used in foreign works, their fans are familiar with these words pronunciation and thus have advantages in understanding the transliteration. For example, s/oi is a common expression used in Japanese anime, and its transliteration is 四国一sz4ko2i1, which is only un

36、derstandable when the reader recognizes their similar pronunciations. However, Japanese anime fans are more likely to notice this similarity, as they are more likely to hear pronounced during video-watching, and hence enable them to employ its transliteration in Danmaku. Therefore, the transliterati

37、on in Danmaku requires knowledge of foreign languages or ones devotion into foreign TV series, and can consequently facilitate the communication between fans or hinder non-Danmaku fans from understanding.3.1.2 Semantic TransformationThe research also finds semantic changes in sampled Danmaku. Table

38、3 lists 5 examples of words which have changed their meanings in Danmaku. Table 3: Examples of semantic changes in DanmakuExampleOriginal Meaning Meaning in DanmakuDanmaku 承包to contractto own承包这个微笑考古to do archaeological studyto watch old videos2020年前来考古复读机electronic repeaterthe people who repeats ot

39、hers words人类的本质是复读机魔鬼/魔性evil, hideous Hilarious, maniac 0、5简直魔鬼真香deliciousto regret ones despise to something which is later found to be good 我对这剧真香了The semantic change can result from new collocation. For example, 承包 regularly means to contract or own and usually collocate with certain business or

40、assets. When used in Danmaku, it can collocate with more objects, especially ones favourable elements in the video, and are used to express the ones affection. “承包这个微笑(I have contracted with this smile)” does not declare the establishment of business relationship, but express affection towards the c

41、haracter wittily. In addition, due to the unstandardized allocation of word, the formality of Danmaku is lowered.The semantic change can also result from the use of figures of speech, including metaphor, exaggeration and allusion. For example, 复读机(electronic repeater) is a metaphor of people who oft

42、en repeats others words. 魔鬼/魔性(evil, hideous) is an exaggeration of the comic effect the video achieved and means hilarious in Danmaku. 真香(delicious) is an allusion to a reality show, and describes the situation when people have to do the very thing which they plan not to, or express the resignation

43、 when things do not processed as planned. As the appliance of figures aims to banter or ridicule, these Danmaku can set a humorous mood.To conclude, semantic changes of words can result from new collocation or the appliance of figures of speech, and can create a casual and humorous atmosphere, which

44、 also provides evidence for the informality in Danmaku language.3.1.3 Jargon in DanmakuDanmaku senders have created new words. As these words originate from the watching of Danmaku video, and are seldom used or understood in situation other than Danmaku writing, these words are therefore jargon of D

45、anmaku. Table 4: Examples of semantic changes in DanmakuDanmakuLiteral meaningUsage 前方高能/高能预警alarmingto forecast the climax弹幕护体Danmaku shieldto cover unpleasant scenes指挥部Grand control to help skip the lead-in一键三连to like, share, coin, and subscribeto praise the up-loader你币有了youve got cointo praise th

46、e up-loader画质感人touching definition to praise or tease on the definition Jargon can have origins closely related to video-watching. 前方高能or 高能预警 is one of the most frequently used jargon. 高能(climax) describes the most thrilling or hilarious part, and by sending 前方高能(climax is ahead)of 高能预警(climax alar

47、ming) provides alarms for later viewers. 弹幕护体(Danmaku shield) is used to cover unpleasant scenes. As Danmaku are comments overlaid onto the video synchronously, Danmaku can shield the unpleasant scenes and improve the watching experience.Figure 2: the bottoms below Danmaku video on BJargon can originate from the interaction between t