Gamespeak for n00bs A linguistic and pragmatic analysis of gamers‟ language

Diplomarbeit

zur Erlangung des akademischen Grades einer Magistra der Philosophie

an der Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz

vorgelegt von

Jasmin FUCHS

am Institut für Anglistik und Amerikanistik Begutachterin: Ao.Univ.-Prof. Mag. Dr. Phil. Hermine Penz

Graz, 2013 Table of Contents

1. Introduction ...... 5 2. The multiplayer game Counter-Strike: Source ...... 7 2.1. Gameplay ...... 7 3. Language and the Internet ...... 8 3.1. Computer-mediated communication ...... 9 3.2. Types of computer-mediated communication ...... 10 3.3. Synchronous communication ...... 11 3.4. Asynchronous communication ...... 12 3.5. Computer-mediated communication tools used in games ...... 12 3.5.1. TeamSpeak ...... 13 3.5.2. Mumble ...... 14 3.5.3. Steam ...... 15 3.5.3.1. Computer-mediated communication tools provided by Steam ...... 15 3.5.3.1.1 Steam in-game voice ...... 15 3.5.3.1.2 Steam in-game chat ...... 16 4. Netspeak ...... 17 4.1. The seven Internet situations ...... 18 4.1.1. E-mail ...... 19 4.1.2. Chatgroups ...... 19 4.1.3. Virtual worlds ...... 21 4.1.4. World Wide Web ...... 22 4.1.5. Instant messaging ...... 22 4.1.6. Blogging ...... 24 5. The Language of Gamers ...... 26 6. Methodology and data ...... 28 6.1. Private conversations ...... 28 6.2. Chat logs ...... 28 6.3. In-game screenshots ...... 29 7. Analysis of Gamespeak ...... 29 7.1. Phonological features ...... 29 7.1.1. Vowel and consonant deletion ...... 29 7.2. Orthographic features ...... 30 7.2.1. New spelling conventions ...... 30 7.2.2. Decapitalisation ...... 32 7.2.3. All-capitalisation ...... 32 2

7.2.4. Omission of punctuation ...... 33 7.2.5. Exaggeration of punctuation ...... 34 7.2.6. Omission of apostrophes ...... 34 7.3. Paralanguage ...... 35 7.3.1. Emoticons/Smileys ...... 35 7.3.2. Imitating sounds ...... 40 7.3.3. Imitating actions ...... 41 7.4. Grammatical features ...... 42 7.4.1. Morphology ...... 42 7.4.2. Word formation processes ...... 43 7.4.2.1. Abbreviations ...... 43 7.4.2.1.1 Acronyms ...... 43 7.4.2.1.2 Initialisms ...... 45 7.4.2.2. Backformation ...... 45 7.4.2.3. Blending ...... 47 7.4.2.4. Clipping ...... 48 7.4.2.5. Compounding ...... 49 7.5. Pragmatics ...... 51 7.5.1. Speech act theory ...... 52 7.5.1.1. Representatives ...... 53 7.5.1.2. Directives ...... 53 7.5.1.2.1 Imperative verb forms and clauses ...... 53 7.5.1.2.2 Modal and auxiliary verb constructions ...... 54 7.5.1.2.3 Directive interrogatives ...... 54 7.5.1.3. Commissives ...... 55 7.5.1.4. Expressives ...... 57 7.5.1.5. Declarations ...... 59 7.6. Leetspeak ...... 60 7.6.1. What is Leetspeak? ...... 61 7.6.2. Features of Leetspeak ...... 62 7.6.2.1. Orthography ...... 63 7.6.2.2. Common transliterations ...... 64 7.6.2.3. Morphology ...... 65 7.6.2.4. Grammar ...... 65 7.6.2.5. Vocabulary ...... 67 7.6.2.5.1 Vocabulary related to illegal activity ...... 67 7.6.2.5.2 Vocabulary related to gaming ...... 68

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7.6.2.5.3 Other, non-specific context related terms ...... 69 7.6.3. Leetspeak versus Chatspeak ...... 70 7.6.4. Leetspeak as a dying „language‟ ...... 71 7.7. Leetspeak in online multiplayer games ...... 72 7.7.1. Gamers‟ nicknames ...... 72 7.7.2. Leetspeak in in-game conversations ...... 73 8. Conclusion ...... 75 9. Bibliography ...... 78 9.1. Webliography ...... 79 Appendix ...... 83 A.1. Private conversations ...... 83 A.2 Chat log ...... 87 A.3 In-game screenshots ...... 97

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1. Introduction Over the past ten years, the study of videogames has become an area of considerable academic growth. This is partly due to the fact that the gaming industry now forms one of the major creative industry sectors in the USA, Europe and Japan and that gaming as an activity occurs no longer amongst relatively isolated groups of society, but, indeed, across generations and social groups. (Ensslin 2012:1) Since the commercialisation of the Internet in the early 1990‟s, videogames, especially online multiplayer games, have immensely increased in popularity. Those games do not only connect the younger and older generation, but also gamers from all over the world. According to the linguist Astrid Ensslin (2012: 1), this is more or less due to the fact that online games are not only restricted to computers, but can now be played on several gaming consoles, such as the Nintendo Wii or the Sony PlayStation.

However, when it comes to gaming, language has become more and more important. Multiplayer online games do not only offer fun and entertainment, but also require the participants to communicate and interact with each other. Hence communication, especially language, is critical. This is also the case in the game Counter-Strike: Source. This game is one of the most popular first-person shooters worldwide and is played by hundreds of thousands of players. Since its release in 2004, numerous Counter-Strike: Source clans emerged. The main goal of these clans is to fight against each other in so-called wars, where communication plays an important role, because teamwork and coordination is essential for winning. Hence most of the teams in Counter-Strike: Source communicate via different voice- over-IP tools or communication tools provided by the gaming platform Steam, such as the in- game voice or in-game chat in order to coordinate their team.

However, not only gamers of Counter-Strike: Source, but also gamers of all other kinds of online multiplayer games all over the world have developed their own „Internet slang‟, using their own colourful, diverse, often wry and ambiguous vocabulary and grammar. Matt Chandroit, host of a gaming culture show, states that “Gamers‟ words are „modern Internet colloquialisms. […] Some common [gaming] words originated as typos when people typing fast during a game‟” (Broek 2009: Online). As gaming has evolved over the years, communication has become faster and more direct, therefore gamers did not only come up with their own terminology to refer to different aspects of gaming, but also unwittingly created their own vocabulary with their typos, which then entered into common usage amongst gamers.

While playing computer games, gamers are usually very busy with pressing buttons on their mouse and keyboard to move their game character to fight and perform various other actions. As online games require people to play together and therefore communicate, this communication has to be as succinct as 5

possible without drawing too many resources away from playing towards typing. At the same time gamers often use language terms that are not found in everyday life. A specialist language of abbreviations and unique jargon has developed. (Da Quirm 2012: Online) Over time, gamers have also developed a kind of specific, distinct gaming language known as „Leetspeak‟, which is sometimes referred to as the official gamer language. However, it deviates from the typical and more commonly used language of gamers, which I will call „Gamespeak‟ (based on an analogy with „Netspeak‟, coined by David Crystal), as it is more complex both in grammar and syntax and is predominately used for written communication.

Furthermore, not only the language, but also the way gamers communicate or interact with each other is essential. Communication and interaction are especially important for all competitive multiplayer online games, such as first-person shooters, where teamwork and coordination are essential for winning. As stated above, communication takes place over different voice-over IP tools (such as Mumble or TeamSpeak), instant messengers (such as ICQ), or communication tools provided by the different gaming platforms where the games can be purchased and played over (such as Steam).

This thesis is going to address the following research question: How and by which linguistic means do gamers of the first-person shooter Counter-Strike: Source communicate? In addition to the principal question, this thesis is also going to address the following sub-questions: What are the lexical and morphological characteristics of Gamespeak? What are the pragmatic uses of this variation of language, or „Internet slang‟ of gamers?

First of all, a short introduction and explanation of the game Counter-Strike: Source will be provided, as any analysis provided in this thesis is solely taken from this first-person shooter. Second, in order to answer the questions raised above, this thesis is going to explore the computer-mediated communication of gamers of online multiplayer games (particularly of Counter-Strike: Source), especially on its types as well as computer-mediated communication tools used by gamers of Counter-Strike: Source. In addition, this thesis will take a closer look at Netspeak, the basis of all Internet slangs. This chapter will mostly be based on David Crystal‟s book The Language and the Internet, as it provides a great source and reference for what the language of the Internet, or Netspeak, is. Regarding the analysis of gamers‟ language, it is important to investigate its origin. Hence Crystal‟s explanation of Netspeak will come in handy when taking a closer look at Gamespeak.

The main part of this thesis focuses on the linguistic and pragmatic aspects of Gamespeak. For this part, Gamespeak will be parted into different sections. As Gamespeak is based on 6

Netspeak, and is, therefore, a variety of language in-between written and spoken language, the phonological and orthographic features as well as paralanguage will be discussed. Furthermore, the grammatical features, especially the morphology of Gamespeak, will be analysed. In addition, this thesis will also have a closer look at the pragmatic situation, especially when it comes to speech acts. Besides this general overview of Gamespeak, this thesis will also provide an insight into Leetspeak, which is sometimes considered to be the true gamers‟ language. This chapter will deal with the origin as well as features of Leetspeak and will provide an answer to the question whether Leetspeak is still commonly used amongst gamers or not.

2. The multiplayer game Counter-Strike: Source

Right now, there are people all over the world playing Counter-Strike: Source. Odds are, there are more people playing today than there were playing yesterday. It, like its predecessor, is quite simply a global phenomenon, originally created by and now sustained by the gaming community. (“Counter-Strike: Source” n.d.: Online) Counter-Strike: Source (abbreviated as CS:S) is a first-person shooter (abbreviated as FPS) online multiplayer game developed by Valve Corporation and was first released in November 2004. Still today, it is one of the most popular, competitive games. The game pits a team of counter-terrorists against a team of terrorists in a series of rounds. A team can win a round either by completing an objective, which depends on the game mode played, such as defusing/detonating a bomb on a set place or rescuing/keeping hostages, or by eliminating all members of the opposing teams. The final goal in CS:S is to win more rounds than the other team.

2.1. Gameplay

Counter-Strike: Source was first released in 2004, three years after the release of its predecessor Counter-Strike, which was initially a community written mod for the Half-Life gaming engine. As its forerunner, Counter-Strike: Source kept the original gameplay.

Upon joining a server, the player has to decide on which team he or she wants to play, either on the team of counter-terrorists (CTs) or terrorists (Ts). The aim for each team is to accomplish the objective set by the server or map they are playing on. These objectives, which are dependent on which side the gamer is playing on, can be the detonation of a bomb (as a terrorist) or the defusing of the said bomb (as a counter-terrorist), the rescue or thwarting the rescue of hostages, or the elimination of all opposing team members. 7

CS:S offers a whole range of game modes, each mode featuring its own objective(s). Next to the official or „vanilla‟ game modes mentioned above, there are game modes driven by unofficial community made gameplay modifications such as „gungame‟ (a game mode where both teams fight each other and after each kill their weapon changes to the next better one) and „deathmatch‟ (very similar to „gungame‟, but the player can decide whether he wants to keep one weapon throughout the whole game or change it each time he dies and re-enters the game). In addition, there are several more unique modes that exist for CS:S, for example servers where the participants play football against each other, hunt zombies (or become zombies themselves), or even where the gamer can surf on water. These modes have been created by the gaming community and are still being updated and developed.

3. Language and the Internet

Over the last two decades, the Internet has become significantly important for research. In an area filled with such a high amount of information and data, scientists from all different kinds of fields are turning to exploring the Internet to find data for their own research.

This certainly applies to linguists as well, as the Internet offers great possibilities for linguistic research. One famous linguist who deals with Internet linguistics and has a high influence on this discipline is David Crystal. In his book Language and the Internet from 2006, Crystal provides a great insight into the linguistic evaluation and development of Internet language or Netspeak, as he calls it. In his book, Crystal tries to shed light on the phenomenon of Internet language, thus explaining that the language on the Internet does not only follow its own rules, but also those of the original Standard languages on which Netspeak is based. Furthermore, Crystal examines Internet language based on seven different Internet situations, each of them having its own rules when it comes to the usage of language. However, Crystal points out that all these different situations, namely e-mail, asynchronous chatgroups, synchronous chatgroups, virtual worlds, World Wide Web, instant messaging and blogging, are all based on a common language, namely Netspeak.

Another famous linguist who deals with Internet language, especially with computer-mediated communication, is Susan Herring. Over the last few years, she has published numerous different articles about CMC and its specific features, such as pragmatics of computer- mediated communication or specific use of grammar in computer-mediated communication. Most of those articles can be found online at: http://ils.indiana.edu/faculty/herring/pubs.html.

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However, Netspeak is of significant importance when it comes to examining different slangs existing on the Internet, including Gamespeak – the language of gamers. Gamespeak, especially when it is used in online multiplayer video games, uses both the written and spoken communication channel and is, like other Internet languages such as „Lolspeak‟, „Chatspeak‟ and „Catspeak‟, based on Netspeak. Although there has not been much research on this topic, the linguist Astrid Ensslin examines and analyses this fairly recent and complex slang of gamers in her book The Language of Gaming (2011).

The Language of Gaming examines the complex language of video games and gaming from a discourse analytical perspective. Astrid Ensslin studies the discourses inscribed in videogames by their producers, as well as gamer and media meta-discourses, and focal areas including gamer slang, illocution, multimodality and narrative structures. (“The Language of Gaming” n.d.: Online) For this thesis, her analysis of the words and meanings of video games and the linguistic pragmatics of gameplay will be of high importance. Regarding pragmatics, conversations will be analysed on the basis of speech act theory, defined by John L. Austin and John Searle. Austin‟s book How to Do Things with Words from 1962 laid the foundation for speech act theory. In his book, Austin comes to the conclusion that a speech act can be analysed on three different levels: the locutionary, illocutionary and perlocutionary act. However, speech act theory was later expanded by John Searle in his book Speech Acts (1969) and in his article “A Taxonomy of Illocutionary Acts” (1975). When Searle talks about „speech acts‟, he generally refers to the illocutionary speech act, which is the pragmatic illocutionary force of an utterance. In both his book and his article, Searle developed speech act theory further by setting up different classifications of a speech act (or illocutionary act), which will come in handy for analysing gamers‟ conversations.

3.1. Computer-mediated communication

Throughout the years, humans have used many different means in order to communicate with others. Face to face speaking, letter writing, telegram, and telephone are just several examples of these different media. The latest method that has emerged, though, is computer mediated communication, or CMC. This could be carried out through e-mail, listservers, usenet groups, chat rooms, MUDs, or MOOs. (Dietrich et al. 1998: Online) While multiplayer role-playing and text-based games such as „MUDs‟ (Multi User Dungeons) and „MOOs‟ (MUD object oriented) were extremely popular in the 1990‟s and at the beginning of the 2000‟s, multiplayer video games with actual graphics developed rapidly and became more and more popular amongst gamers. As of today, computer-mediated communication takes place on a whole new level: the gamers‟ actions are now carried out using a mouse and arrow keys, rather than text commands (such as in text-based games

9 mentioned above). Hence only the communication with other gamers took place via typed messages, which is now the only use for text entry in game.

However, computer-mediated communication is basically the communication through two or more computers which are connected through a network. As Susan Herring (1996: 1) states, “computer-mediated communication (CMC) is communication that takes place between human beings via the instrumentality of computers.” Moreover, it involves the use of various computer-based tools such as e-mail, computer conferencing (e.g. voice-over-IP tools like Skype), and chat rooms for the purpose of human interaction. According to the linguist December, “computer-mediated communication (CMC) is the process by which people create, exchange and perceive information using networked telecommunication systems (or non-networked computers) that facilitate encoding, transmitting, and decoding messages” (December 1996: Online). His theory of computer-mediated communication does not only include and emphasise how a message is delivered, but also “the importance of the interaction of people that the technologies and processes mediate” (Oni 2011: Online).

The idea of mixing oral and written styles comes to the fore in particular in computer-mediated discourse, such as email, discussion groups and online for a real-time chat, blogging, texting and social networking. Given that this kind of inter-human communication is mediated by networked digital technologies (such as computers and mobile phones), a unique, medium-specific communicative situation arises: the way we communicate is shaped by the technological affordances of any given digital medium, for instance, with respect to whether it allows synchronous or asynchronous, written, oral or multimodal communication. (Ensslin 2012: 17) 3.2. Types of computer-mediated communication

“CMC, of course, is not just a tool; it is at once technology, medium and engine of social relations. It not only structures social relations, it is the space within which the relations occur and the tool that individuals use to enter that space” (Jones 1995: 16). There are two different types of computer-mediated communication: synchronous (which means real-time) and asynchronous (which means delayed) communication, as illustrated in figure 1 below:

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Figure 1: Asynchronous vs. synchronous communication Taken from http://cat-udc.blogspot.co.at/2010/12/synchronous-and-asynchronous.html

3.3. Synchronous communication

Synchronous communication is direct, real-time communication where the participants are time synchronised. This means that all parties involved in the communication process are present at the same time. As can be seen in figure 1 above, synchronous communication can either take place in person (which means the communication of two or more humans at the same time and the same place in real life) or online (which means the communication of people at the same time but from different places, hence over the Internet).

Synchronous, real-time communications, as between two people in a face-to-face discussion, or talking on the telephone, or as in a one-to-many form, such as in a lecture, has [sic.] its equivalent in chat rooms and similar environments. Much software exists to mediate this form of communication. (Romiszowski/Mason 2004: 398) Synchronous communication includes text chats, such as instant messengers (MSN Messenger, Yahoo Messenger, ICQ, etc.), voice-over-IP tools (such as Skype, including video, text, and voice capabilities), or telephone calls. Advantages of synchronous communication are immediate responses and fast-paced communication. Disadvantages include only a limited time to think about what to say or what to write and how to respond to the other participant(s). Other disadvantages of synchronous communication are that advanced typing skills and speed in the formulation of replies are required to make as many contributions as possible. Both contribution and participation in synchronous communication is dependent on technology 11 such as the hardware of the computer as well as the Internet connection speed (cf. “Synchronous and Asynchronous Communication” 2010: Online).

