Analysis Of Structure and Affective Meaning Of Japanese Gen Z Slang on Social Media

Abstract

The rapid advancement of digital communication technology has triggered significant linguistic transformations, particularly in the use of slang by Japanese Generation Z on social media, which often transcends conventional linguistic boundaries. This study aims to comprehensively describe the morphological structures, syntactic functions, and representations of affective meaning in slang vocabulary emerging between 2020 and 2025. Employing a descriptive qualitative approach grounded in Verhaar’s (2012) linguistic theory, data were collected through observation and documentation methods from TikTok, X (Twitter), and Instagram to capture real-time language dynamics. The findings indicate that the formation of Japanese Gen Z slang is dominated by various morphological processes, including affixation, cliticization, derivation, reduplication, and composition. Semantically, a significant shift was observed from denotative to affective meaning, carrying specific emotional values within digital interaction contexts. A crucial discovery of this research reveals a strong correlation between lingual structure and emotional load: reduplication processes tend to represent nuances of cuteness or positive connotations, whereas compositional processes are more frequently utilized to express criticism, cynicism, and sarcasm with negative connotations. This proves that the linguistic structure of slang among Japanese Gen Z serves as a strategic instrument for representing emotional identity and social dynamics in cyberspace.