Cyberculture as a Catalyst for Verbification in Modern English Formal Discourse

Authors

  • Innocent Zitha

    School of Languages, Faculty of Humanities, North-West University, Mahikeng 2745, South Africa
  • Oneil N Madden

    Language Teaching and Research Centre (LTRC), University of Technology, Kingston 6, Jamaica
  • Ditshego Masete

    Faculty of Law, North-West University, Potchefstroom 2520, South Africa
  • Mzamani Steven Khosa

    Department of English, Media Studies and Linguistics, University of Venda, Thohoyandou 0950, South Africa

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.30564/fls.v7i4.8529
Received: 22 January 2025 | Revised: 14 March 2025 | Accepted: 24 March 2025 | Published Online: 8 April 2025

Abstract

This study examined the formal communication habits of 120 university students at a rural institution in 2024, on the Moodle Discussion forum. This qualitative research used a comprehensive methodology combing case study approaches with thematic and critical discourse analysis to examine verbification in contemporary English language among university students. The theory of diffusion of innovation facilitated a comprehensive examination of the subject matter, contributing to a substantial collection of descriptive insights on the underlying discourses present in the data. This approach enabled a thorough analysis of the phenomena under study. The findings of the study show the effects of cyberculture on the English language, revealing a landscape rich with newly crafted words and expressions formed from technological interaction. Subsequently, this study reports these changes’ profound influence on literature, underscoring the substantial contributions that emerge from this realm of linguistic innovation. Striking this balance can cultivate a more inclusive and dynamic learning atmosphere to acknowledge language evolution and the foundational principles of effective communication. This study uncovered intriguing dynamics that reflect a significant shift in language use. Moreover, it revealed that cyberculture plays a crucial role in fostering verbification in formal discourse. This trend indicates that the transformation of nouns into verbs is now regarded as a modern characteristic of formal communication. To effectively address these challenges, it is essential to establish a clear framework for tolerance regarding using verbing in formal communication.

Keywords:

Cyberculture; Colloquialism; Denominalisation; Derivation; Non-Standard; Slang; Social Media

References

[1] Erarslan, A., 2021. English language teaching and learning during Covid-19: A global perspective on the first year. Journal of Educational Technology and Online Learning. 4(2), 349–367. DOI: https://doi.org/10.31681/jetol.907757

[2] Muftah, M., 2024. Impact of social media on learning English language during the COVID-19 pandemic. PSU Research Review. 8(1), 211–226. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/PRR-10-2021-0060

[3] Keshav, M., Julien, L., Miezel, J., 2022. The Role of Technology in Era 5.0 in the Development of Arabic Language in the World of Education. JILTECH: Journal International of Lingua & Technology. 1(2), 79–98. DOI: https://doi.org/10.55849/jiltech.v1i2.85

[4] Michaelis, L.A., Hsiao, A.M., 2021. Verbing and linguistic innovation. Frontiers in Communication. 6, 604763. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomm.2021.604763

[5] Okada, Y., 2023. On a referent of the base noun in denominal interpretation. In: Ono, Y., Shimada, M. (eds.). Data Science in Collaboration. Inext Co., Ltd.: Tokyo, Japan. Volume 6, pp. 1–8.

[6] Bohmann, A., 2016. Language change because Twitter? Factors motivating innovative uses of because across the English-speaking Twittersphere. English in computer-mediated communication: Variation, representation, and change. 93, 149–178. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110490817

[7] Baeskow, H., 2019. Denominal verbs in morphology. Oxford research encyclopedia of linguistics. Available from: https://oxfordre.com/linguistics/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199384655.001.0001/acrefore-9780199384655-e-502 (cited 15 December 2020)

[8] Anderwald, L., 2016. Language between description and prescription: Verbs and verb categories in nineteenth-century grammars of English. Oxford University Press: Oxford, UK.

[9] Rozovskaya, A., Roth, D., Srikumar, V., 2014. Correcting grammatical verb errors. Proceedings of the 14th Conference of the European Chapter of the Association for Computational Linguistics; April 26–30, 2014; Gothenburg, Sweden. pp. 358–367.