3.4. Asynchronous communication

Asynchronous communication, on the other hand, does not require that all parties involved in the communication process are present at the same time. “In general, asynchronous forms seem to predominate, wherein there is a, potentially significant, time delay between sending a message and it being read” (Romiszowski/Mason 2004: 398). As figure 1 illustrates, asynchronous communication can take place in person as well as online. It most frequently occurs in online communication, where people communicate at a different time from different places.

Asynchronous communication includes e-mail messages, discussion boards, forums, podcasts, blogs, wikis and also text messages over mobile phones (SMS). Advantages of this form of communication are more time (participants have time to make considered and also meaningful responses, and messages can be accessed at any time) and better language (which results from the time the participants have to respond. Hence the language appears to be more elaborated as it includes less typos and spelling mistakes). Disadvantages of asynchronous communication are that no immediate reaction or response is possible. What is more, it is less similar to face-to-face communication (or human contact elements in general) than synchronous communication is (cf. “Synchronous and Asynchronous Communication” 2010: Online).

3.5. Computer-mediated communication tools used in games

Computer-mediated communication in games like Counter-Strike: Source solely takes place in real-time. Gamers use synchronous communication while playing, as they need an immediate response. However, forums and messaging boards which are about multiplayer video games, where game issues are regularly discussed, such as updates, modifications, or other game-related matters, also exist. However, for the communication during a game, all participants (the gamers) are present at the same time but at a different place, as they are only connected via the Internet. In order to communicate and coordinate while playing, gamers use different synchronous computer-mediated communication tools, which enable real-time communication and collaboration in a “same time – different place” (see figure 1) mode.

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These tools allow the gamers to connect at a single point in time with all the other gamers who are present.

3.5.1. TeamSpeak

TeamSpeak is one of the most popular used voice-over-IP tools amongst gamers of multiplayer online games. This voice-over-IP software allows users to speak on a chat channel with other users, similar to a telephone conference call.

[…] Voice over IP (VoIP) commonly refers to the communication protocols, technologies, methodologies, and transmission techniques involved in the delivery of voice communications and multimedia sessions over Internet Protocol (IP) networks. Basically in present time VoIP are referred to internet telephony but Internet telephony refers to communications services likes as voice, fax, SMS, and/or voice-messaging applications etc. (Sharma et al 2012: Online) The target group of TeamSpeak are gamers, who use the software to communicate with other players on the same team of multiplayer games. In Counter-Strike: Source, for example, TeamSpeak is most frequently used by gamers within a team to coordinate teamwork while playing against an opposing team.

TeamSpeak works fairly simply: a server host runs a TeamSpeak server and any user who wants to use it needs to have the TeamSpeak client installed on the computer. The users then can connect to the server using this client.

With TeamSpeak, gamers can talk with each other in real-time while they are immersed in the game (cf. “What is TeamSpeak” n.d.: Online). In the broadest sense it can be compared to a normal telephone conference call, where several participants talk with each other at the same time, while being at a different place.

Clans and teams that compete online also have the possibility to set up private TeamSpeak servers, allowing them to get organised and speed up their actions very quickly without having to spend a great amount of time typing text or instructions for the rest of their team to follow (cf. “What is TeamSpeak” n.d.: Online).

However, TeamSpeak has many advantages for competitions. The greatest advantage of communicating via TeamSpeak is that gamers are able to communicate with each other at high speed, allowing them to co-ordinate their teamwork efficiently and quickly. This, and also its resource-efficiency, is the main reason why TeamSpeak is the most popular software used amongst gamers of all kinds of multiplayer games, especially competitive ones such as Counter-Strike: Source. Furthermore, as mentioned above, TeamSpeak does not use many

13 resources, which makes it even more preferable than other software. While playing, it is of high importance that no other software or programme interrupts the gameplay, which is especially the case for older computer systems. Many programmes consume high amounts of resources, which causes other programmes such as games to „lag‟ (which means that games are not playable while other programmes are running in the background, they compete for resources and slow down games). However, TeamSpeak consumes minimal resources, meaning it does not interfere with gameplay.

TeamSpeak also has the advantage that the gamer has the ability to bind keys. That means that users are able to assign all available keys on a keyboard to a large selection of commands, such as whisper to a player (so that only this person is able to hear the other person talking), switching to a predefined/previous channel as well as volume control (which is the possibility for the gamer to mute him or herself or other players while in game). Thus the gamer has the possibility to control most of his/her actions in TeamSpeak without leaving the current game by previously binding keys.

In addition, TeamSpeak offers a so called „push-to-talk‟ function. That means the user can bind a key that enables him or her to speak. As opposed to continuous talking, with „push-to- talk‟, the gamer only transmits his or her voice when the assigned key is pressed, thus other gamers are not exposed to any other (background) noises while the gamer is not pressing the key. This is a great advantage while playing competitive games, where gamers have to concentrate on in-game noises such as footsteps, commands from other gamers, etc.

Nevertheless, TeamSpeak also carries disadvantages. One of the major disadvantages of it is the price. TeamSpeak, other than similar (but not as efficient) programmes, is not for free if gamers wish to have a private server. If one wants to connect to public servers, it is, of course, free, but if gamers want to have private conversations on their own server, they have to pay for it on a monthly basis.

3.5.2. Mumble

Mumble is a communication software which is very similar to TeamSpeak. It is also a voice- over-IP application which has been primarily designed for the use by gamers. Hence it is hardly used in different contexts (cf. “About Mumble” n.d.: Online).

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Mumble works the same way as TeamSpeak does: it uses a client-server where users who want to communicate connect to it using the previously installed Mumble client. Again, as with TeamSpeak, it is very similar to a telephone conference call.

Even though it resembles TeamSpeak, there are some differences. The main difference is that Mumble has a very simple administrative interface. Most of the engineering effort was put into sound quality and low latency, which makes it more useful, easier and more appealing for gamers. Even though TeamSpeak is resource-efficient, Mumble uses even fewer resources from the computer and has, surprisingly, a better sound quality than TeamSpeak has. While the voice of TeamSpeak users sound alienated, voices sound more realistic in Mumble.

In addition, another difference to TeamSpeak is that Mumble is a free and open source software. This means that gamers can set up their own, private Mumble server without paying licensing, as it is the case in TeamSpeak.

3.5.3. Steam

Steam is a multimedia and communication platform developed by Valve Corporation. It is mainly used to sell all kinds of games such as Counter-Strike: Source. Steam also incorporates community features, automated game updates, in-game voice, and chat functionality. Steam allows users to identify friends and join groups through the Steam Community feature. Users can use both text chat and peer-to-peer VoIP with other users.

Many multiplayer online games, including Counter-Strike: Source, are distributed by Steam and can only be accessed via it. If a game requires a Steam account, even if it was not bought via this platform, it requires the gamer to set up his/her own user account on Steam in order to activate the game there.

3.5.3.1. Computer-mediated communication tools provided by Steam

3.5.3.1.1 Steam in-game voice

Steam provides the users with the ability to talk in-game while pressing a certain key. In the settings of each game, the user can either assign a key for in-game voice or stick to the default key. The in-game voice works solely while playing a game and while being on a game server; it does not work in the main menu of a game or even outside of it.

While in-game, the gamer presses the key and is able to talk to other people on the server. In most cases, when the server has not changed default settings, the gamer is heard by both 15 teams (such as in Counter-Strike: Source by both counter-terrorists and terrorists). Hence there is no private communication with other team players possible.

The in-game voice is public and mostly used for „flaming‟ (which means to attack or insult others, such as name calling), angry outbursts and off-topic talk, which is not related to the gameplay in any way. Many gamers on the server use the in-game voice for expressing their anger or to insult and offend other gamers, thus making the in-game voice possibility not suitable for serious gameplay or private conversations.

3.5.3.1.2 Steam in-game chat

The in-game chat provided by Steam is an instant transmission of a text message during a game. It follows the same principle as chat-rooms with the difference that the chatting takes place while playing the game. This chat can either be read by all players present on a game server, or only by one‟s own team. This is, in fact, a great advantage: gamers are thus not only able to communicate with their own team, but also with the opposing team while playing.

Screenshot 1: Steam in-game chat

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Screenshot 1 shows how the in-game chat provided by Steam works while being in-game. In this example, the gamer is currently playing (and aiming at an enemy), while he uses the in- game chat (as seen on the left corner of the screenshot) to complain about another gamer with the words „god what a lucker‟, meaning he or she accuses another player of cheating.

In addition, the in-game chat does not only provide an opportunity to communicate with all gamers present, but also includes information on the gameplay itself such as when a new gamer joins the game („Player xROIVASx has joined the game‟), notifications about which gamer has just scored (e.g. „John Malkovich has stolen a level from chrisatlanta‟, which means that the player „John Malkovich‟ has just knifed the player „chrisatlanta‟), or on which weapon level some players currently are (not shown on screenshot 1).

However, the in-game chat is hardly used in competitions as it has many disadvantages when it comes to transmitting game-related information. During competitions, the in-game chat is mainly used to introduce the gamers to the opposite team, to clarify which map and how many rounds will be played. On public servers, though, the in-game chat serves the same purpose as the in-game voice, namely to flame, rage, and to chitchat about off-topic issues.

The in-game chat is also hardly used while the player is still alive. This is due to the fact that sending a text message via this chat requires some time, which either takes too long or is too distracting while playing. It also means the player is unable to move their character in the game if their position is compromised as the keyboard is being used to type a message and cannot be used to command the player to move. This is also a reason while text messengers of any kind, such as ICQ, are not used while gaming, simply because they need too much time to coordinate and enhance team work.

4. Netspeak

Before the language of gamers can be investigated, one must take a closer look at language use on the Internet, or Internet slang(s) more precisely. It can be said that Gamespeak (and also Leetspeak) are based on Netspeak. Netspeak is an alternative term for computer mediated communication or can also be simply called Internet language. Crystal (2006: 19) states that “the term „Netspeak‟ is an alternative to „Netlish‟, „Weblish‟, „Internet language‟, „cyberspeak‟, „electronic discourse‟, „electronic language‟, „interactive written discourse‟, „computer-mediated communication (CMC)‟, and other more cumbersome locutions”.

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Although most of these terms are not in common usage anymore, Netspeak can best be described or referred to as “Internet language” or “computer-mediated communication”.

In his book, David Crystal focuses solely on the language on the Internet, thus showing that the power of the Internet goes far beyond the search for information but is also a place of communication. As with any new medium, such as the invention of print, telephone, fax, and text message, people were first suspicious of the Internet as a new communication medium, especially when it comes to the use of language. For Crystal, though, the Internet offers great opportunities for a language to develop, as he argues that the appearance of Netspeak should not be regarded as either a challenge or even a threat to the standard usage of the English language. “The linguistic consequences of evolving a medium in which the whole world participates – at least in principle, once their countries‟ infrastructure and internal economy allow them to gain access – are also bound to be far reaching” (Crystal 2006: 5). The question Crystal raises is what happens to language in general when the whole world is connected to each other and able to communicate – is there a new created Internet language or is the language on the Internet a language that has fused several different languages, varieties of languages, and dialects? Crystal points out that there are rules in every language or variety of language and this also applies to the language on the Internet. For this, he distinguishes between seven online situations, each of it creating its own language variety.

4.1. The seven Internet situations

In a setting where linguistic differences are likely to loom large, the concept of a language variety will be helpful. A variety of language is a system of linguistic expression whose use is governed by situational factors. In its broadest sense, the notion includes speech and writing, regional and class dialects, occupational genres (such as legal and scientific language), creative linguistic expression (such as in literature), and a wide range of other styles of expression. (Crystal 2006: 6 – 7) There are certain rules and restrictions that apply to every kind of variety of languages. People from different classes, origin, occupation, gender or age will speak differently. This is also the case on the Internet: different people from all over the world connect to communicate with each other, therefore different languages and varieties of languages are used. Crystal examines seven different Internet situations, where in each situation the use of language differs. These situations are e-mail, synchronous chatgroups, asynchronous chatgroups, virtual words, World Wide Web, and, in his newest edition from 2006, instant messaging and blogging.

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4.1.1. E-mail

E-mail is the use of computer systems to transfer messages between users – now chiefly used to refer to messages sent between private mailboxes (as opposed to those posted to a chatgroup). Although it takes up only a relatively small domain of Internet „space‟, by comparison with the billions of pages on the World Wide Web, it far exceeds the Web in terms of the number of daily individual transactions made. (Crystal 2006: 11) E-mail has always been the most popular communication tool on the World Wide Web. It can be used for all kinds of communication, e.g. private or business issues. The Radicati Group, a technology market research firm, has recently published their e-mail statistics report, including key data and statistics on various communication situations, including e-mail. “The total number of worldwide email accounts is expected to increase from 3.3 billion accounts in 2012 to over 4.3 billion accounts by year-end 2016” (Hoang/Radicati 2012: Online). According to their statistics, e-mail is still widely used by Internet users all over the world and it is expected to increase in the next few years.

Hence it is of high importance to recognise and investigate the different, linguistic features of e-mail, as any e-mail differs (sometimes greatly) in style as well as length. As Crystal (2006: 11) states, “the diversity of e-mail contexts is immediately apparent”, therefore it is always important to investigate the context of any e-mail.

4.1.2. Chatgroups

Chatgroups have always been very dominant on the Internet. According to Crystal (2006: 11), “chatgroups are continuous discussions on a particular topic, organized in „rooms‟ at particular Internet sites, in which computer users interested in the topic can participate”. Furthermore, Crystal distinguishes between two different situations in chatgroups, namely real time chatgroups (synchronous chatgroups) and delayed chatgroups (asynchronous chatgroups). As for synchronous chatgroups, where users enter a chat room to join on-going conversations, the communication takes place in real time, which means that all participants are present at the same time in this chat room. Crystal (2006: 12) uses Internet Relay Chat (IRC) as an example, which is also an important chat room when it comes to Gamespeak, as it is frequently used by gamers of Counter-Strike: Source to search for a war. IRC can either be accessed by using a client, which the user downloads to his or her own computer, or via Internet, as several websites offer an IRC client which is integrated on their website (see screenshot 2).

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Screenshot 2: IRC used for searching a CS:S war

IRC – Internet Relay Chat is a method to broadcast and receive live, synchronous, messages. There are hundreds of IRC channels (discussion areas) around the world, hosted on servers on which people type their messages to others on the same channel interested in the same subject. There are client IRC programs which provide graphical interfaces which make it easier for people [to] log on and access active channels and send and receive the messages. (Montecino n.d.: Online) As stated before, Internet Relay Chat is frequently used by gamers, especially for online competitive multiplayer games. When a team is looking for another team to compete with, IRC is most often used as it provides separate channels, a fast and instant transmission of text messages and a clear, uncomplicated, and neat interface. As shown in screenshot 2, the gamer entered the channel „4on4.css‟ which means that his or her team consists of four gamers who are looking for another team consisting of the same amount of people. On the right side of the screenshot, a list with all users present in the same channel can be found. The actual chat can be found on the left side, where different users are looking for an in-game war, such as the user „Monster‟, „blob_‟, „defunct_‟, „cakeMachine93‟ and „mp3killer‟.

When looking for a war, gamers stick to a certain format within the Internet Relay Chat, as the following example (1) shows:

(1) a.) 4on4 | low | on b.) 4on4 ??? c.) 4on4 / mid / off d.) 4on4 high on

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e.) MID ON NUKE f.) 4on4 mid on

First of all, the gamer states that he or she is looking for a team consisting of four gamers („4on4‟). Even though this is redundant due to the fact that the gamers are already in the channel called „#4on4.css‟, this is used in order to avoid any kind of misunderstanding, as sometimes gamers enter the wrong channel, such as when their team consists of only three gamers. Next, the gamer describes the skill of his or her own team, using the following terms: „ulow‟ (clipped term describing that the skill of the team is „ultra low‟, meaning that the team is at a beginner‟s level), „low‟ (term describing that the team is just above the beginner‟s level), „low-mid‟ (compound describing the skill of the team as in-between the skill levels „low‟ and „mid‟), „mid‟ (clipped term describing that the skill is „middle‟, the team is not at a beginner‟s level, yet not on a „high‟ level, so to say average) and „high‟ (term used to describe the team‟s skill as „high‟, meaning above average, most often used by a team which operates well together and/or are professional gamers). Last, the gamer states whether his or her own team provides the server the war will take place on or not. As lines a.), d.), e.), and f.) of example (1) show, the gamers state „on‟ meaning that their team has a server. If the team cannot provide a server, it is stated as „off‟, as can be seen in line c.).

As for asynchronous chatgroups, the interactions do not take place in a real-time, but delayed. “In an asynchronous situation, the interactions are stored in some format, and made available to users upon demand, so that they can catch up with the discussion, or add to it, at any time – even after an appreciable period has passed” (Crystal 2006: 12). The example Crystal uses are the bulletin boards, which were especially popular in the beginnings of computer-mediated communication in the 1980‟s. In addition, the bulletin boards are also seen as the place, where Leetspeak, one kind of Gamespeak, originated (see chapter 7.6 on “Leetspeak”).

4.1.3. Virtual worlds

Virtual worlds are imaginary environments which people can enter to engage in text-based fantasy social interaction. From the early notion of a MUD (originally „multi-user dungeon‟, a derivation from the 1970‟s role-playing adventure game „Dungeons and Dragons‟), several adventure genres developed, offering players the opportunity to experience imaginary and vividly described environments in which they adopt new identities, explore fantasy worlds, engage in novel exploits and use their guises to interact with other participants. (Crystal 2006: 12-13) Virtual worlds were, especially at the beginning, solely text-based. Only later, with the rapid development of technology, were multimedia elements added, enabling gamers to be

21 represented by a virtual character, or avatar. For example, Second Life is an online, virtual world which was released in 2003.

Members assume an identity and take up residence in an environment, creating a customized avatar or personage to represent themselves. The avatar moves about in the virtual world using mouse control and intuitive keyboard buttons. The virtual world also includes sound; wind in the swaying trees, babbling books, audible conversation, and built-in chat and instant messaging. (Kayne 2003: Online) Virtual worlds such as Second Life are still of high popularity, allowing users to create their own alter ego on the Internet and communicate with all participants on different communication levels.

