An Investigation of Lexical Innovation, Internet Slang, and Semantic Creativity in Online Discourse

Abstract

This study investigates lexical innovation, internet slang, and semantic creativity in contemporary online discourse, focusing on how digital communication platforms reshape language use and meaning-making processes. It examines the rapid emergence of new lexical forms in social media environments and explores how users creatively manipulate language to express identity, emotion, and group affiliation. The research adopts a qualitative corpus-based methodology, analyzing linguistic data collected from selected social media platforms, online forums, and digital communication channels. Data is examined through thematic categorization of lexical items, semantic shifts, abbreviations, neologisms, and multimodal expressions such as emojis and hashtags. The theoretical framework is grounded in sociolinguistics and lexical semantics, with particular emphasis on language variation theory and digital discourse studies. These perspectives help explain how language evolves in response to technological, cultural, and social influences in online environments. The findings reveal that internet discourse is highly dynamic, characterized by continuous lexical expansion, semantic re-contextualization, and creative linguistic adaptation. Internet slang functions as both a communicative strategy and a marker of identity, enabling users to signal belonging within specific digital communities. The study further highlights that semantic creativity in online spaces accelerates language change and challenges traditional linguistic norms. It concludes that online discourse serves as a powerful site of linguistic innovation where language is constantly reshaped by user interaction and digital culture.

Keywords: Lexical innovation, internet slang, semantic creativity, online discourse, sociolinguistics, digital communication, language change