SEMANTIC STUDY: THE IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON CHANGING THE MEANING OF SLANG WORDS AMONG TEENAGERS IN INDONESIA
Keywords:
semantics, slang, Indonesian youth, social media, semantic change, word meaningAbstract
In the digital era like today, social media has become a very dominant platform for communication among young people and adults in the world, even in Indonesia. One of the most prominent linguistic phenomena in this context is the emergence and evolution of youth slang, which often involves significant shifts in language meaning. This study aims to analyze changes in the meaning of words used in Indonesian youth slang on social media from a semantic perspective. This study applies a qualitative descriptive approach by collecting and examining slang expressions commonly used by Indonesian teenagers on platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, and Instagram. Data were analyzed using the theory of semantic change, focusing on types of meaning shifts such as amelioration, pejoration, narrowing, expansion, and metaphorical expansion. In the findings of this study, the author reveals that many slang terms have undergone significant shifts in meaning, which are often influenced by cultural trends, popular media, and peer group dynamics. For example, words that originally had neutral or even negative meanings are now used in positive or humorous contexts. This shift reflects the dynamic and creative nature of youth language, as well as the role of social media in accelerating linguistic change. This study contributes to the field of semantics by highlighting the mechanisms of semantic change in informal contexts driven by youth, and underlines the importance of contextual and social factors in understanding the evolution of meaning.
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