4.1.4. World Wide Web

In general, the World Wide Web (abbreviated www) includes all websites available on the Internet.

The World Wide Web is the full collection of all the computers linked to the Internet which hold documents that are mutually accessible through the use of a standard protocol (the HypterText Transfer Protocol, or HTTP), usually abbreviated to Web or W3, and, in site addresses, presented as the acronym www). (Crystal 2006: 13) The World Wide Web was invented in order to share information all over the world and was mainly used by scientists and researchers in its beginning. Nowadays, the Internet contains websites on all kinds of different subjects, allowing each Internet users to access information rapidly and easily.

Its many functions include encyclopedic reference, archiving, cataloguing, „Yellow Pages‟ listing, advertising, self-publishing, games, news reporting, creative writing, and commercial transactions of all kinds, with movies and other types of entertainment becoming increasingly available. (Crystal 2006: 14) 4.1.5. Instant messaging

Another popular form of communication is instant messaging, which allows users to transfer text messages in a private chat conversation.

An instant messaging service allows electronic conversations between people who know each other to take place in real time. It therefore differs from e-mail messaging (where the exchanges are asynchronous) and from chatgroups (where the participants are usually numerous and unknown to each other). (Crystal 2006: 14) In general, instant messengers such as ICQ, MSN Messenger, and Yahoo! Messenger, allow two (or more) friends to communicate with each other in a private conversation. Usually the user downloads the client from the Internet, installs it on his or her computer and uses his or her login data to access it. The user can then add friends, who also have a client and login, and can then click on the nickname the other user has chosen in order to communicate in a 22 separate chat. As Crystal says, these conversations take place in real-time, as it is only possible to communicate with each other when both chat participants are present at the same time. However, this is only true to a certain extent: for example, the Steam chat (which is frequently used by gamers for all kinds of conversations, not necessarily game-related issues) offers its users the possibility to leave messages to the users on their contact lists even if they are not online.

Screenshot 3: Steam in-game chat while a user is offline As shown in screenshot 3, the user named „Daryl‟ leaves a message for the user named „Blob‟, who was last online nine hours ago and is currently not available for a real-time conversation in the Steam chat. The user „Daryl‟ receives an automatic message from Steam saying that „Blob is currently offline, they will receive your message the next time they log in‟, which means that the message is stored and can be read by the user the next time he comes online and logs into Steam. Hence, instant messaging might be synchronous in most cases, but it can also be asynchronous. The difference to e-mail, though, is that messages left for the offline users are only stored as long as the receiver reads the message. The time the receiver closes the private chat window, the message will automatically be deleted and cannot be accessed later.

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4.1.6. Blogging

Blogs are fairly recent. It is a “distinctive Web application which came into prominence in the early 2000s: blog is a shortened form of weblog. It takes the form of a personalized web page where the owner can post messages at intervals.” (Crystal 2006: 15).

Blogs show a high range of diversity: they can be personal (when used as some kind of diary) or for business purposes (as some kind of advertisement) and can include all kinds of issues, ranging from games, hobbies, sports, politics, lifestyle, and so on. In addition, blogs can either be kept in private (hence users are not available to comment or communicate on these kinds of blogs) or made public (where users can participate actively, such as writing comments on each blog entry). Blogs are basically a form of an online journal where people share their thoughts, interests or hobbies and even though they are said to have existed since the beginning of the Internet in the 1990‟s (cf. Bullas 2012: Online), their popularity is steadily increasing. According to NM Incite, a Nielsen/McKinsey company dealing with social media and marketing, there were “over 181 million blogs around the world, up from 36 million only five years earlier in 2006” (“Buzz in the blogosphere” 2012: Online).

In any case, because of the diversity of all existent blogs, it is quite hard to focus on linguistic similarities. Crystal, however, states that no matter how much blogs differ from each other, they still have one, great similarity, namely they are all unedited. The language of these blogs is, hence, “unmediated” (Crystal 2006: 15). As he mentions, books, magazines, newspaper articles, and websites are all checked and proofread, which is not the case when it comes to blogging. “The language of blogs displays the process of writing in its naked, unedited form” (Crystal 2006: 15).

As far as gaming is concerned, there are several blogs about Counter-Strike: Source available on the Internet.

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Screenshot 4: CS:S blog http://counterstrikesourcetactics.blogspot.co.at/

Screenshot 4 shows an example of a blog entitled „Counter Strike Source Tactics‟, which deals solely with Counter-Strike: Source. As most other blogs, this blog does not only provide information on CS:S, but also on the whole Counter-Strike series, including Counter-Strike and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. On these kinds of blogs, all kind of information dealing with Counter-Strike can be found, also information which is not specifically on the game or gameplay itself. In this case, for example, the blog owner‟s last post is about the „Steel Series Kana Gaming Mouse Counterstrike Global Offensive Edition‟, which refers to a computer peripheral (a computer mouse) which has a Counter-Strike: Global Offensive design.

However, the main issues posted on these kinds of blogs are still information on the game or the gameplay itself. Also, in screenshot 4 it can be seen that this blog is mainly dealing with Counter-Strike: Source, as the hyperlinks refer to „Console Commands‟ and „Counter-Strike Source Guides‟.

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5. The Language of Gamers

Internet gaming, both console and PC, is now a worldwide hobby. The gaming world is not just for teenagers any more: the average age of people playing MMO and FPS games is now around 30 years old, and the age group is climbing. People have become more open to spending time on massive multiplayer online games, and family-friendly Internet games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band. (Gil 2013: Online) Over the last few years, gaming has become more and more popular amongst different groups of people all over the world. As stated above, gaming nowadays is not only restricted by age, but is considered a very popular activity amongst all age groups.

The gamer spends all his or her waking minutes „owning n00bs‟, or being owned by n00bs, depending on the skill of said gamer. This ritual requires the gamer to sit in front of a computer or various online console games for hours on end, pausing only briefly to be „afk‟ for lunch. Gamers can mostly be found stalking the Internet looking for their next game. This has perhaps led to their notoriety as elusive beings. (“How to Speak Gamer” 2005: Online) This stereotypical description of a typical gamer might not be true for most of the gamers who can be encountered in online multiplayer games. A typical gamer does not need to be an “elusive being” who is constantly on the “Internet looking for their next game” (“How to Speak Gamer” 2005: Online). However, a gamer does indeed spend much time in front of his or her computer, as games are obviously part of his or her free time activities.

Therefore it comes as no surprise that interactions of gamers not only take place in real life, but also frequently on the Internet. Gamers have indeed developed their own language for different reasons, such as reducing the typing speed within a game or referring to certain aspects of a game. This gamers‟ language, or Gamespeak as I call it, is, however, not a completely new invention or language so to say. As stated in chapter 6 on “Netspeak” before, the language of gamers is more or less based on Netspeak or Internet language, thus combining written and spoken language features. “What makes Netspeak so interesting, as a form of communication, is the way it relies on characteristics belonging to both sides of the speech writing divide” (Crystal 2006: 31). In table 1 below (after Crystal 2006: 28 – 30), the main distinctions between speech and writing can be found:

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Table 1: Spoken vs. written language (after Crystal 2006)

Speech Writing 1. time-bound (restricted to the space-bound (restricted to pages and interaction between present participants) lines) 2. no time-lag (use of intonation, prosody, time-lag (time-lag between production and tempo, rhythm and pause; dynamic reception; but in contrast to speech, interaction between participants with writings are repeatedly revisable) immediate or deliberately delayed response) 3. face-to-face features (use of body lack of face-to-face features (no visual language, mimic and gestures to add and contact, hence the linguistic context (and aid meaning) co-text) is necessary for understanding and comprehending meaning 4. loose structure (use of features of clear structure (sentences are typically informal speech such as contractions, clearly structured including capitalisation, nonsense vocabulary, obscenity and slang) punctuation, elaborated sentences, correct use of grammar and vocabulary)

5. social interaction (for social or „phatic‟ recording facts (as writing is more clearly functions including small talk to establish structured than speech it comes in handy social relationships) for recording facts and information, especially for learning) 6. immediately revisable (errors and 7. repeatedly revisable (errors and mistakes cannot be withdrawn and mistakes can be corrected and eliminated corrected once spoken; interruptions and before written down; more time to rethink overlapping speech) utterances; no interruptions visible)

The question that now arises is whether Netspeak belongs to speech or writing. Crystal shows that Netspeak is a revolutionary new form of language or language variety, stating that it is unlike speech, yet unlike written language, as he says: “Netspeak is identical to neither speech nor writing, but selectively and adaptively displays properties of both” (Crystal 2006: 51). Crystal explains that Netspeak should not be regarded as either written or spoken language

27 but should be seen as a new form of language as the combination of speech and writing make “Netspeak a genuine „third medium‟” (Crystal 2006: 52).

However, as Gamespeak is based on Netspeak (or can also be considered as part of Netspeak), it also combines written and spoken language features.

6. Methodology and data

The main aim of this diploma thesis is to analyse Gamespeak and to provide an insight into the language of gamers, to strip it down to its essence, and to investigate how the origin of all Internet slangs, Netspeak, has influenced the language of gamers. In order to analyse Gamespeak, which is most often used by gamers of online multiplayer video games, this thesis is going to focus on the first-person shooter Counter-Strike: Source, one of the most popular competitive online games available on the Internet.

However, this thesis will not only include theory about Gamespeak, but will also provide analyses from excerpts from private conversations amongst gamers as well as screenshots taken during several games in Counter-Strike: Source, which I, as a gamer, have collected myself while playing the game. I, however, did not participate in any of the private conversations analysed in this thesis, therefore screenshots of these have been provided by fellow gamers. In addition, chat logs from several Counter-Strike: Source servers have been taken as a source. All examples have been collected from these sources from the 12th of February to the 30th of April 2013.

6.1. Private conversations

Private conversations of gamers mostly take place in the chat tool provided by the gaming platform Steam. This chat tool can be compared to those of instant messengers, such as ICQ or MSN Messenger, with the advantage that it is accessible during a game (unlike other instant messengers, for which the game has to be closed). Some of these private conversations will be taken to analyse features of Gamespeak, a screenshot of the conversation analysed will be provided in the appendix.

6.2. Chat logs

Many Counter-Strike: Source servers provide chat logs. That means that any conversation during a game on a specific server is recorded for a certain period of time, then the 28 conversations are uploaded and become accessible for everyone on the Internet. For the analyses in this thesis, chat logs provided by the following website have been retrieved: http://stats.gameplanet.co.nz/hlstats.php?mode=chat&game=css.

This chat log provides in-game conversations from the last twenty-eight days on different Counter-Strike: Source servers. The conversations are mostly in English as the game servers are located in New Zealand, where English is the official language. However, for the analyses, different parts of this chat log have been taken in order to analyse the different features of Gamespeak. As these chat logs are only stored for twenty-eight days (where the last day is replaced every day by a new chat log), screenshots from the different chat logs have been taken and attached to the appendix.

6.3. In-game screenshots

During a game in Counter-Strike: Source, gamers have the possibility to communicate with each other via the Steam in-game chat. These conversations are mostly about game related issues, such as when one team competes with another. The screenshots have been taken by me, unless explicitly stated otherwise. Excerpts from the conversation will be analysed, the screenshots will also be found in the appendix.

7. Analysis of Gamespeak

7.1. Phonological features

“Phonological features [are] the sound system of an individual language, defined in terms of such factors as the distinctive use of vowels, consonants, intonation, stress and pause […]” (Crystal 2006: 9). As “phonology is the study of how sounds are organized and used in natural language” (“What is phonology” 2004: Online), phonological features include all features that are produced while speaking. The most striking phonological feature which can be found in Gamespeak is the vowel and consonant deletion.

7.1.1. Vowel and consonant deletion

As already mentioned before, Gamespeak also features spoken language criteria such as the vowel and consonant deletion. The omission of a vowel or a consonant is very prominent in

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Gamespeak and can be seen as a reflection of fast speech in everyday language, where vowels and consonants are frequently omitted by the speaker.

However, in Gamespeak, it can also have a different reason: the phonological process of the omission of vowels or consonants can happen consciously as a reflection of the actual language in which vowels or consonants are not phonetically realised in the spoken language (such as „thinkin(g)‟ or „doin(g)‟ in the English language). Another reason for gamers to omit vowels and consonants is that the amount of time typing words, phrases, and whole sentences decreases by using fewer letters, as illustrated in example (2):

(2) a.) Big_Devil hi how r u doin

In this private conversation, the user „Big_Devil‟ starts a dialogue by making use of abbreviations „r‟ (are), „u‟ (you) and by consonant deletion „doin‟ (doing). In addition, the user decided not to use any punctuation in order to increase typing speed and decrease the amount of time he actually needs to type, although the sentence „Hi, how are you doing?‟ should not take much more time than the actual sentence he wrote (cf. chapter 7.2.4 on “Omission of punctuation”).

7.2. Orthographic features

As Crystal (2006: 8) states, the orthographic features of a language are “the writing system […] defined in terms of such factors as distinctive use of the alphabet, capital letters, spelling, punctuation and ways of expressing emphasis (italics, bold-face, etc.)”.

7.2.1. New spelling conventions

New spelling conventions frequently appear in Gamespeak, as they do in Netspeak. The gaming community has adapted several new spelling conventions from Internet language in general. “New spelling conventions have emerged, such as the replacement of plural –s by –z to refer to pirated versions of software, as in warez, tunez, gamez, serialz, pornz, downloadz and filez” (Crystal 2006: 93). However, the replacement of the plural „–s‟ by „–z‟ is not only a prominent feature in Leetspeak (cf. chapter 7.6 on “Leetspeak”), but also in Gamespeak in general as can be seen in example (3) below:

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(3) a.) Big_Devil can u send me the config filez b.) blezxX: what you need c.) Big_Devil a buyscript it drives me nuts

In this example from a private conversation, the gamer „Big_Devil‟ asks the gamer „blezxX‟ for modified configuration files for the game Counter-Strike: Source. These configuration files allow the gamer to modify his or her own gameplay, by adding binds to their keys like in this case: a „buyscript‟ is used to bind keys to weapons, armoury, etc. which can be bought faster at the beginning of each round by just pressing the assigned keys. However, as can be seen in line a.), the user asks for „config filez‟, meaning the modified configuration files for the game. He or she chooses to replace the plural „–s‟ by „–z‟.

In addition, new spelling conventions in Gamespeak also include the replacement of certain words. For example, the preposition „of‟ is replaced by „a‟ as can be seen in „kinda‟, which is a frequently occurring word in Netspeak in general. In addition, the word „kinda‟ is similar to colloquial spoken language.

In the private conversation between „Big_Devil‟ and „blezxX‟, the word „kinda‟ occurs several times, often with different meaning, as shown in the examples (4) and (5) below:

(4) a.) blezxX: up for a war? b.) Big_Devil uhm kinda

„blezxX‟ asks his conversational partner if he is in the mood for playing a „war‟, which means if he wants to compete with another team in Counter-Strike: Source. „Big_Devil‟, though, answers with „uhm kinda‟. It is not clear from this statement whether „Big_Devil‟ wants to participate in a game or not. As the Urban dictionary says, “kinda is used by people [who] are afraid to commit to a simple yes or no answer. If you can‟t say a definite „yes‟, then by default you are in fact saying no” (“kinda” n.d.: Online). In another part of the conversation, however, the use of „kinda‟ expresses something different:

(5) a.) Big_Devil hi how r u doin b.) blezxX: fine what about you c.) Big_Devil meh feel kinda tired today d.) blezxX: how come?

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At the beginning of their conversation, when „Big_Devil‟ is asked about how he feels (as already encountered in chapter 7.1.1 on “Vowel and Consonant deletion”), he answers that he feels „kinda‟ tired today, expressing that he feels somehow or kind of tired. In this context, „kinda‟ is used as a shortened form of „kind of‟.

7.2.2. Decapitalisation

One feature of written language is capitalisation, which means the practice of using capital letters in certain words. In Gamespeak and Internet language in general, capitalisation is hardly used by conversational partners.

[T]he status of capitalization varies greatly. Most of the Internet is not case-sensitive, which thus motivates the random use of capitals or no capitals at all. There is a strong tendency to use lower case everywhere. The „save a keystroke‟ principle is widely found in e-mails, instant messages, chatgroups, and virtual worlds, where whole sentences can be produced without capitals (or punctuation). (Crystal 2006: 90) As shown in the examples (2) – (5) above, capitalisation is scarcely implemented in the conversation between „Big_Devil‟ and „blezxX‟. By not using any capitals, the conversational partners attempt to create a casual environment – their writing resembles their way of speaking. As it can be assumed that both are befriended, a formal writing style is omitted. Hence both gamers decide to stick to a rather informal speech.

However, even without the use of capital letters, the conversation can still be understood and communication between both conversational partners still seems to be successful.

7.2.3. All-capitalisation

All-capitalisation, in contrast to decapitalisation, means that words are solely written in capital letters such as in „STFU‟ (abbreviation for „shut the fuck up‟). As Crystal (2006: 92) states, when words are written solely in capitals they are considered “shouting” and therefore rude, hence insults or offensive statements are often written in that form.

Another use of all-capitalisation is when one conversational partner wants to put or add extra emphasis on what he or she says, as is the case in the following example:

(6) a.) blezxX: can we play now PLEASE b.) Big_Devil: meh fine

In this excerpt, „blezxX‟ capitalises the word please in order to emphasise his wish to play

32 with „Big_Devil‟. In real life, „blezxX‟ would have used a specific intonation or pitch to emphasise the word „please‟. However, as there is a lack in prosodic features in written communication, he or she decided to capitalise the word in order to highlight his/her wish to play.

7.2.4. Omission of punctuation

Punctuation tends to be minimalist in most situations, and completely absent in some e-mails and chat exchanges. It is an important area, for it is the chief means a language has for bringing writing into direct contact with (the prosody and paralanguage of) speech, as well as conveying a great deal of information about grammatical construction. (Crystal 2006: 95) The partial or total omission of punctuation is not only a feature in Netspeak, but also in Gamespeak. The main reason for the omission of punctuation in Gamespeak is, as can be seen in other features, to increase typing speed, which is especially important while being in-game. In most conversations during a game, though, punctuation is not necessarily needed to understand what the gamer is trying to say or express, as most statements are short and direct rather than long and complicated. This is due to the fact that during a game, especially during a competitive one, the gamer has to concentrate on the game itself and finds no time to write longer sentences which are complex in the choice of vocabulary, grammar, and syntax.

