Morpho-Semantic Analysis of Digital Vernacular: A Case Study of Instagram in Pakistan

Abstract

Online communication has altered the mode of linguistic expression and has opened up to novel online vernacular. Instagram in Pakistan is an abundant location of the bilingual and hybrid language usage that incorporates English and Urdu using morphological and semantic innovation. This present research examines the morpho-semantic processes of meaning construction and communication based on Pakistani Instagram users’ vernacular and finds the most important morphological mechanisms of constructing the digital vernacular of the country. Simulated Instagram captions, comments and hashtags were studied as a qualitative, descriptive research with the help of morpho-semantic analysis. The information was explained in terms of the digital linguistics and morphology frameworks, so, there were the processes of blending, affixation, borrowing and Romanization. Findings showed that there was a high frequency of code-mixing, morphological creativity and semantic compression. Users had used the hybrid linguistic stitches to convey humor, feeling and cultural identity and led to the creation of so-called glocalized discourse, which was representative of the bilingual culture in Pakistan. The research concludes that Pakistani Instagram vernacular is a good example of linguistic hybridity, morphology, and semantics meet to display individuality, community, and cultural identity in online conversation.