The use of hēi diào (‘to turn black’) and its related [V diào] forms in social media

Abstract

Hēi diào ‘to turn black’ (黑掉) denotes a change-of-state meaning, but in social media, it has a special pragmatic use that emphasizes “bad consequences” following an uncooperative act, whether right or wrong. This metaphorical and new transitive use of hēi diào, which is unique among netizens, has changed the literal status of hēi ‘black’ to other additional accomplishment/achievement meanings. Our study examined the expression hēi diào using data from a social media corpus, the PTT Bulletin Board System. We also analysed all the constructions of hēi diào and similar [V diào (掉)] patterns in the corpus. Unlike most previous work, which analysed the uses of [V diào] only, our study observed pragmatic connotations of hēi diào in social media—uses that only materialized in certain contexts.