In many conversations, “internal sentence punctuation and final periods are usually missing, but question marks and exclamation marks tend to be present” (Crystal 2006: 170). The reason why users of Gamespeak or Netspeak in general tend to avoid internal punctuation but choose to use question and exclamation marks is unknown. One can assume that using punctuation while typing a sentence would take too much time (and/or effort), while the use of punctuation at the end of a sentence is used to indicate the sentence/utterance type (whether it is a question or a command, etc.). Another reason could be that question and exclamation marks are frequently used in order to have at least some kind of punctuation to mark where a statement or sentence begins and ends.

However, as examples (2) – (6) above illustrate, partial punctuation is present, where the rest has been omitted, when the conversational partners have not entered a game yet. In the examples (2), (3) and (6), punctuation is omitted completely, whereas question marks are used in excerpts (4) and (5) at the end of a statement/sentence. Punctuation in a sentence within this conversation is not used at all. Still, even though no full stops or commas have been used in these examples, they are still successful and can easily be read and understood by each of the conversational partners.

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In other examples, however, the omission of punctuation can lead to ambiguity and misunderstandings. Sometimes the use of punctuation is necessary in order to understand what has been said and meant.

For Crystal, however, the use of punctuation in Netspeak all depends on the personality of the user. “Some […] are scrupulous about maintaining a traditional punctuation; others use it when they have to, to avoid ambiguity; and some do not use it at all, either as a consequence of typing speed, or through not realizing that ambiguity can be one of the consequences.” (Crystal 2006: 95)

7.2.5. Exaggeration of punctuation

Punctuation in Gamespeak is not only frequently omitted, but also sometimes exaggerated. The exaggeration of punctuation more or less happens in contexts where the gamer feels the need to emphasise what he or she wants to say or express. It is often used in combination with all-capitalisation to insult one and another.

7.2.6. Omission of apostrophes

In general, the apostrophe is used for contraction. In Gamespeak, however, it is frequently omitted. Again, similar to the omission of punctuation, the omission of apostrophes more or less might happen in order to save typing time. Example (7) below, from a private conversation during a war in Counter-Strike: Source, illustrates the omission of apostrophes:

(7) a.) Khaleesi youre such an idiot b.) supersonic: why? c.) Khaleesi: you should have killed that bastard d.) supersonic: meh he shot first

The conversational partners are talking via the Steam in-game chat while they are playing in the same team against another team. In line a.), the gamer „Khaleesi‟ states that the gamer „supersonic‟ is an idiot, avoiding the apostrophe in „you‟re‟. Still, because of the otherwise correct spelling of the contraction of „you are‟, it is still understandable for the intended recipient. Anyway, even without typing the letter „e‟ at the end of „youre‟, it would still be understandable for the gamer “supersonic”, as he would comprehend the meaning from the (linguistic) context.

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In most cases, the omission of an apostrophe does not cause any problems and is readable for others such as in „thats‟, „its‟, „im‟, „dont‟, etc. Even without the use of apostrophes, the communication is still successful. In addition, it is more accepted in Gamespeak than in other situations, where the omission of apostrophes (and punctuation) can be seen as a lack of spelling abilities, such as in e-mail conversations or blogging.

7.3. Paralanguage

Paralanguage is the area of non-verbal communication that emphasizes body language and voice nuances as means of expressing thoughts and feelings. People normally use paralanguage multiple times per day and are sometimes not even aware they are doing so. The ability to interpret this kind of human communication correctly is considered an important competency in both personal and professional settings. Body language often conveys just as much meaning as spoken words. Good communicators also have the ability to gauge how their own paralanguage affects others and to alter it so as to gain others‟ trust and project confidence. (Farrer 2003: Online) Paralanguage is an essential feature in everyday speech, as certain aspects of communication can only be conveyed through body language, gestures and mimic. However, as the Internet does not provide face-to-face communication (except for video conversations, such as with the programme Skype), the “various aspects of paralanguage [which] include posture, eye contact, hand gestures, and tone of voice” (Farrer 2003: Online) need to be expressed differently in written communication.

7.3.1. Emoticons/Smileys

As already stated before, there is a lack of body language, gestures, and mimic in most Internet situations. Internet users tried to find a way to be able to express paralanguage even in written communication; hence the use of emoticons and smileys has become extremely popular and prominent all over the Internet.

[…] Netspeak lacks the facial expressions, gestures, and conventions of body posture and distance […] which are so critical in expressing personal opinions and attitudes and in moderating social relationships. The limitation was noted early in the development of Netspeak, and led to the introduction of smileys or emoticons. (Crystal 2006: 39) The lack of body language and the introduction of smileys or emoticons as a replacement also apply to Gamespeak, as gamers communicate in written form in most cases. However, in Netspeak and Gamespeak, smileys or emoticons („emoticon‟ is a clipped word, consisting of the words „emotion‟ and „icon‟, already showing that emotions are represented by certain icons) are frequently used to convey body gestures, mimic, and emotions behind statements that might otherwise be ambiguous or misinterpreted by others.

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Basically smileys or emoticons “are combinations of keyboard characters” (Crystal 2006: 39) used to imitate a facial expression that would be made while making a statement in a face-to- face conversation. There are different kinds of smileys and emoticons, depending on the original language: western smileys should be read (or viewed) sideways at a 90-degree angle, whereas Japanese icons formed from Unicode characters should be viewed straight, such as „^_^‟ for a happy face. However, smileys can occur anywhere in a sentence, but are usually “placed after the final punctuation mark of a sentence” (Crystal 2006: 39).

A smiley or emoticon usually consists of a colon or an equal sign to represent the eyes of the user, even though the colon is still the most popular. Whether a colon or an equal sign is used is dependent on the personal taste and preference of the user. Anyway, the eyes are usually followed by different other symbols or even numbers and letters in order to express certain facial expressions.

The most common and most prominent smileys used all over the Internet are „:)‟ and „:(‟, expressing the most basic emotions of happiness and sadness. “The two basic types express positive attitudes and negative attitudes respectively (the omission of the „nose‟ element seems to be solely a function of typing speed or personal taste)” (Crystal 2006: 39). When the user decides to use the equal sign instead of the colon to represent the eyes, he or she usually adds square brackets instead of parentheses (or round brackets), which would then look like that: „=]‟ or „=[‟. However, sometimes the combination of the equal sign and parentheses can also be found.

In table 2, the most frequently used smileys are shown. However, it is almost impossible to provide a full list of western emoticons and smileys as there are various possibilities to express a certain emotion. This table has been created from personal experience and use as well as from Crystal‟s examples of smileys (2006: 93). However, as Crystal uses various smileys after Sanderson from 1993, some of his smileys are already out-dated and not in use anymore.

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Table 2: List of common smileys and emoticons

Basic smileys expressing emotion and facial expression :-) :) =] =( a smile; usually expressing happiness, pleasure or humour :-D :D =D a broad smile; expressing extreme joy or happiness; sometimes also used to laugh about something or someone (mocking) :-( :( =[ =( a smile turned around; expressing sadness, dissatisfaction ;-) ;) wink; different meanings such as in the context of flirting or to underline an sarcastic statement :-P :P =P a stuck out tongue representing being cheeky :-O :O =O shock, surprise or sometimes even yawning; sometimes the O is replaced by the number zero :*-( :*( :‟-( :‟( crying; expressing extreme sadness; the parenthesis can also be replaced by the letter “C” to exaggerate the emotion >:-( >:( >=( >=[ anger or frustration :-/ :/ =/ resembles a wry smile; also used for sympathy :-S :S =S Confusion :-x :x =X being speechless; also used to show that something is a secret Emoticons expressing body language }{ face-to-face { } a hug, can also be represented by using a pair of braces on each side :-* :* =* a kiss Funny smileys :{-) :{) user is wearing a moustache 8-) 8) 8] user is wearing sunglasses x-) x) user is either smiling or dead 0:-) Angel +:-) Priest 8:-) Wizard ( 8 (|) Homer Simpson; a cartoon figure *<:-) Santa Claus -:-) Punk

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When it comes to smileys or emoticons, it has to be kept in mind that all smileys can be interpreted and read in different ways. For example, an emoticon representing a smile does not necessarily mean that the user is smiling, expressing happiness, pleasure or humour, it can also have different meanings in a different context, as can be seen in example (8):

(8) a.) Blob: woah pretty impressive shot :) b.) Khaleesi thx for mocking me c.) Blob: sry :D

Again, this is an excerpt from a private conversation in the Steam chat during a game: user „Blob‟ uses a smile emoticon to underline a sarcastic statement. The sarcasm can only be understood when the statement made by user „Khaleesi‟ is read, as the user counters with another sarcastic statement, i.e. he or she thanks user „Blob‟ for mocking him or her. In line c.), the gamer „Blob‟ then decides to apologise for his or her statement by using the abbreviation „sry‟ (sorry) together with a broadly smiling emoticon. Hence the smiley in the first sentence can and must be read differently than an ordinary smiley. In addition, the use of the smiley „:D‟ in line c.) can also have different meanings: „Blob‟ either smiles at “Khaleesi” to underline his or her apology or to mock him or her again by conveying the implied statement of „take it easy‟.

Smileys and emoticons usually round up or soften a message or statement, but as illustrated in example (8), they can also be ambiguous. The use of a smiley, therefore, heavily depends on the context it is placed in.

Without care, moreover, they can lead to their own misunderstanding: adding a smile to an utterance which is plainly angry can increase rather than decrease the force of the „flame‟. It is a common experience that a smile can go down the wrong way: „And you can wipe that smile off your face, as well!‟ Those who get into the habit of routinely using smileys can also find themselves in the position of having their unmarked utterances misinterpreted precisely because they have no smiley attached to them. (Crystal 2006: 39 – 40) However, smileys and emoticons are usually used more in private chat conversations than during an on-going game, especially as funny or extraordinary smileys need more time typing than abbreviations for showing emotions or facial expressions. As the following example (9) from a conversation on a Counter-Strike: Source server shows (chat log), gamers often refrain from using smileys or emoticons, but rather tend to use abbreviations:

(9) a.) ZERO: snarky puppy b.) ZERO: this is the best map in cs

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c.) ZERO: it's the guy leading them d.) pdciianlnkdnoon: well fuck this team e.) ZERO: he is a butt f.) pdciianlnkdnoon: always troy g.) ZERO: nah you jsut suck h.) pdciianlnkdnoon: or playing far differently i.) pdciianlnkdnoon: your somebody else j.) pdciianlnkdnoon: put me to 3 hp k.) pdciianlnkdnoon: i stood on his nade l.) ZERO: dud m.) ZERO: Wow n.) ZERO: lel o.) Caboose: i might get kicked for doing this p.) ZERO: ty q.) Caboose: gj r.) ZERO: mmm who sucks now s.) pdciianlnkdnoon: i want calvin abck t.) pdciianlnkdnoon: god zero u you so bad u.) Caboose: LOL

As shown in lines n.), p.), q.), and u.), the gamers chose to use abbreviations in order to express feelings rather than emoticons or smileys. (A more in-depth analysis of abbreviations will be provided in chapter 7.4.2.1. on “Abbreviations”). In in-game conversations, gamers tend to avoid smileys in order to concentrate more on the game itself. Hence in-game conversations are often ambiguous or misinterpreted. In this conversation, it is not clear whether the gamers „ZERO‟ and „pdciianlnkdnoon‟ are mocking each other playfully, or are serious about insulting each other. Like in line g.), where player „ZERO‟ states: „na you jsut suck‟, he could either be insulting the other player or just tease him. In case „ZERO‟ only wanted to tease or mock the other gamer playfully, he could have added a smile such as „:)‟ or a wink „;)‟ in order to make clear that his or her statement should not be taken too seriously. The same applies to line t.), where the gamer „pdciianlnkdnoon‟ hits back with addressing gamer „ZERO‟ directly, telling him that he is „so bad‟. It remains unclear whether those two gamers are friends and just teasing or seriously insulting each other.

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7.3.2. Imitating sounds

As stated before, paralanguage also includes “voice nuances as means of expressing thoughts and feelings” (Farrer 2003: Online). On the Internet, users express different sounds with different expressions. These words, which contain sounds similar to the noises they describe, are called onomatopoeic words (cf. Yule 2008: 246).

Attempts at imitating non-linguistic sounds in computer-mediated communication can be found in any language. Laughter is represented by onomatopoeic words like „hahaha‟ in English or „jajaja‟ in Spanish. „Kekeke‟, the Korean substitute for laughter, is usually associated with Leetspeek. (Flamand 2008: 17) The most common, onomatopoeic word in Gamespeak is, without doubt, the imitation for laughter, namely „haha‟, as can be seen in example (10). This example shows only a small selection of data collected from the chat log from conversations during several games:

(10) a.) Gota: haha i was in the garage door next to the bot you just killed b.) NIKTM: (Team) haha c.) Skeleton: haha d.) NIKTM: Haha e.) NIKTM: haha f.) silentspook: haha g.) tomtard*: haha h.) tomtard*: haha yeh

The expression „haha‟ comes in different variations and depends on how „much‟ laughter the user wants to express. A rather short laughter (which could also just be a smirk in real life) is expressed by the simple form „ha‟. A longer, extended laughter is formed by the morphological process of reduplication, where the root or the stem of a word (or even only parts of a word) are repeated, such as „haha‟ or even longer „hahaha‟.

However, laughter is also sometimes expressed through other words such as „hehehe‟ or „huehuehue‟, all dependent on the personal taste of the user, although „huehuehue‟ might tend to mean a more sardonic laughter.

Other onomatopoeic words used in Gamespeak, or Netspeak in general, are „mhm‟ or „mmh‟ (for agreement), „hmm‟ (for agreement, expressing doubt or just used as a filler), „grr‟ or

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„argh‟ (for expressing anger, frustration or annoyance), „brr‟ (for expressing anger, frustration or for feeling cold), „aww‟ (for expressing sympathy), „ohh‟ (for expressing surprise).

In addition, „boom‟ in all kinds of forms is a very prominent onomatopoeic word used in Counter-Strike: Source. It can be used in different kind of situations. A search request on the word „boom‟ on the chat log gives the following results:

(11) a.) Blissy: Boom b.) Kram: booM c.) DANOSAUR!: BOOM! d.) Charlie SEXY-HuHu: boom goes the dyanmite e.) ghost: the faggot magnet: BOOM MTHERFUCKER f.) Spacemen: BOOM HEADSHOT

In lines a.) to c.), „boom‟ is used as a stand-alone word. Depending on the context, it can either mean that one gamer has surprised another in-game by appearing out of the blue, or to indicate that the gamer has just achieved something (either an objective, or a kill). „Boom‟ however, also frequently occurs together with a statement, as can be seen in lines d.) to f.). In line d.), the gamer refers to the objective of planting a bomb on a specific bomb site and states that this bomb will explode shortly. In line e.), the gamer combines „BOOM‟ with a very strong insult, certainly to celebrate his victory over the person he has just killed. In the last line, the gamer indicates that he has just given a headshot.

7.3.3. Imitating actions

In Gamespeak, gamers also tend to express actions by using different symbols. Those actions frequently include facial expressions, such as smiling, but can also express feelings and emotions. “[…] Some users mark imaginary actions or facial expressions by asterisks (e.g. *grin*, *groan*), though a more widely used convention is the angle bracket (e.g. , )” (Crystal 2006: 96). Example (12) illustrates the frequent use of asterisks in a private conversation in Steam:

(12) a.) Khaleesi: played csgo for the first time *grin* b.) Blob: how was it? c.) Khaleesi: gdgd, but its more like cod d.) Blob: cod?

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e.) Khaleesi: *shock* lol serious? f.) Blob: what? g.) Khaleesi: call of duty!

In this excerpt, the user „Khaleesi‟ marks the actions twice. First, in line a.), where the user indicates that he or she is smiling and/or happy about playing the game Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (the successor of Counter-Strike: Source) for the first time and second in line e.), where the user is shocked to find out that his or her conversational partner is clueless about the acronym COD (which stands for the game series Call Of Duty).

However, the use of angle brackets is not very prominent when it comes to Gamespeak. If at all, it is only used by a few gamers. The use of asterisks, on the other hand, appears to be used more often, even though it seems that the description of imaginary actions or emotions such as in line e.) is more or less restricted to private conversations and scarcely implemented in in- game chats.

7.4. Grammatical features

Grammatical features include “the many possibilities of syntax and morphology, defined in terms of such factors as the distinctive use of sentence structure, word order, and word inflections” (Crystal 2006: 8).

7.4.1. Morphology

Morphology studies the structure of words, i.e. words and the parts they consist of. In detail, morphology shows how words are composed of meaningful units.

The term morphology is generally attributed to the German poet, novelist, playwright, and philosopher Johann Wolfgang Goethe (1749 – 1832), who coined it early in the nineteenth century in a biological context. Its etymology is Greek: morph- means “shape, form” and morphology is the study of form or forms. In biology, morphology refers to the study of the form and structure of organisms, and in geology it refers to the study of the configuration and evolution of land forms. In linguistics, morphology refers to the mental system involved in word formation or to the branch of linguistics that deals with words, their internal structure, and how they are formed. (Aronoff/Fudemann 2011: 1) As the language of gamers primarily deals with the formation of a new word, more details are necessary to understand the process of word formation. In general, the basic units of morphology include word forms, lexemes and morphemes. Word forms are the individual surface forms of words, such as „say‟ „says‟, „saying‟, „said‟. A lexeme is an abstract notion

42 of a word and explores what an individual word form realises and what the common background is.

A morpheme is the smallest meaningful unit in a language (see Yule 2006: 63). It can refer to the base of a word, bound and free morphemes (in the English language, all bound morphemes are affixes, which are added either at the beginning or end of the base of a word), grammatical/functional and lexical morphemes (morphemes that either have a grammatical function such as articles, pronouns, modal verbs, conjunctions or prepositions, or have a full meaning such as nouns, adjectives, adverbs, and verbs) and derivational and inflectional morphemes (where derivation creates a new lexeme and inflection creates a new word form) (cf. Yule 2006: 63-65).

