Lea Kropfitsch Grammars of Gaming A Linguistic Inquiry into the Language and Communicative Practice of Online Multiplayer Video Games DIPLOMA THESIS submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Magistra der Philosophie Programme: Teacher Training Programme Subject: English Subject: History, Social Studies and Political Education Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt Evaluator Mag. Dr. Nikola Dobric, M.A. Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt Institut für Anglistik und Amerikanistik Klagenfurt, April 2018 Affidavit I hereby declare in lieu of an oath that - the submitted academic thesis is entirely my own work and that no auxiliary materials have been used other than those indicated, - I have fully disclosed all assistance received from third parties during the process of writing the thesis, including any significant advice from supervisors, - any contents taken from the works of third parties or my own works that have been included either literally or in spirit have been appropriately marked and the respective source of the information has been clearly identified with precise bibliographical references (e.g. in footnotes), - to date, I have not submitted this thesis to an examining authority either in Austria or abroad and that - when passing on copies of the academic thesis (e.g. in bound, printed or digital form), I will ensure that each copy is fully consistent with the submitted digital version. I understand that the digital version of the academic thesis submitted will be used for the purpose of conducting a plagiarism assessment. I am aware that a declaration contrary to the facts will have legal consequences. Kropfitsch Lea, e.h. Klagenfurt, 09.04.2018 *For reasons linked to data protection it is not necessary to sign the affidavit. Instead, the electronic version should include the abbreviation “e.h.” after the name © Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt, Studien- und Prüfungsabteilung Version 2018-01-09 i TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................... 1 2. FROM THE VERNACULAR TO THE SPECTACULAR: A theoretical introduction to language varieties and new media .................................................. 6 2.1 Language varieties ....................................................................................................... 6 2.1.1 The pluralization of English and the Internet ....................................................... 9 2.2 Computer-mediated communication ......................................................................... 10 2.2.1 Characteristic features of CMC .......................................................................... 15 2.3 Gaming jargon ........................................................................................................... 18 3 WORLD OF WORDCRAFT: Word-formation processes in gaming jargon 26 3.1 Compounds ................................................................................................................ 29 3.2 Affixation ................................................................................................................... 31 3.2.1 Prefixes .................................................................................................................... 32 3.2.2 Suffixes .................................................................................................................... 33 3.3 Conversion ................................................................................................................. 36 3.4 Abbreviations ............................................................................................................. 38 3.4.1 Clippings ............................................................................................................ 39 3.4.2 Acronyms and initialisms ................................................................................... 40 3.4.3 Blends ................................................................................................................. 42 3.5 Loans and neologisms ............................................................................................... 43 4 METAMORPHOSIS OF MEANINGS: Semantic shifting and metaphoric expression in gaming discourse .................................................................................... 49 4.1 Semantic shifts ........................................................................................................... 50 4.2 Linguistic metaphors in gaming communication ...................................................... 52 5 CORPUS LUDORUM: Keywords and linguistic co-text across video game genres ..................................................................................................................................... 56 5.1 Case study 1: Keywords and collocations in MMORPGs ......................................... 58 5.2 Case study 2: Keywords and collocations in MOBAs .............................................. 62 ii 5.3 Case study 3: Keywords and collocations in FPS ..................................................... 65 5.4 Commonalities and particularities across genres ....................................................... 67 5.5 Game developers’ language in patch notes ............................................................... 69 5.6 “Player” vs “Gamer”: Self-referencing and group identity in games ........................ 71 6 CONTEXTUALIZING COMMUNICATIVE PRACTICE: Pragmatic and grammatical features of in-game discourse ............................................................. 74 6.1 The pragmatic grammar of gaming ........................................................................... 76 6.2 Deixis and contextual information ............................................................................ 78 6.3 Conceptions of appropriateness ................................................................................. 78 6.3.1 Flaming ............................................................................................................... 80 7 APPLICATION OF ANGLICISMS: English gaming terminology in non- Anglophone spheres .......................................................................................................... 83 8 CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................. 88 APPENDIX: Gaming Glossary from A to Zerg ......................................................... 93 BIBLIOGRAPHY .................................................................................................................. 109 iii 1. INTRODUCTION Video games as the most intricate media existing in contemporary consumer culture represent a means to entertainment innumerable people have grown accustomed to in the past decades. With a continuously growing network of individuals connected through the Internet and technological devices of mass-communication, the community of people engaging in online multiplayer games in their recreational times is prospering. Provoked by the commercialization of video games and an ever-growing, essentially heterogeneous group of aficionados, players have made progressions in establishing a shared linguistic code expressing newly encountered activities and events in the virtual worlds. When Wittgenstein (1921) declared that “the limits of my language mean the limits of my world” (TLP 5.6), a world which he interpreted as the totality of concrete atomic facts, he could not have anticipated that a century after the publication of the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, the limits of the world would be expanded to encompass worlds existing parallel to the factual, directed by unconventional truth conditions. These worlds are governed by principles that override our general understanding of the laws of nature, enabling traverse of time and space, from exploring the deep sea to orbiting distant planets. The realistically impossible is experienced in digital spheres where giant apes launch barrels at intruders, geometrical building blocks descend from the skies, and mounting mythical creatures or futuristic vehicles is no less ordinary than using hi-tech weapons or performing magic. The technologically generated realms are inhabited by real-life agents who navigate their physically enhanced digitalized self through spheres created in approximation to the actual world or science-fictional universes. Players of video games interact with the computer-mediated ecosphere by permanently interpreting and reacting to audiovisual inputs, translating their commands to in-game actions, and finally, communicating experiences and events to fellow explorers. Simultaneously, previously not yet encountered happenings and actions need to be lexicalized as foundations enabling mutual understanding and effective interpersonal communication of information. As the digital landscapes exceed the limits of reality, participants are compelled to extend their linguistic repertoire in response to novel and ever-expanding possibilities encountered in video games. 1 Players collectively experience in-game phenomena, display great creativity in coining novel words to refer to game-inherent meanings, and adapt their communicative strategies to the designated settings of distinct video games. This thesis aims to analyze the language variety emerging with the activity of playing video games as a contextually motivated innovation in linguistic production and reception. The variation elicited by