The Circle Sub-Cultural Vocabulary and Its Influence on Semantic Culture and Lexical Use of Chinese

Abstract

The term circle sub-cultural vocabulary refers to words that transformed or coined within network circles, adapting to the Chinese lexical system. Some of them take on the characteristics of memes, relying heavily on social media platforms and gradually becoming part of Internet users' daily communication. They influence the Chinese lexical system, contemporary semantic culture, and people's language use habits. This study systematically explores words adopted within network circles, categorizing them based on distinct lexical origins and transformation modes. In general, circle sub-cultural vocabulary exhibits traits of separability, economy, and integration. Structurally, these words are not confined by syntactic rules. Conceptually, their semantics tend to become more abstract and general, reflecting the non-categorization characteristics of language. However, the use of circle sub-cultural words has led to emergence of dross semantic and destigmatization to some extent, exerting a negative influence on college students' lexical selection and usage.