However, when it comes to Gamespeak, derivational and inflectional morphemes are of greatest importance. In general, the language of gamers affects word formation, which means, how new lexemes are formed. It has to be kept in mind that even though Gamespeak is a fairly new and innovative Internet slang, there are certain restrictions when it comes to the creation of new words, as they are likely to be similar to already existing words which can be understood by most of the gamers.

7.4.2. Word formation processes

7.4.2.1. Abbreviations

Abbreviations are fundamentally shortened forms of either a word or a phrase. Abbreviations can either be acronyms or initialisms.

7.4.2.1.1 Acronyms

In general, acronyms are a type of abbreviation where a new word is formed from the initial parts of a word. According to Yule, “acronyms are new words formed from the initial letters of a set of other words. These can be forms such as CD („compact disk‟) or VCR („video cassette recorder‟), where the pronunciation consists of saying each separate letter” (Yule 2008: 57).

In gamers‟ language, acronyms are frequently used and form the majority of deviations from Standard English. Especially in chats, abbreviations are used to keep the typing time to a minimum in order not to disturb the gameplay, such as „HS‟ (headshot), „THX‟ (thank you), „GL‟ (good luck), „HF‟ (have fun) and „IRL‟ (in real life). 43

However, the pronunciation of each separate letter of an acronym is not always the case. As with other, non-gaming related acronyms, most abbreviations in Gamespeak are also “pronounced as new single words as in NATO, NASA or UNESCO” (Yule 2008:47). Examples are „LOL‟ (laughing out loud), „ROFL‟ (rolling on the floor laughing), „IMO‟ (in my opinion), „AFAIK‟ (as far as I know), and „TY‟ (thank you).

Acronyms and initialisms are closely related in that they both display only the initials of what tend to be compound lexemes and use them to make a new word. They are also both frequently used in computer- mediated communication as a „form of keyboard shorthand in interactive written discourse‟. If the word resulting from the reduction to its initials can be pronounced without spelling out each letter individually, they are called acronyms. (Ensslin 2012: 71) Acronyms and initialisms can be found throughout the whole gaming discourse, even when it comes to a game‟s title or genre. “Examples from gamer language include „MMORPG‟ („Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games‟ […] and CoD (Call of Duty, which is pronounced like the homonymic fish)” (Ensslin 2012:71). Also older examples, as already mentioned before, include „MUD‟ (multi-user dungeon) and „MOO‟ (multi-user dungeon, object-oriented).

Acronyms appear in almost every conversation on a Counter-Strike: Source server. The most prominent acronyms can be found in example (13) below, which is an excerpt from an in- game conversation taken from the chat log:

(13) a.) ThePhil: what a bitch b.) khai188: LOL c.) khai188: 1 MORE d.) ThePhil: fuck this shit e.) khai188: LOL f.) khai188: WTH’ g.) ThePhil: got stock h.) ThePhil: Lol … i.) khai188: lol j.) ThePhil: lol k.) khai188: LOL l.) ThePhil: he felt ashame m.) ThePhil: lol n.) aQua: :D

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It can be seen that there is a redundancy when it comes to the acronym „LOL‟, as both gamers in this conversation use it several times. Although this is an on-going conversation, both players do not type constantly and their statements are given at different times.

Although the context is not known, i.e. what is actually happening in the game, certain lines can be understood even without the gameplay. Line b.) is a direct response to the insult in line a.), where the user „ThePhil‟ obviously offends another gamer for a certain, unknown reason and the gamer „khai188‟ uses a capitalised „LOL‟ to underline this insult. A similar situation can be found in lines d.) and e.), where the capitalised „LOL‟ puts emphasis again on the previous statement. In addition, in line f.), the gamer „khai188‟ decides to stress „ThePhil‟s‟ statement even more by using another acronym, namely „WTH‟, which can either mean „what the heck‟ or „what the hell‟, as the word „heck‟ is an euphemistic expression for the world „hell‟.

However, lines h.) to k.) show a redundancy in the use of the acronym „LOL‟, making it hard to understand what was going on in game at this point of time. Hence „LOL‟ could have been used either to make fun of another gamer (or oneself), of the situation, or just a simple expression that the gamer finds something extremely funny. In this conversation it can be assumed that lines l.) to n.) express that another gamer is mocked by „ThePhil‟ as he states that „he felt ashame‟. He then stresses his statement by using „lol‟ and another, third conversational partner, „aQua‟, joins the conversation and adds the emoticon „:D‟, which means that he „smileys broadly‟ about the previous statement.

7.4.2.1.2 Initialisms

“Initialisms cannot normally be pronounced according to the rules of English phonology but are no less common in gamer discourse than acronyms” (Ensslin 2012: 71). Gamers most often use them to refer to games or gaming platforms. “Popular examples include „PS3‟ (PlayStation 3), „PSP‟ (PlayStation Portable), „GTA4‟ (Grand Theft Auto 4) […]” (Ensslin 2012:71).

7.4.2.2. Backformation

“A very specialised type of reduction process known as backformation is a method where, typically, a word of one type (usually a noun) is reduced to form a word of another type (usually a verb)” (Yule 2008: 56). Prominent examples of backformations in the English language would be „to babysit‟ (from babysitter), „to diagnose‟ (from diagnosis), „to donate‟

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(from donation), „to evaluate‟ (from evaluation), „to injure‟ (from injury), „to shoplift‟ (from shoplifter), etc.

A very common example of backformation in Gamespeak would be the verb „to hack‟, which meant to “„illegally enter a computer system,‟ by 1984: apparently a back-formation from hacker” (“hacker” n.d.: Online). Unfortunately it is unclear whether the noun „hacker‟ or the verb „to hack‟ in the context of using cheating tools in games came first into existence. However, the word „hack‟ is either used as a verb or a noun in the game Counter-Strike: Source, as the following example (14), taken from the chat log, shows:

(14) a.) ITALIAN STALLION: (Team) hack, b.) Robin: OMG HACK c.) Gerard Butler: bullshit fucking admin hack d.) Gerard Butler: ping hack for sure e.) Green G00: not ping hack, just go to console lol

f.) _bяowиi3z.™: its called ping hack g.) Kal: has hack son h.) pro[CM] (Team) dont hack i.) Eraser: is it mandatory to hack in source? j.) Harmony i do hack k.) Ste.: i don‟t hack l.) Die In HeLL couldnt hack

In lines a.) to f.) it can be seen that the word „hack‟ is used as a noun. The most common use of the noun „hack‟ is in combination with an insult such as in line c.) or accusation of another player of cheating in a game such as in line a.) where „hack‟ is used as a stand-alone accusation, in line b.) where it is used with the abbreviation of „oh my god‟ and lines d.) to f.) where three gamers discuss whether another gamer has a „ping hack‟ or not. Lines g.) to l.) demonstrate how the verb „to hack‟ is used: Either it is used to commit to cheating such as in line g.) where the gamer „Kal‟ states that he or she „has hack son‟ (which means he/she is going to hack soon), line j.) where „Harmony‟ states that he or she hacks (by saying „i do hack‟) or line k.) and l.) where both gamers state that they do not or could not hack.

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7.4.2.3. Blending

Blending refers to two words or lexemes that are combined with a partial or complete overlap of one or both words. “The combination of two separate forms to produce a single new term is also present in the process called blending. However, blending is typically accomplished by taking only the beginning of one word and joining it to the end of the other word” (Yule 2008: 55).

A very prominent example in Gamespeak is the word „aimbot‟, which refers to a cheating tool in several multiplayer, competitive online games such as Counter-Strike: Source, where players can shoot without having to aim.

[An aimbot] is a program/software tool used with first person shooting games to help the player shoot more efficiently, commonly automatically aiming their gun to the enemy. Because this helps the user shoot more accurately with less skill, this is considered cheating when used. (“AIMBOT” n.d.: Online) The word „aimbot‟ consists of two words with a partial overlap: „aiming‟ and „robot‟. It is frequently used by gamers of Counter-Strike: Source as the following example (15) from the chat log shows:

(15) a.) Mr. Blister (no monitor): aimbot 2 good for me b.) OcB: aimbot works every time c.) XAo: NICE AIMBOT d.) Vetis: some aimbot shit e.) xX_KillerZ_Xx: FUCKING HACKER, WALLHACKS + AIMBOT f.) kjavis: aimbot g.) daren_saner: honda do you have aimbot h.) feWcHa_LoC: i saw your aimbot failing dick i.) Minotar Bushti Bushti: don't fucking aimbot cunt

In the chat log used for this analysis, the word „aimbot‟ occurs most often in combination with insults. In general, when a user is suspected of cheating, the first accusation which is spoken out loud by other gamers is that the suspect uses an „aimbot‟ in order to improve his killing statistics. Real cheating in a game, especially in a competitive one, can be really annoying and frustrating for all other gamers present in the game. Counter-Strike: Source is based on competition and skills and the longer a player actively plays and trains in CS:S, the better his/her skills get. Hence it is no surprise that gamers get annoyed when another player uses 47 cheats or hacks to win over all others. Example (15) illustrates that most statements including „aimbot‟ are often followed by insults such as in lines e.), h.) and i.). In lines c.) and e.), the gamers also decided to capitalise their whole sentence, putting emphasis on the accusation and the fact that there is one gamer amongst them whom they suspect to cheat.

However, there are several other blends that originated from gaming discourse, not only from multiplayer online games, but also from different games and gaming platforms.

Blends that have emerged from gaming language include, for example, „machinima‟ (machine cinema, which is animated film made using game engines and virtual worlds), „Kinect‟ (from kinetic and connect, which amounts to Microsoft‟s motion-capture system for Xbox 360), and „Wiimote‟ (from Nintendo Wii and its remote control, which denotes a specific type of controller). (Ensslin 2012: 72) 7.4.2.4. Clipping

Clipping means that part(s) of a word is (are) deleted, such as in „inc‟ (which stands for „incoming‟, referring to one team announcing to the opposing team that one or more teammates will be joining the game at any moment). “The element of reduction that is noticeable in blending is even more apparent in the process described as clipping. This occurs when a word of more than one syllable (facsimile) is reduced to a shorter form (fax), usually beginning in casual speech” (Yule 2008: 56).

In gaming and other technology-orientated areas „this is a very common process partly because the original technology words are so long. The desire to be efficient and avoid redundancy leads to words being shortened‟ (Shortis 2001: 60), most commonly by clipping off their initial, middle, or more commonly, final letters. (Ensslin 2012: 72) Other examples of clipped words in Gamespeak are „alt‟ (meaning „alternate‟, a term used to describe alternate characters a player has) and „mod‟ (from „modification‟, most often used on servers of multiplayer online games where the original game has been changed, hence „modded‟ or „modified‟, such as different maps, or appearances for the characters).

In Counter-Strike: Source, however, clipping is a very common word formation process that is used to reduce typing time while gaming. Clipped words are also frequently used before a war starts, as apparent in example (16) below:

(16) a.) Divius Muhkuh: hi b.) Divius Mukhuh: from? c.) Vaas: germany and u? d.) Divius Muhkuh: Italy e.) Vaas: Nice, mates?

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f.) Divius Muhkuh: inc g.) Vaas: how long?? h.) Vaas: Zzz g.) Divius Muhkuh: sec pls

This excerpt was taken from a conversation shortly before a war took place in CS:S. Two clipped words are used by the gamer „Divius Muhkuh‟. In line e.), gamer „Vaas‟ asks where the teammates of the opposing team are, as they have not entered the game yet. In line f.), „Divius Muhkuh‟ answers with „inc‟, the clipped word for „incoming‟. In line h.), the gamer uses the onomatopoeic expression „Zzz‟, referring to being tired from waiting for the incoming players. As a response, the gamer „Divius Muhkuh‟ says: „sec pls‟ in line g.), using the clipped word „sec‟ which stands for „second‟ (or „in a second‟) and the abbreviation „pls‟ which stands for „please‟, thus asking for a moment of patience.

7.4.2.5. Compounding

Compounding means that two words or lexemes are combined in order to form new words or lexemes. So to say, two separate words are joined to form a new word. “This combining process, technically known as compounding, is very common in languages such as German and English, but less common in languages such as French and Spanish” (Yule 2008: 54).

As Gamespeak is mainly orientated on English, compounding can frequently be found, both in written and oral communication. “Some well-known examples from the language of gaming include „PlayStation‟, „Gameboy‟, „Gamecube‟, „joystick‟, „control pad‟, „gameplay‟, „first person shooter‟, „computer role-playing game‟ […]” (Ensslin 2012: 73).

Compounds are especially frequently used in competitive online games. One of the most frequently used compounds is the word „headshot‟ (consisting of the nouns „head‟ and „shot‟). In the chat log, the term „headshot‟ can be found quite often, as the following in-game conversation (17) demonstrates:

(17) a.) Josh: (Team) headshot b.) Sunworthysox™ ︻デ┳═: (Team) he got a headshot and wasnt even aiming at your head :/ c.) 95teamlosi: headshot d.) Gee.: did a noscope headshot through cover once

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e.) jace: full headshot f.) Pvt. Strangelove: (Team) headshot through the wall? Is that a thing now? g.) m0x14o: lol kiwi 5 headshot h.) kooori: (Team) bit of bs 2b headshot i.) hotmatrixx: Headshot j.) RatsofTobruk: (Team) gw Kirby nice headshot with scout k.) TooLio |A-2A|: headshot through smoke l.) mOoNsHiNe: headshot through op? m.) TRAINS MAKE ME is a degle 1 b headshot WET:3: n.) Cget Oner: headshot 1 b o.) Sarge: and headshot you p.) Katclaw |A-2A|: headshot too hella r.) Marvin McGrue: flashed headshot s.) mOoNsHiNe: a headshot with a deagle first round is an instant kill t.) JT |#1|: not hard to headshot if he is standing still u.) iiNsanity‟ Serge: HEADSHOT v.) Kramin: noscope headshot lol

Headshot originated from the game Unreal Tournament, and has been used by FPS players since then. The word is [used] while one is playing an fps, when suddenly out of nowhere „BOOM, HEADSHOT‟. When you get a headshot, this may lead to extreme happiness in yourself, because you just pwned that little J00. However, when you are given a headshot, you may tend to scream out „WTF, That‟s Bullshit, LEAVE THE GAME HACKER!‟”. (“headshot” n.d.: Online) As the Urban Dictionary explains, for most players a headshot is a victorious event, given that the gamer giving a headshot did not use any cheats, such as an „aimbot‟ or a „wallhack‟ (a cheat script implemented in the configuration files of the game which enables the player to see through walls). However, when a gamer is extraordinarily skilled and manages to give several headshots during a game, he will in all probability be called a cheater or hacker anyway, as many gamers burst with envy when another gamer is more skilled than they are.

In conversations during a game in Counter-Strike: Source, the gamers often decide to just use the word „headshot‟ alone in order to celebrate their success in shooting someone in the head such as in line a.), c.), e.), i.) and u.). But, as stated before, sometimes the word „headshot‟ is

50 also used in combination with accusations. As can be seen in line b.), the gamer „Sunworthysox™ ︻デ┳═‟ accuses another gamer of cheating by implying that he or she made a headshot without even aiming at the head of the enemy. The same applies to lines f.), k.), and l.), where all gamers accuse some other player of making a headshot despite certain obstacles, such as a wall or a smoke grenade, and hence considering it illegitimate.

7.5. Pragmatics

Meaning isn‟t stable or fixed. It occurs in and changes with context. With this précis in mind, it is not enough to look at words and how their meanings change according to the contexts they‟re employed in; we must also look at the contexts themselves and how language is used more generally to fulfil certain social and pragmatic functions. (Ensslin 2012: 87) Pragmatics is, simply said, the study of meaning according to the context. No matter what words or phrases are said, it always depends in what context they appear in order to recognise the meaning behind them. As already mentioned in chapter 7.3 on “Paralanguage”, the linguistic context has to be considered when it comes to analysing both written and spoken communication. In (written) communication, the meaning behind words, phrases or sentences is often unclear due to misunderstandings and ambiguities. Hence one must take a closer look at the context in which (written) communication takes place. When it comes to Gamespeak, gamers often communicate at a fast pace, which often results in a lack of punctuation, cohesion, and/or coherence due to missing links, misspellings and grammatical mistakes and, as gamers most often communicate in written form, a lack of body language. That is why statements are often misunderstood by the conversational partners and even more by outsiders (or other gamers in the context of following a conversation in game). In addition, it can happen that in some conversations replies or statements are often replaced by smileys and emoticons (as a replacement for body language, facial expressions, mimic and gestures), which results in difficulties in understanding what one wanted to say and express. As Yule (2008: 112) states, “in many ways, pragmatics is the study of „invisible‟ meaning, or how we recognize what is meant even when it isn‟t actually said or written” and that is why a linguistic analysis of Gamespeak often needs a pragmatic consideration as well in order to understand what has been said. Without having a look behind the lexical meaning of conversations, it is almost impossible to fully comprehend gamers‟ language, hence pragmatics comes in handy when analysing the language of gamers, as “it acknowledges that meaning goes beyond lexical denotation and connotation in the sense of dictionary entries and secondary meanings” (Ensslin 2012: 87).

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The following chapter is going to analyse Gamespeak in terms of speech acts as defined by John L. Austin and John Searle.

7.5.1. Speech act theory

The basic idea behind the speech act theory is that language means acting (cf. Yule 2008:118). Language always has an effect on others, which means that the use of a language is a social act. Speech act theory is, so to say, the action the speaker performs, or the intention that a speaker has when using language in context and the meaning of it inferred by the receiver of this action.