[10] Rogers, E.M., 1962. Diffusion of innovations, 5th ed. Free Press: New York, NY, USA.

[11] Huichun, N., Grigoryan, G., 2023. VERBAL DEVIATIONS IN CONTEMPORARY ENGLISH SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS. Armenian Folia Anglistika. 19(1), 27–42. DOI: https://doi.org/10.46991/AFA/2023.19.1.027

[12] Llopart-Saumell, E., Cañete-González, P., 2023. Are Stylistic Neologisms More Neological? A Corpus-Based Study of Lexical Innovations of Women and Men. Languages. 8(3), 175. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/languages8030175

[13] Norcliffe, E., Majid, A., 2024. Verbs of perception: A quantitative typological study. Language. 100(1), 81–123. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/lan.2024.a922000

[14] Qin, J., Wu, Z., Zhong, S., 2023. When concept-based language instruction meets cognitive linguistics: teaching English phrasal verbs with up and out. International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching. 61(4), 1455–1480. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/iral-2021-0164

[15] Ilonga, E., 2023. Linguistic innovations in a multilingual digital advertising context in Tanzania: a translanguaging perspective. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development. 1–19. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/01434632.2023.2234873

[16] Al-Athwary, A.A., 2023. Verb borrowing: The integration of English loan verbs in Yemeni Arabic. Jordan Journal of Modern Languages & Literatures. 15(3), 1027–1047. DOI: https://doi.org/10.47012/jjmll.15.3.15

[17] Callies, M., 2023. Errors and innovations in L2 varieties of English: Towards resolving a contradictory practice. In: Febel, G., Knopf, K., Nonhoff, M. (eds.). Contradiction Studies–Exploring the Field. Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden: Wiesbaden, Germany. pp. 201–214. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-37784-7_7

[18] Soliyevich, I.Z., 2023. The Problem of Morphological Construction of The Verb in Improving the System of Digital Automatic Translation of Words on the Uzbek Language. Journal of Positive School Psychology. 1051–1058.

[19] Zitha, I., Nenduani, L., 2025. Linguistic misconceptions of tautology in the English second language context among student educators. Southern African Linguistics and Applied Language Studies. 1–13. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2989/16073614.2024.2372357

[20] Prensky, M., 2001. Digital natives, digital immigrants. On the Horizon. 9(5), 1–6. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/10748120110424816

[21] Suima, I., 2023. Innovations in Language Education: Prospects and Opportunities for Use. World Journal of English Language. 13(9), 1–1.

[22] Gabitova, L., Beisembayeva, Z., 2019. Verbing in modern spoken English. Caderno Suplementar: Journal Tourism Studies & Practices (RTEP). 2, 1–5. Available from: https://geplat.com/rtep/index.php/tourism/article/view/305/286

[23] Madden, O.N., Williams, O., Zitha, I., et al., 2024. Teletandem and the development of intercultural communicative competence: Reflections from the ClerKing project. Language Education and Technology. 4(2), 151–169.

[24] Calude, A.S., 2023. The Linguistics of Social Media: An Introduction. Taylor & Francis: New York, NY, USA.

[25] Umbetbaevna, S.S., 2024. WORD CONVERSION IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING. PEDAGOG. 7(5). DOI: https://doi.org/10.20524/ijrbs.v13i6.353.

[26] Zitha, I., Lambani, M.N., 2024. Register competence in academic writing of student teachers specialising in English didactics at the University of Venda. Southern African Linguistics and Applied Language Studies. 42(sup1), S85–S104. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2989/16073614.2024.2311887.

Downloads

How to Cite

Zitha, I., Madden, O. N., Masete, D., & Khosa, M. S. (2025). Cyberculture as a Catalyst for Verbification in Modern English Formal Discourse. Forum for Linguistic Studies, 7(4), 385–394. https://doi.org/10.30564/fls.v7i4.8529

Issue

Vol. 7 , Iss. 4 (April 2025): In Progress

Article Type

Article

License

Copyright © 2025 Innocent Zitha, Oneil N Madden, Ditshego Masete, Mzamani Steven Khosa

Creative Commons License

This is an open access article under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) License.