Digital Discourse and Semantic Change
A Diachronic Corpus Analysis of Lexical Meaning Shifts in English Social Media
Keywords:
Lexical Innovation, Semantic Change, Social Media, Diachronic Corpus Analysis, Digital Discourse, Sociocultural InfluenceAbstract
This paper examines the mechanisms of lexical innovation, diffusion, and stabilization in English social media discourse. The study employs a diachronic corpus analysis of Twitter, Reddit, and Instagram data from 2010 to 2025 to investigate the interplay among digital platforms, sociocultural contexts, and traditional media in the development of new word meanings. To trace semantic changes such as narrowing, broadening, amelioration, and functional shift, the lexical items ghosting, lit, and stan were analyzed. The study addresses three main research questions: What role do social media platforms play in the formation, dissemination, and stabilization of lexical meanings? How do traditional media and linguistic authorities mediate this process? How do social, cultural, and community-specific factors affect lexical adoption? The results indicate that Twitter accelerates diffusion, Reddit promotes semantic negotiation, Instagram reinforces stabilization, and traditional media provides legitimacy. The adoption and retention of lexical items are strongly influenced by sociocultural norms and community practices. This study presents a cross-platform, sociocultural account of digital semantic change, with implications for lexicography, language education, and computational linguistics.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Riba Aslam , Arooj Fatima , Muhammad Haseeb Sajjad , Ahmad Raza (Corresponding Author) (Author)
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