An important area within pragmatics is speech act theory as laid out by Austin (1962) and Searle (1969). Its major assumption is that by making utterances of various types we perform actions such as pronouncing somebody man and wife, baptising ships, declaring war or, in somewhat less formal situations, making promises or requests, or giving orders or advice. (Ensslin 2012: 89) According to Austin (1962), there are usually three acts performed at the same time while speaking. First, the speaker performs the locutionary act, which is “the act of „saying something‟ […], the performance of a locutionary act, and the study of utterances thus far and in these respects the study of locutions or of the full units of speech” (Austin 1962: 94). That means that the locutionary act is the actual act of uttering words. Second, the illocutionary act is performed, which is the intention behind what has been said. As Austin (1962: 98) lays out, “to perform a locutionary act is in general, we may say, also and eo ipso to perform an illocutionary act.” Here it has to be mentioned that speech act theory deals in general with illocutionary acts in particular, as a speech act is always the intention behind the speaker‟s words. However, last, Austin introduced the perlocutionary act, which is the effect the performed locutionary and illocutionary act has on the receiver. He described the perlocutionary act as “what we bring about or achieve by saying something, such as convincing, persuading, deterring, and even, say, surprising or misleading” (Austin 1962: 108).

As stated before, speech act theory basically deals with the illocutionary acts as there is always intention behind the utterances which are actually performed. According to Searle (1975: 354 – 361), these illocutionary acts can be furthermore divided into five categories, namely representatives, directives, commissives, expressives, and declarations.

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7.5.1.1. Representatives

According to Yule (1996: 53), representatives “state what the speaker believes to be the case or not”. That means that representatives are the act where the speaker commits him or herself to the truth of what he or she is saying. Representatives convey information, and are acts such as saying and thinking, representing the speaker‟s belief of something which can also be evaluated either to be true or false.

The point or purpose of the members of the representative class is to commit the speaker (in varying degrees) to something‟s being the case, to the truth of the expressed proposition. All of the members of the representative class are assessable on the dimension of assessment which includes true and false. (Searle 1969: 354) 7.5.1.2. Directives

Directives are those illocutionary acts, where the speaker “wants another person to do something […] and can be either positive or negative” (Ensslin 2012: 89). Directives can be orders and requests, but also commands, suggestions, and prohibitions.

The illocutionary point of these consists in the fact that they are attempts (of varying degrees, and hence more precisely, they are determinates of the determinable which includes attempting) by the speaker to get the hearer to do something. They may be very modest „attempts‟, as when I invite you to do it or suggest that you do it, or they may be very fierce attempts as when I insist that you do it. (Searle 1969: 355) Directives are typically commands and requests. Especially commands can be found often in Counter-Strike: Source when playing a war, but also frequently appear on the typical game modes where one team plays against another team. In a war, it is voted at the beginning which player is going to take over the lead in order to avoid misunderstandings while playing (such as several people giving commands and confusion as a result). However, directive speech acts appear in different, grammatical forms.

7.5.1.2.1 Imperative verb forms and clauses

In most cases, when playing a war in Counter-Strike: Source, commands are formed by using imperative verb forms and clauses. This is due to the fact that it does not only require little typing time, but also imperative verb forms are pretty direct and can be understood and comprehended quickly. The following example (18) illustrates the use of commands during a competitive game:

(18) a.) Vaas: SHOOT HIM FFS b.) Racorac: i am

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… c.) Vaas: GO GO GO d.) Racorac: dont have a kit … e.) Vaas: FFS playe more defensive f.) Racorac: short short g.) Racorac: im down h.) Vaas: DIVIUS GO GO GO

By the use of directives, it can be seen that the gamer „Vaas‟ took over the lead and gives commands and orders to the other players, such as in lines a.), c.), e.), and h.). In addition, all orders/commands by the gamer (except for line e.)) are also capitalised, meaning that the gamer decided to put additional emphasis on the importance of the command. It is not known whether the player „Racorac‟ gave a command by saying „short short‟ to tell his teammates to go to „short‟ (a term used to refer to a specific place on a CS:S map) or wanted to warn his team that the enemy is currently on „short‟.

7.5.1.2.2 Modal and auxiliary verb constructions

Commands and orders can also be formed by using modal and auxiliary verb constructions, even though they are less common as imperative verb forms and clauses. While playing, the gamer does not always have the time to write full sentences, hence modal and auxiliary verb constructions are less likely to be used. However, some gamers do use this construction, especially when it is important for other gamers to follow their commands. The use of constructions such as „you have to‟, „you must‟ or „you need to‟ imply a very strong sense of command and resemble strict rules, hence other gamers feel the need to do what has been said.

7.5.1.2.3 Directive interrogatives

Interrogatives request information, hence it is a term used in grammar to describe a question (and therefore the features of a question). In Gamespeak, directive interrogatives are mainly used to express sarcasm such as „How about using your brain?‟ or to make a statement to another gamer of what he or she could have done better such as „why don‟t you try harder next round?‟.

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7.5.1.3. Commissives

“Commissives […] are those illocutionary acts whose point is to commit the speaker (again in varying degrees) to some future course of action.” (Searle 1969: 356). It is the speaker‟s intention behind his or her words, what he or she wants to do. Again, they can be positive, such as a promise, or negative, as a threat. Commissives also comprise pledges and refusals.

In Counter-Strike: Source, however, commissives most often appear in the form of a threat, when a gamer wants to express what he or she is going to do with the enemy, such as in the following example (19):

(19) a.) TLP: i kill you at every opportunity b.) ѝαтuяαl ツ™: soz if I kill you with dak dak brought wrong gun c.) Mike: I kill you …? d.) ThePhil: (Team) gonna kill you e.) TLP: watch me kill you f.) Buklau: ill have to kill you g.) Benis: ill kill you h.) Mike: im going to kill you i.) XeNon | A-2A |: i will kill you

Example (19) shows excerpts from a Counter-Strike: Source game taken from the chat log when searching for the word „kill‟ or „I kill you‟. The verb „to kill‟ appears frequently when it comes to gaming, especially in form of a commissive speech act. However, it solely refers to killing each other in-game and should by no means be seen as a threat to the real person controlling his or her character in-game. The phrase is most often used to either mock another player or to announce to other players that one will be superior to others (in this case, by killing the enemy). In addition, these commissives can be used in several ways, such as to have a shouting match, to stimulate, challenge, or intimidate each other. However, in most cases, the threat „I‟ll kill you‟ should not be taken too seriously as it is also sometimes only used as an expression of anger or frustration by one player. However, there are several synonyms of the verb „to kill‟, as illustrated in the following example (20):

(20) a.) Nod: so i can shoot you yea b.) subsist: ill come shoot you c.) Kiwi Pro*: i'll probably bash all you nerds 55

d.) Jimmy: /bash e.) koala# . | A-2A |: ill smash you f.) James: ill smash ya head in rocket ya mutt g.) obsession: wanna smash ur face h.) Don Honda – Kirby.: Ill Knife all you fucking dog cunts standing there shooting me […]

According to the chat log, when it comes to threatening the enemy, the following synonyms are frequently used by gamers of Counter-Strike: Source: „to shoot‟ as in lines a.) and b.), „to bash‟ as in lines c.) and d.), „to smash‟ as in lines e.) to g.) and „to knife‟ as in line h.). The verb „to knife‟ solely refers to killing someone else using the knife as a weapon. This threat is even more intimidating than other threats, as getting knifed in a game in Counter-Strike: Source can be embarrassing for the victim.

However, threats in Counter-Strike: Source can even be obscene and very vulgar. The use of obscene words is often followed by insults or, when used as a threat, is often meant as heavily offensive as shown in example (21) below:

(21) a.) Tweak: ill fuck the shit outta you boy b.) Pete The Plastic Spoon :D: ill fuck ur ass so hard ull have shit pore out ur nose c.) Benis: chillakilla ill fuck you up in a knife fight d.) simba: ill fuck ur tiny little ass hole e.) simba: and ill fuck you f.) rawdag: ill fuck you g.) rawdag: fuck off james ill fuck your mother

One of the most frequently occurring words in combination with a threat or insult is the word „fuck‟. As illustrated in example (21) taken from the chat log, „fuck‟ is used to either announce that the gamer is going to kill his enemy as in lines a.), c.), e.) and f.), but can also be used as a very offensive and vulgar insult as in lines b.), d.) and g.). The difference between a threat (which should not be taken too seriously) and an insult is often not clear. Hence it is hard to define the boundary. For example, the difference between a.) and b.) does not seem to be that clear, as both include the phrase „I‟ll fuck you‟. However, while line a.) seems to be a threat as the word „fuck‟ could be replaced by other words such as „kill‟,

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„bash‟, or „smash‟, line b.) seems to be an insult as it also features a detailed description. The same applies to line d.). Some insults are, on the other hand, very clearly detectable, as can be seen in line g.), where the gamer „rawdag‟ insults another player by saying „fuck off‟ and as a threat and insult directed at the mother of this gamer.

7.5.1.4. Expressives

The illocutionary point of this class is to express the psychological state specified in the sincerity condition about a state of affairs specified in the propositional content. The paradigms of expressives verbs are „thank‟, „congratulate‟, „apologize‟, „condole‟, „deplore‟ and „welcome‟”. (Searle 1969: 355) Expressives are those acts where the speaker expresses feelings, thanking, welcoming and congratulations. Ensslin (2012: 90) adds that “expressives are used by speakers to express feelings and sensations of various kinds – feelings of joy, sorrow, pain, pleasure, as well as likes and dislikes”.

When immersed in gameplay, players become emotionally involved as they need to re-prioritises their aims and objectives in order to succeed in the game world. Success and failure lie close together and tend to be represented in terms of extreme in-game metaphors, such as, quite literally, life and death. Players‟ emotional responses to in-game events and circumstances therefore tend to be just as, if not more heightened than actual life events, and these emotional outbursts manifest themselves in a variety of linguistic and paralinguistic expressions. (Ensslin 2012: 94-95) In Counter-Strike: Source, the feelings of gamers are often represented by swear words. As gamers are usually completely immersed in the gameplay, it comes as no surprise that losing a game or a duel can result in anger and frustration, especially when a gamer already has choleric or aggressive tendencies. In addition, during a running battle, gamers concentrate more on the gameplay and often act or speak without due consideration, which often results in the use of obscene or vulgar swear words:

(22) a.) !Nv0kεd LFT: SHIT ! b.) kooori: shit cunt c.) Exalted: lol shit d.) Mike: BULL SHIT e.) Kush: fuck off f.) Read Deagler: fuck lol g.) Mike: Fuck h.) `Jay :): fuck As can be seen in example (22) taken from the chat log, the use of obscene and vulgar words seems to be very popular in Counter-Strike: Source, especially words such as „shit‟ or „fuck‟. Example (22) only provides a few examples of these words from one day. However, when 57 searching for these words in the chat log, the word „shit‟ results in fourty-three pages and the word „fuck‟ appears on fifty-four pages full of entries (search request done on the 30th of April 2013).

However, there are also other words used to express the gamers‟ feelings during a game. Those words are less vulgar and obscene, but still frequently used. A prominent example is the word „damn‟, which can be used to express a variety of emotions, as can be seen in example (23):

(23) a.) EurekA: did someone shoot me through wall? Damn was afk lol b.) Don Honda – Kirby.: God damn it ct c.) Benis: damn were good d.) Splat: Damn nigga e.) Toxic Fusion: Damn f.) Benis: DAMN HES GOOD g.) Headhunterz: damn not used to awp so I rushed into a clearly fucked up situation haha

In this excerpt of different conversations from the chat log, the word „damn‟ can either be used to make fun about oneself (or others) or to express the gamers‟ frustration in a more humorous way such as in line a.), where the gamer „EurekA‟ asks if he was being killed through a wall and states „damn was afk lol‟, meaning that he was „away from keyboard‟ and did not pay attention to the game. As the gamer was not in front of his computer for a moment but still in game with his character, he or she got shot, and then expresses this unlucky situation with the word „damn‟. To soften the expression of frustration (and/or anger), the gamer decided to include the abbreviation „lol‟ to show that he or she is laughing about this situation. The same principle applies to line g.), where the gamer „Headhunterz‟ states that he is not used to the „AWP‟ (Arctic Warfare Police, a sniper rifle featured in Counter-Strike: Source), and hence „rushed into a clearly fucked up situation haha‟. The gamer obviously died in a duel with another gamer as he or she is not used to the chosen weapon. Again, any frustration or anger about this situation is represented by the word „damn‟, and softened at the end by using the onomatopoeic expression for laughter „haha‟, thus indicating that the gamer does not take his situation too seriously.

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However, „damn‟ can also be used in different contexts, for example to underline a compliment to oneself (or one‟s team) as can be seen in line c.). In addition, it can also be used to express any amazement or astonishment about the skill of another gamer, such as in line f.).

7.5.1.5. Declarations

Ensslin (2012: 90) states that “declarations are the most „pragmatic‟ of all illocutionary acts because they literally change the world when being uttered. Speakers of declarations need to have „a special institutional role, in a specific context, in order to perform a declaration appropriately‟”. Declarations are, so to say, institutionally embedded acts such as declaring a shop open or baptising someone.

Declarations in Counter-Strike: Source mainly appear in the context of playing a war. When both teams enter the server and are ready to start the competition, the server needs to run a script in order to prepare the server for the war. The script is usually implemented by the gamer who runs the server or by different hosting companies where gamers can rent a server for a specific period of time. However, this script allows the server to set the amount of rounds (which means that a war is either played twelve or fifteen rounds before the team changes the sides). When both teams are ready to start the fight, the script is being activated. Usually the server restarts three times in order to have the war-script running, declaring „LIVE ON THREE RESTARTS‟. After those three restarts, the war is declared open by announcing in the middle of the screen „Match is LIVE!!!‟ (see screenshot 4).

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Screenshot 4: Declaration "Match is LIVE" 7.6. Leetspeak

For many gamers, Leetspeak is considered to be the original gamers‟ language. It is a variation of the English language, previously used by hackers, and has become more or less a cultural phenomenon, mainly because other Internet slangs became very popular amongst Internet users and adapted certain words and phrases from Leetspeak.

In the days of Windows 95, a group of infamous hackers named „The Dead Cow Cult‟ used to take remote control of Windows 95 machines. They used a nasty software package called Back Orifice, and used the network port 31337 to take over thousands of Win95 computers worldwide. Their purposeful misspelling of the world „elite‟ as „leet‟ or „1337‟ was a way to bypass censorship programs. Years later, the Dead Cow Cult influence has morphed into a subculture of jargon and power user language. People who speak „leet‟ today are not malicious hackers. Instead leetspeak is often the trademark of serious Internet gamers and people who pride themselves technically savvy. (Gil n.d.: Online) Since the beginning of the 2000‟s, Leetspeak‟s popularity seems to have been decreasing, as other Internet slangs, such as Lolspeak, emerged. Nowadays, the original form of Leetspeak (as it was used by hackers) is said to have died out almost completely, only some characteristics still exist within other Internet languages or slangs. Even though the use of Leetspeak has immensely decreased, it is still considered to be the language of gamers.

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This chapter is going to explain Leetspeak and its characteristics in more detail. Furthermore, there will be a short explanation on the differences between Leetspeak and other Internet slangs, such as Lolspeak. Last but not least, this chapter is going to answer the question, whether Leetspeak is still prominent amongst online gamers or not.

7.6.1. What is Leetspeak?

“The term leet is derived from the word elite. The leet alphabet is a specialised form of symbolic writing. Leet may also be considered a substitution cipher, although many dialects or linguistic varieties exist in different online communities” (Spires 2010: Online).

As stated above, Leetspeak, which is also known as „leet‟,„eleet‟, or „1337‟, is an alteration of the English alphabet, where Latin letters are replaced with various codes, symbols, other letters, or numbers which are meant to carry the same meaning or at least to look like the original letter.

Leet is human-readable -- albeit with some difficulty -- but more problematic for a computer to decode. Leet speak can be used to bypass text parsers and to encrypt certain expressions. It can also be useful in constructing passwords that are easy for the originator to remember, but difficult to steal by means of a dictionary attack. (Rouse 2011: Online) A dictionary attack is a method used by hackers to break password-based security systems, in which the hacker tests all possible passwords found in a dictionary. This underlines the original use of Leetspeak, where it was not only used by hackers, but also by ordinary computer users. Since dictionary attacks are done with software and not manually, most of the software at the beginning of the Internet was not able to decode Leetspeak, hence the use of different letters, numbers, and codes was very popular to create passwords.

However, Leetspeak‟s origin can be found on the Internet bulletin board systems in the 1980‟s, long before the Internet became commercialised. Due to its cryptic nature, it is believed that it was created to beat the censorship measures which were put in place by the operators of these (and similar) systems, such as the Internet relay chat servers (IRC‟s). The use of these cryptic words, or rather cryptic code, was, especially in its beginnings, considered to be used for illegal or discouraged actions, such as hacking or cracking.

This style of writing was originally in use by hackers, who were attempting to bypass word-filtering on mail servers. For instance, they would use the term „haxorz‟ to replace „hackers‟. Internet users new to hacking adopted the style in an attempt to emulate those more experienced, and usage became widely spread. (“Leetspeak” n.d.: Online) Before the use of Leetspeak became more and more popular amongst Internet users, it was first considered to be „elite‟ as only few people were able to encode and decode it. The 61 encoding of these cryptic words or messages were hard for someone unfamiliar with Leetspeak and its substitutions, therefore it was and is still referred to as „elite speak‟ or „Leetspeak‟. The term „leet‟, as included in the word „Leetspeak‟, refers to a person who is able to write and read in Leetspeak and is therefore part of a special, elite group. This elite group frequently used Leetspeak in message boards, chats, or even while gaming, showing that they are superior and part of this elite group.

The use of Leetspeak on message boards and IRC channels, caused the slang to spread to a larger group of people. As the original purpose of the slang was to hide messages, Leetspeak is often with good reason considered to be incomprehensible by outsiders. Because of the increasing popularity of the slang, this group of outsiders is becoming smaller and smaller. (Flamand: 19) Over the last years, the concept of Leetspeak has entered the mainstream and has been used by more and more Internet users, especially gamers. “Leet has outgrown its roots as an obscure communication system for computer bulletin board users and has become a broad cultural phenomenon” (Mitchell 2005: Online). Nowadays, Leetspeak is primarily associated with gamers of multiplayer online gamers.

