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Language play in and with Chinese: Traditional genres and contemporary developments

Wei, L; Lee, TK; (2021) Language play in and with Chinese: Traditional genres and contemporary developments. Global Chinese , 7 (2) pp. 125-142. 10.1515/glochi-2021-2008. Green open access

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Abstract

Language play is playing with the rules of language for fun. This article is one of the first attempts at providing an overview of the traditional genres and current trends of language play in and with Chinese, a topic that has received relatively little attention in English. We explore the specific aspects of the Chinese language that are susceptible to play, and discuss a number of conventional formulas of Chinese language play. We also examine the affordances of new media and what we call translanguaging language play that involves mixing different named languages and scripts as well as mixing linguistic with other semiotic resources. The motivations and effects of language play are discussed, giving particular attention to the socio-political dimensions of language play. Throughout the discussion, we provide historical as well as contemporary examples to illustrate the ways in which Chinese language users play with language for specific purposes.

Type: Article
Title: Language play in and with Chinese: Traditional genres and contemporary developments
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1515/glochi-2021-2008
Publisher version: https://doi.org/10.1515/glochi-2021-2008
Language: English
Additional information: Open Access. © 2021 Li Wei and Tong King Lee, published by De Gruyter. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Keywords: Chinese characters; language play; translanguaging
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education > IOE - Culture, Communication and Media
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10135312
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