Attend any gaming convention and you will see innumerable „n00bz‟ being „pwned‟ by „1337 h4xx0rz‟. The rise of MMORPGs (massively multi-player online role playing games) upon the advent of high- speed Internet was prime breeding ground for another community of anonymous users to develop a dialect of their own, and what emerged was 1337 (or leet). (Dzurick 2009: Online) The Leetspeak community still wants to show other users or newcomers to a game that they are part of a special, elite group by mocking new players, thus continuing the trend of this dialect or Internet slang being used and understood only by the few „elite‟ people. “The term leet is also used as an adjective to describe formidable prowess or accomplishment, especially in the fields of online gaming and in its original use, computer hacking” (Spires 2010: Online).

7.6.2. Features of Leetspeak

As stated at the beginning of this chapter, Leetspeak is a creative alternation of the English language; hence it is up to the user‟s linguistic ability and creativity to use Leetspeak. According to Carooso (2004: Online), there are some specific rules which need to be followed when writing in Leetspeak:

The first and most basic rule of l33tspeak is to change certain letters to similar-looking numbers or symbols – for example, „e‟ becomes „3‟, „a‟ becomes „4‟ or „@‟, and so forth. The second rule is that certain letters need to be transformed into something cooler, „Nettier, and – frankly, more l33t. […] Again, there‟s a lot of flexibility available here, and the writer could choose to stick with letters and symbols where the substitutions are fairly easy to recognize – or the writer could go with an „advanced‟ l33tspeak, where the characters are „drawn‟, rather than substituted. For example, „M‟ could become

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„|V|‟ and „U‟ could become „|_|‟. […] It seems pretty straightforward – until you see /-\ |_0+ 0|= +3x+ („a lot of text‟). (Carooso 2004: Online) The cypher behind Leetspeak is always evolving, stylised as well as adopted to the preferences of the user. Basically Leetspeak can contain neologisms (new words), morphemes, transliterations, but also corruptions of the language. The reason for this huge variation in style and application are the various possibilities to substitute the original language. However, the way in which the original message is portrayed and altered with Leetspeak is up the user‟s sense of what is valid and what is not. For example, letters in the middle of a word may be transposed to another place in the word and the word could still be read or deciphered as long as complex phonemes and diphthongs important to the meaning of the word are not corrupted.

Nevertheless, Leetspeak is solely used in written asynchronous or synchronous communication. Carooso (2004: Online) states that Leetspeak is a variation of language containing “unpronounceable words”, which is true to a certain extent – as Leetspeak uses letters, symbols and other elements as a substitution of the actual letter, it could still be pronounced the way it was written originally. But with the words spoken out loud, no one would be able to tell whether it is the original language or Leetspeak, therefore it can be argued that Leetspeak only exists in written form. However, invented suffixes used in Leetspeak are, on the other hand, pronounced, e.g. „haxOR‟.

7.6.2.1. Orthography

Without doubt, one of the most distinct features of Leetspeak is its orthography. As mentioned before, Leetspeak uses characters, symbols, letters, or numbers as a replacement for Latin letters. Those replacements closely resemble the letters for which they are replaced, for example, the word „leet‟ becomes „1337‟.

The symbol chosen is flexible – anything that the reader can make sense of is valid. However, this practice is not extensively used in regular Leet; more often it is seen in situations where the argot (i.e. „secret language‟) characteristics of the system are required, either to exclude newbies or outsiders in general. (Spires 2010: Online) Leetspeak ranges from words barely changed, where only a few letters are replaced (hence still readable for anyone not familiar with leet), such as „g4me‟, or „hax‟, to words where all the original letters are replaced with substitutions, such as „1337‟ (leet), or even more complex words such as „|_0|_‟ („lol‟ – the abbreviation for „laughing out loud‟).

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7.6.2.2. Common transliterations

Understanding Leetspeak is problematic when it comes to its transliterations as several transliterations exist. This makes it rather difficult to decipher, even for Leetspeak users. Even though there are some common transliterations for each letter which are frequently used amongst the users of Leetspeak, many more exist and are still invented, hence not everyone who is able to read the most common transliterations is able to fully understand every variation of Leetspeak.

The Leet cipher is a highly dynamic, subjective cipher. It can be applied to many languages and character sets. As it incorporates new vocabulary and morphemes, the set of transliterations and corruptions increases. As the cipher was originally based upon English and the Latin alphabet, it is possible to derive a very basic set of common transliterations and corruptions.

Moreover, Leetspeak was originally solely based on the English language. After the Internet increased in popularity and more and more households all over the world got connected, the use of Leetspeak spread around other language users. Hence even though someone is able to decipher Leetspeak, he/she might not be able to understand it due to it being written in a language other than English. The most common transliterations can be found in table 3 below:

Table 3: Leetspeak transliterations (based on http://www.chatslang.com/leet_sheet)

A @, 4, ^, /\, /-\ N |\|, /|/, [\], <\>, /V, ^/ B 8, 6, 13, |3, /3, ß, P>, |: O 0, (), [], °, oh C ©, <, [, (, { P ¶, |*, |o, |°, |”, |>, 9, |7, |^(o) D ), |), [), ?, |>, |o Q 9, 0_, ()_, (_,), <| E 3, &, €, e, [- R 2, ®, /2, 12, |2, |^, |?, lz F ƒ, |=, /=, |#, ph S 5, $, §, z, es G 6, 9, &, C-, C_+, gee T 7, +, †, -|-, „][„ H #, }{, |-|, ]-[, [-], )-(, (-), /-/ U µ, |_|, (_), L|, v I 1, !, ¡, |, ], eye V \/, ^ J ], ¿, _|, _/, <, }{, )(, ecks L |, 1, £, |_, 1_, ¬ Y ¥, J, „/, j M |v|, |\/|, /\/\, (v), /|\, //., ^^, em Z 2, 7_, ~/_, >_, &

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This table, as stated above, does not include all existing transliterations. It is almost impossible to give a full list of transliterations as Leetspeak is constantly changing. Hence not all replacements and substitutions can be included. In addition, as Leetspeak does not confirm to certain, strict rules, the creativity of the users may lead to even more variations.

7.6.2.3. Morphology

The most striking morphological feature of Leetspeak is the addition of suffixes. In Leetspeak, all kinds of suffixes can be added to the root of the word, even though no suffixes are included in its original form. Even completely new, invented suffixes, which cannot be found in the original language, can be added. The most common suffixes, which are added (or replaced with existing suffixes) are „–xor‟, „-zor‟, „-age‟ and „–ness‟.

The suffixes attached to the verbs do not affect their meaning, or their ability to be conjugated as regular verbs, such as the verb „haxor‟ (to hack). In addition, certain suffixes such as „–xor‟, or „–zor‟, can also be used to convert a verb into an agent noun (similar to the Standard English suffixes „–er‟ or „–or‟), such as „haxor‟ (which can be a verb, as stated above, or be used as a noun meaning „hacker‟). “If a word ends in an „s‟, it probably ought to end in „z‟ instead, so „wares‟ becomes „warez‟ – or, more correctly, „w4r3z‟. The letter „x‟ is eminently more 133t than „ck‟; with another tweak or two, that‟s how „hacker‟ becomes „h4x0r‟” (Carooso 2004: Online).

Other examples are „–age‟, which can be used as a suffix to change a verb to a noun (or vice versa) and „–ness‟, which can be used to turn an adjective into a noun. For example, „speak‟ can be turned into „speakage‟ and „leet‟ into „leetness‟, such as in the sentence „I know Leetness speakage‟, meaning „I know Leetspeak‟. Due to the relatively fluid nature of „leet‟, derived nouns from suffixes such as „–age‟ can be further repurposed as verbs, such as in the sentence „He ownaged me‟, meaning „He dominated me‟.

7.6.2.4. Grammar

In general it can be said that grammar does not play a central role in Leetspeak, mainly because of its loose constructions, where the meaning lies more or less on the words rather than in grammar.

Leet, like other hacker slangs, enjoys a looser grammar than Standard English. The loose grammar, just like loose spelling, encodes some level of emphasis, ironic or otherwise. A reader must rely more on intuitive parsing of Leet to determine the meaning of a sentence rather than the actual sentence structure. In particular, speakers of Leet are fond of verbing nouns, turning verbs into nouns (and back

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again), as forms of emphasis (e.g. “Bob rocks” is weaker than “Bob r0xx0rz” (note spelling), which is weaker than “Bob is t3h r0xx0rz”). (Spires 2010: Online) In Leetspeak, there is always more than one option, mainly due to the creativity of the user. The play with substitutions and letter replacements is more important to the Leetspeak users than the use of grammatical structures.

However, even though the grammar of Leetspeak is loose, there is a certain “analogy in construction of new words” (Spires (2010: Online), which helps anybody unfamiliar with Leetspeak to decipher it more easily. In his essay, Spires (2010: Online) states that even if a user is not familiar with particular words of Leetspeak, he or she will still be able to understand and decode certain constructions, such as the use of the past tense. “For example, if „haxored‟ is the past tense of the verb „to hack‟ (hack  haxor  haxored), then „winzored‟ would be easily understood to be the past tense conjugation of „to win‟, even if the reader had not seen that particular word before” (Spires (2010: Online).

In addition, one more outstanding feature of Leetspeak is that the lack of strict grammar rules led to mistakes which are typically of certain Internet slangs or jargons. Some misspellings and incorrect grammar have entered Leetspeak and the usage of them has become common amongst the users.

An increasingly common characteristic of Leet is changing its grammatical usage to be deliberately incorrect. The widespread popularity of deliberate misspelling is similar to the cult following of the „All your base are belong to use‟ phrase. Indeed, the online and computer communities have been international from their inception, so spellings and phrases typical of non-native speakers are quite common. (Spires 2010: Online) Another distinct feature of the grammar of Leetspeak is the replacement of the plural „s‟ by „z‟, such as in „warez‟, a shortened form of „Software‟ used in illegal activities, such as downloading illegal software, or „haxorz‟. Sometimes a plural „z‟ is added to a word to put emphasis on its meaning (and not changing it), as in the case of „LOLz‟. By adding the non- standard spelling of the plural suffix „s‟ to „LOL‟, the user either shows that he or she laughed more than once or simple that he or she is able (or pretends to be able) to speak Leetspeak, thus reminding people that he or she is part of the „elite‟.

When it comes to punctuation, there are two possibilities in Leetspeak. Either it is completely left out (which makes it even more difficult to understand) or used in exaggeration.

Punctuation is usually left out with greater consistency as the level of l33t increases. Full Stops are left out entirely because, when you are chatting online, where you would normally put a full stop, you just hit „enter‟ to send the message and keep typing. Exclamation marks are used quite a bit (and usually quite a number at once), mostly because l33t is most commonly used in expressions of pleasure. (“An Explanation of l33t Speak” 2002: Online) 66

7.6.2.5. Vocabulary

“It‟s important to remember that the Leetspeak community encourages new forms and awards individual creativity, resulting in a dynamic written language that eludes conformity or consistency. However, there are a few standard terms” (“Computer Slang – Leetspeak „Elite Speak‟” n.d.: Online). One might argue that Leetspeak is an alternated or even corrupted form of the original language, including its vocabulary, but there are certain words and phrases which are unique to Leetspeak.

7.6.2.5.1 Vocabulary related to illegal activity

As Leetspeak originated as some kind of hackers‟ language, the following terms were mainly used in the context of illegal activity, such as hacking. However, some of these terms are still in common usage.

1.) „Haxor‟ (or „h4x0r‟)

As stated above, this term means either „hacker‟ or „to hack‟. It refers either to a real hacker or a very skilful person (e.g. a very good gamer).

2.) „Hax‟ (or „h4x‟)

This term refers to the acting of hacking in different context, such as using cheats in online computer games, or to hack websites, servers and other systems. Sometimes it is also used to mock very skilful players in game, when it seems as if they cheat or play unfairly, but in fact only play better than the rest of the present gamers.

3.) „Warez‟ (or „w4r3z‟)

This word describes illegally copied software which is available for download on the Internet. Sometimes, „warez‟ is also used to refer to serial keys or „keygens‟ (these are tools to generate serial keys necessary to activate software or to pretend that it has been bought legally).

4.) „Sploitz‟ (or „spl0itz‟)

„Sploitz‟ is short for „exploits‟ and refers to any vulnerability in computer software or networks which is used by hackers.

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5.) „Pron‟ (or „Pr0n‟)

In the beginning of the Internet, many search engines did not allow searches for pornographic material. This is why computer users changed the word „porn‟ into „pr0n‟, an anagram of porn in the form of Leetspeak.

It is sometimes used in legitimate communications (such as email discussion groups, Usenet, chat rooms, and Internet web pages) to circumvent language and content filters, which may reject messages as offensive or spam. The word also helps prevent search engines from associating commercial sites with pornography, which might result in unwelcome traffic. Pr0n is also sometimes spelled backwards (n0rp) to further obscure the meaning to potentially uninformed readers. (Spires 2010: Online) 7.6.2.5.2 Vocabulary related to gaming

1.) „Own/owned‟ (or „Pwn ‟/ „pwn3d‟)

This term (and its various forms) is the most common and frequently appearing Leetspeak term used by many Internet users worldwide, not only those who are able to write in Leetspeak. „Pwn‟ derives from the word „own‟ and is the best example for a misspelling or typo that has then entered common usage. In addition, the meaning of the verb „to own‟ was extended as it can also mean „to be superior‟ or „to be better than‟ another person in game. Hence it is frequently used in online, competitive computer games.

Owned and pwn3d (generally pronounced „Owned‟ „poened‟) both refer to the domination of a player in a videogame or argument (rather than just a win), or the successful hacking of a website or computer. As in a common characteristics of Leet, the terms have also been adapted into noun and adjective forms, ownage and pwnage, which can refer to the situation of pwning or to the superiority of its subject (e.g. “He is a very good player. He is pwnage”). (Spires 2010: Online) 2.) „Noob(s)‟ (or „N00b(z)‟)

„N00b‟ or „n00bz‟ (plural) refers to a newbie (as in „new‟ and „not experienced‟), which means a person who is new to a game (or seen as unskilled by other gamers). The word is often used in form of mockery and usually has only negative connotations. Leetspeak users, or gamers, mainly use it to segregate newcomers as less skilled than others.

3.) „Skills‟ (or „Sk1llz‟)

This term refers to some type of skill in online games, programming or hacking. Nowadays it is mainly used in the context of gaming: the better a player is in game, the more skilled he is.

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4.) „U mad?‟ (or „U m4d?‟)

This phrase consists of an abbreviation of the personal pronoun „you‟ and the word „mad‟ in Leetspeak. It is most commonly used to mock other people in game or to emphasise one‟s own victory in game.

5.) „Woot‟ (or „W00t‟)

This term has several meanings, but it is not clear how it came into existence. In gaming, it is said that it is an abbreviation (initialism) of the sentence „We own the other team‟ and used to celebrate victory. The Urban Dictionary, however, states that „woot‟ or „w00t‟ originated as a term for hackers and offers other definitions:

Woot originated as a hacker term for root (or administrative) access to a computer. […] “W00t” was originally a truncated expression common among players of Dungeons and Dragons table top role- playing game for “Wow, loot!”. Thus the term passed into the net-culture where it thrived in video game communities and lost its original meaning and is used simply as a term of excitement. “I defeated the dark sorcerer! Woot!”. (“woot” n.d.: Online) Other entries listed in the Urban Dictionary define „woot‟ or „w00t‟ as an “interjection similar to „YAYE‟ or „Woohoo‟” (“woot” n.d.: Online), hence used in the same way as these terms, namely to express excitement, joy or also agreement.

6.) „Phear‟ (or „ph34r‟)

This term means „fear‟ and is mainly used in the context of gaming and is hardly found in any other situation. Again, gamers use it to mock each other in game. It can most often be found in the phrase „ph34r my sk1llz‟ („fear my skills!‟) to state that one is skilful in a game and others should be „afraid‟ of it, or better said, be prepared to lose the game.

7.6.2.5.3 Other, non-specific context related terms

1.) „Kewl‟ (or „k3w1‟)

„Kewl‟ is simply a common derivation of the word „cool‟. It is not only used in the context of Leetspeak, but also by users of Netspeak in general. The „w‟ is meant to put more emphasis on a word/expression, and is used for different words or terms, such as „lawl‟ (derivation from „LOL‟, the arguably most frequently used abbreviation on the Internet).

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2.) „Roxxorz ‟/„ rox‟ (or „r0xx0rz ‟/„ r0x‟)

The phrase „You rock!‟ is frequently used all over the Internet, especially amongst gamers. In Leetspeak, the words „rock‟ or „rockers‟ are changed into „rox‟ or „roxx0rz‟ and are frequently used in phrases such as „this rox!‟ or „u rox‟ and describes something or someone impressive.

3.) „d00d‟

„D00d‟ is mainly used to address or to greet another person, mainly male, and derives from the word „dude‟.

7.6.3. Leetspeak versus Chatspeak

The linguistic and cultural boundary between Leetspeak and Chatspeak (which is often mistakenly referred to as Lolspeak or Lolcat, two other Internet jargons) is not entirely clear, and is sometimes discussed in connection with the topic of when and how Chatspeak came into existence.

Known as textese, textspeak, Chatspeak, lol or netspeak, this alien new language isn‟t so alien or new. In 1942, Eric Partridge published the Dictionary of Abbreviations, which contained strange examples such as gd (good) and mth (month) that are very similar to today‟s Chatspeak. After the invention of the Morse Code in the 1830‟s, telegraph operators shortened words so messages would be quicker and easier to send. In the same manner, Chatspeak was developed to allow people to communicate quickly, starting in the mid-1980‟s, with pagers that allowed limited text. (Lee 2012: Online) It can be said that the early use of abbreviations and Morse code are the roots of all Internet dialects or slangs, including Leetspeak, Chatspeak and/or Lolspeak.

However, some Internet users mistakenly use Lolspeak when they refer to Chatspeak in general, but Lolspeak is just another variation: Lolspeak, which is sometimes also called Lolcat, emerged at the beginning of the 2000‟s and is a variation of the English language principally built on grammar mistakes and Internet slang. For example, words and phrases such as „oh hai‟, „lol/lawl‟, „omg‟ („oh my god‟), „srsly‟ („seriously‟) and grammar errors such as „can I has sandwich?‟ are typical features of Lolspeak, hence it goes beyond the boundaries of Chatspeak. It certainly belongs to the category of Chatspeak but still is a different variation of it.

Thus many users also mistake Leetspeak as Lolspeak. Even though Leetspeak is – to a certain extent – also built on misspellings, letters in Lolspeak are in general not substituted by numbers or symbols. In addition, the explicit and incorrect use of grammatical and syntactical

70 structures is usually not incorporated in Leetspeek. Despite these differences, both Leetspeak and Lolspeak have certain features in common, which might be due to the fact that Leetspeak is the root of Lolspeak, as Anna Leach states in her article “Do you speak geek?” in The Independent:

At the root of all Internet dialect is leet, the most impenetrable of them all. Leet was what hackers and gamers spoke to each other on bulletin boards back in the 1990‟s. Since then, it has grown and morphed, hitting a peak in 2005. […] A combination of typos, computer-game references and tech jargon, leet is intentionally baffling. It is also the common ancestor of Lolspeak. […]. Lolspeak has inherited its linguistic tinkering. (Leach 2009: Online) Certain phrases that originated from Leetspeak have entered Lolspeak and are frequently used by its speakers, such as „w00t‟, „n00b(s)‟, etc. Lolspeak has also adapted the substitution of the plural „s‟ by „z‟, such as „catz‟, „lolz‟, etc.

The differences between Leetspeak and Lolspeak might be confusing for someone unfamiliar with those Internet jargons, but it can only be assumed that Leetspeak evolved and eventually merged with other Internet jargons or slangs, especially Lolspeak.

7.6.4. Leetspeak as a dying ‘language’

As mentioned in chapter 7.6.3 on “Leetspeak versus Chatspeak”, Leetspeak has most probably merged with other Internet jargons and its original form is therefore slowly disappearing from the Internet as its main reason for use, namely to beat censorship measurements on the Internet, is not needed anymore.

In fact, pure Leetspeak is presently hardly found on the Internet and some claim that Leetspeak should only be seen as a relic from the past days of the Internet. Jeff Carooso (2004) states in his article “Are you l33t” that Leetspeak is now only used by so-called “script-kiddies”, who ironically are unskilled hackers who only use hacking scripts made by those with true ability and only want to be recognised as elite or special.

Carooso furthermore cites Joe Hartmann, the director of North American AV research for Trend Micro, who states that “the hackers who want to be recognized for what they do refrain from using l33tspe4ak” (Carooso 2004: Online). This is due to the fact that Leetspeak has spread all over the Internet and hackers do not want to be compared to pseudo-hackers or those “script-kiddies” who most frequently use Leetspeak.

Today, l33tspeak is considered by many to be a joke. There are l33tspeak “translators” available online, to h4x0r-ize any English phrase typed in. One such translator places “hacker” alongside other “dialects”, such as “redneck”, “jive” and “cockney”. There is even a l337.com e-commerce site offering

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T-shirts emblazoned with the phrase “1 4/\/\ L337” – along with boxer shorts, lunch boxes, coffee mugs, wall clocks and other l33tspeak merchandise. (Carooso 2004: Online) As Carooso already mentions, there are some gimmicks all over the Internet, where Leetspeak is still in usage (even if it is only meant to be a joke). For example, the social networking site

Facebook as well as the search engine Google offer to change the user language into Leetspeak, even though it should not be taken too seriously but rather be seen as a joke.

Nonetheless, even though some claim that Leetspeak is dying out, some argue that it is still frequently used by gamers of online multiplayer games. Ashley Hudson (2007: Online) states that Leetspeak is an “incredibly annoying and often confusing „language‟ in use by gaming- obsessed nerds all over the world.” Even though this is offensive towards gamers and also exaggerated, others are of the same opinion, such as Edwin Kee. He claims in his article “Understanding Elite Speak” from 2005 that Leetspeak is primarily associated with gamers. Whenever reading through articles or dictionary entries about Leetspeak, the gamer is never left out.

7.7. Leetspeak in online multiplayer games

As stated before in chapter 7.1. on “Leetspeak as a dying language”, Leetspeak in its original form and context is slowly disappearing from the Internet, yet it is still associated with gaming. The question that arises is whether Leetspeak is really frequently used by gamers or not.

7.7.1. Gamers’ nicknames

When analysing Gamespeak, it immediately becomes clear that Leetspeak is still used by gamers of Counter-Strike: Source. However, it is probably most often used when it comes to the choice of nicknames, as it allows the gamer to have a unique, outstanding name which some gamers are not able to decipher, as shown in example (24):

(24) a.) Dr Sheldon Cooper: hey bud b.) R8zz ‘The 0wn8ge’: sweet jesus where have u been c.) Dr Sheldon Cooper: had to study sry dude d.) Dr Sheldon Cooper: hwos life? e.) Dr Sheldon Cooper: *hows f.) R8zz ‘The 0wn8ge’: g00d g00d

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In example (24), a private conversation between two gamers in the Steam chat, the gamer „Dr Sheldon Cooper‟ (a more or less famous figure from the TV series Big Bang Theory) talks to the gamer „R8zz „The 0wn8ge‟‟ („Razz „The ownage‟‟). He or she chose to have a nickname written in Leetspeak rather than in alphabetical spelling. Certain letters in his nickname were replaced with closely resembling numbers, such as the letter „a‟ was replaced by „8‟ and the letter „o‟ was replaced by „0‟. The gamer also decided to include the word „ownage‟ in his or her name, which is a good example of a unique Leetspeak word, meaning „domination‟ (see chapter 7.7.2.3 on “Morphology”). In addition, Leetspeak was also used in the conversation as can be seen in line f.), where the letter „o‟ was replaced with the number „0‟.

Other examples of nicknames written in Leetspeak can be found in chapter 7.4.2.2. on “Backformation” in example (14) line f.) where the gamer has chosen the nickname „_bяowиi3z.™‟ which means „brownies‟ when translated, and in Chapter 7.5.1.4. on “Expressives” in example (22) line a.), where the gamer calls himself „!Nv0kεd LFT‟, meaning „invoked left‟.

However, unique nicknames in Counter-Strike: Source are not solely written in Leetspeak. Some nicknames also include smileys or emoticons or symbols which do not resemble any Latin letter and are only used in order to „decorate‟ one‟s nickname. An example as already encountered in Chapter 7.4.2.5 on “Compounding” in example (17) line b.) would be the gamers nickname „Sunworthysox™ ︻デ┳═‟ where the symbols in his or her nickname most probably resemble a gun. In addition, sometimes a combination of both Leetspeak and emoticons can be found in nicknames, such as in Chapter 7.5.1.3 on “Commissives” in example (19) line b.) where the nickname „ѝαтuяαl ツ™‟ („natural‟) does not only include replacements of Latin letters, but also a Unicode emoticon showing a smiling face.

7.7.2. Leetspeak in in-game conversations

The use of Leetspeak in in-game conversations in Counter-Strike: Source is limited. The replacement of Latin letters with different numbers and symbols surely does take more time than actually typing words in its original forms, hence Leetspeak is rarely found during a game as it would decrease the typing speed and would be more or less a distraction of the actual game.

However, as Leetspeak does not only consist of alternating the English alphabet, certain words which originated from Leetspeak can frequently be found during conversations in-

73 game. The probably most common and popular Leetspeak word used in Counter-Strike: Source is the word „noob‟ in all its variant forms of spellings, as illustrated in example (25) taken from the chat log:

(25) a.) CatDog: n00b b.) Cov4h: I killed the top CT player lol n00b im the best in the server obvs c.) Red Deagler: jay noob u got me :( d.) XAø: noob :) e.) Read Deagler: omg i can‟t believe I got killed by this noob f.) burrito: im noob g.) H3LLB0Y: nah too noob for that shit h.) Robin: Omg noob hacker

As can be seen in lines a.) and b.), both gamers spelled the word „noob‟ with a double „0‟, thus replacing the letter „o‟. In lines c.) to h.), the word „noob‟ is used in its original spelling.

Another, frequently occurring Leetspeak word is „skillz‟, where the plural „s‟ in the word „skills‟ was replaced by „z‟, which is a common feature in Leetspeak (cf. chapter 7.6.2.3. on “Morphology” and chapter 7.6.2.5.2. on “Vocabulary related to gaming”), as shown in example (26) taken from the chat log:

(26) a.) Salad Fingers: pro skillz b.) Green Horn ︻气デ═一: he nwwds to get some skillz c.) Green Horn ︻气デ═一: HES GOT NO SKILLZ

d.) Green Horn ︻气デ═一: not buy ghosting skillz e.) jace: awping needs skillz f.) Oblivious Owl: really mad skillz g.) Ewok: skillz

Other examples are the words „ownage‟, „w00t‟ and „haxor‟ as the following example (27) from the chat log illustrates:

(27) a.) )|Chillakilla|( | A-2A |: xao such haxor xD b.) Ninety degrees: nice shot haxor

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c.) s0m3 guy (Team) ownage d.) )|Chillakilla|( | A-2A |: says the haxor e.) )|Chillakilla|( | A-2A |: joker is such a haxor f.) Boom Baby Boom: w00t g.) Angela: ownage…. h.) Mystic: Ownage i.) H3LLB0Y: w00t j.) )|Chillakilla|( | A-2A |: haxor

What is especially striking in the examples above is that Leetspeak words are often used by gamers whose nicknames are written in Leetspeak such as in example (25) line b.) where the „a‟ was replaced by a „4‟, in line d.) where the „o‟ was replaced by a „ø‟ and in line g.) where the gamer decided to replace „e‟ with „3‟ and „o‟ with „0‟ and in example (27) in lines a.), d.), e.), and j.), where the gamer decided to decorate his name with symbols, lines c.) and i.) where in both nicknames the letters „o‟ and „e‟ were replaced by the numbers „0‟ and „3‟.

8. Conclusion

Players of the popular first-person shooter Counter-Strike: Source use different kinds of synchronous computer-mediated communication tools. The most popular ones are the voice- over-IP software TeamSpeak and Mumble as well as the chat tool provided by the gaming platform Steam. Other types, such as instant messengers, are not used while playing in order not to interrupt the gameplay itself. Any other computer-mediated communication tool, such as asynchronous tools like e-mail or bulletin boards, is not used by gamers while playing, but may be frequently used in gaming discourse in general.

When it comes to analysing the language of gamers on a linguistic and pragmatic level, one has to take a closer look at Netspeak, which is a term defined by the linguist David Crystal in his book The Language and the Internet (2006). By investigating Netspeak, it has become clear that Gamespeak is based on Netspeak (as it is also an Internet jargon in-between writing and speaking), including several of its features such as in phonology including vowel and consonant deletion, orthographic features including new spelling conventions, decapitalisation, all-capitalisation, omission and exaggeration of punctuation and the omission of apostrophes. In addition, as Gamespeak mostly takes place on the level of written communication, it also lacks paralanguage as Netspeak does, hence any body language, 75 mimic, gestures or facial expressions in face-to-face conversations are replaced by emoticons/smileys, onomatopoeic words for imitating sounds such as „haha‟ for laughter and symbols such as asterisks to imitate actions or emotional states.

The most important part of Gamespeak is, without doubt, its morphology. As this thesis shows, word formation processes are of high importance when it comes to the language of gamers. The most frequently used word formation processes found in the gamers‟ discourse are abbreviations (including acronyms and initialisms), affixation, backformation, blending, clipping and compounding. Words formed from these word formation processes frequently occur within the language of gamers‟, mainly due to the need of saving typing time while being involved in a game.

Regarding pragmatics, this thesis has shown that the language of gamers offers more than just the surface form of the gamers‟ utterances. While it could be argued that every single comment made by a gamer can be seen as a representative type of speech act (as we only say what we believe to be true), directive, commissive and expressive speech acts are most frequently used. Directive types of speech acts especially occur in competitive games such as wars, where one team wants to compete with another team, therefore it is necessary for one gamer to take over the lead and to give orders to the rest of the team to guarantee good teamwork and coordination. As gamers of competitive multiplayer games are often completely immersed in the game, it comes as no surprise that threats (often in combination with insults) and the expression of feelings (often with the use of vulgar and obscene words) are often used by gamers. However, declarative speech acts can hardly be found within the context of gaming, as these are embedded acts. In Counter-Strike: Source, however, those embedded acts are mainly found in the context of playing a war, where a script run by the server‟s owner declares that the battle has begun.

When it comes to Leetspeak, which is considered as the only real gamer language by some gamers, it has become clear that even though it is said that it is slowly disappearing from the Internet, Leetspeak is still used in the gaming context, but with decreasing popularity. Leetspeak in its original form is rarely used by gamers of Counter-Strike: Source, since it takes too much time to replace Latin letters with various numbers and symbols. However, the use of Leetspeak in nicknames does seem to be still quite popular. In addition, over the last few years, Leetspeak has merged with other Internet jargons such as Chatspeak or Lolspeak; thus a clear distinction between Leetspeak and other slangs is almost impossible. The boundaries are blurry as other Internet jargons might include features and characteristics of 76

Leetspeak and vice versa. Still, most of the articles and definitions of Leetspeak include assumptions that Leetspeak is still widely used by gamers. As this thesis has shown, this only applies to a certain extent. While Leetspeak can still be found in nicknames chosen by gamers, it is hardly implemented in private or in-game conversations. However, even though the replacement of letters does not seem to be popular amongst gamers anymore, there are certain words originating from Leetspeak which are still used by gamers of Counter-Strike: Source. Conversely, the reason for using Leetspeak to create a certain group identity (the „elite‟), has almost completely disappeared. The main reason for gamers to use Leetspeak vocabulary is to decrease the amount of typing while being in-game (which is the case with Gamespeak in general). Some words, in addition, have also become so popular that many gamers would not even label them as Leetspeak, such as the word „noob‟. Furthermore, most terms and phrases taken from Leetspeak are used to mock or offend others, to praise a gamer‟s (or team‟s) skills and/or to celebrate victory. It has been shown that Leetspeak is not commonly used to seriously communicate with each other, as many words are only used as stand-alone comments. This might be a reason why other Internet jargons, such as Lolspeak, continue to thrive, as they are also used for interactive communication.

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Appendix

A.1. Private conversations

Appendix A.1.1. Examples (2), (3), (4) and (5) [1st April 2013]

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Appendix A.1.2. Example (6) [1st April 2013]

Appendix A.1.3 Example (7) [25th March 2013]

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Appendix A.1.4 Example (8) [27th March 2013]

Appendix A.1.5 Example (12) [27th March 2013]

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Appendix A.1.6 Example (24) [12th February 2013]

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A.2 Chat log

Appendix A.2.1 Example (9) Source: stats.gameplanet.co.nz/hlstats.php?mode=chat&game=css&server_id=30&filter=&page=2 [12th April 2013]

Appendix A.2.2 Example (10) Source: stats.gameplanet.co.nz/hlstats.php?mode=chat&game=css&server_id=30&filter=haha [14th April 2013]

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Appendix A.2.3 Example (11) Source: stats.gameplanet.co.nz/hlstats.php?mode=chat&game=css&server_id=0&filter=boom&page=2 [14th April 2013]

Appendix A.2.4 Example (13) Source: stats.gameplanet.co.nz/hlstats.php?mode=chat&game=css&page=1 [24th April 2013]

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Appendix A.2.5 Example (14) Source: stats.gameplanet.co.nz/hlstats.php?mode=chat&game=css&server_id=0&filter=hack [29th April 2013]

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Appendix A.2.6 Example (15) Source: stats.gameplanet.co.nz/hlstats.php?mode=chat&game=css&server_id=0&fiter=aimbot [23th April 2013]

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Appendix A.2.7 Example (17) Source: stats.gameplanet.co.nz/hlstats.php?mode=chat&game=css&server_id=0&fiter=headshot [23th April 2013]

Appendix A.2.8 Example (19) Source: stats.gameplanet.co.nz/hlstats.php?mode=chat&game=css&server_id=0&fiter=kill [30th April 2013]

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Appendix A.2.9 Example (20) Source: stats.gameplanet.co.nz/hlstats.php?mode=chat&game=css&server_id=0&fiter=“shoot+you” [26h April 2013]

Appendix A.2.10 Example (20) Source: stats.gameplanet.co.nz/hlstats.php?mode=chat&game=css&server_id=0&fiter=bash [24h April 2013]

Appendix A.2.11 Example (20) Source: stats.gameplanet.co.nz/hlstats.php?mode=chat&game=css&server_id=0&fiter=smash [30h April 2013]

Appendix A.2.12 Example (20) Source: stats.gameplanet.co.nz/hlstats.php?mode=chat&game=css&server_id=0&fiter=“ill+knife“ [30h April 2013]

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Appendix A.2.13 Example (21) Source: stats.gameplanet.co.nz/hlstats.php?mode=chat&game=css&server_id=0&fiter=“ill+fuck“ [30h April 2013]

Appendix A.2.14 Example (22) Source: stats.gameplanet.co.nz/hlstats.php?mode=chat&game=css&server_id=0&fiter=shit [30h April 2013]

Appendix A.2.15 Example (22) Source: stats.gameplanet.co.nz/hlstats.php?mode=chat&game=css&server_id=0&fiter=fuck [30h April 2013]

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Appendix A.2.16 Example (23) Source: stats.gameplanet.co.nz/hlstats.php?mode=chat&game=css&server_id=0&fiter=damn [30h April 2013]

Appendix A.2.17 Example (25) Source: stats.gameplanet.co.nz/hlstats.php?mode=chat&game=css&server_id=0&fiter=n00b [30h April 2013]

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Appendix A.2.18 Example (25) Source: stats.gameplanet.co.nz/hlstats.php?mode=chat&game=css&server_id=0&fiter=noob [30h April 2013]

Appendix A.2.19 Example (26) Source: stats.gameplanet.co.nz/hlstats.php?mode=chat&game=css&server_id=0&fiter=skillz [30h April 2013]

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Appendix A.2.20 Example (27) Source: stats.gameplanet.co.nz/hlstats.php?mode=chat&game=css&server_id=0&fiter=ownage+w00t+haxor [30h April 2013]

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A.3 In-game screenshots

Appendix A.3.1 Example (16) [19h March 2013]

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Appendix A.3.2 Example (18) [19h March 2013]

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Appendix A.3.3 Example (18) [19h March 2013]

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Appendix A.3.4 Example (18) [19h March 2013]

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Appendix A.3.5 Example (18) [19h March 2013]

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