<img class="r-stretch" src="memes/isthislanguage.jpg"> --- # Memes are language: Change my mind ### Dr. Will Styler --- ### Today's Plan - Are memes language? - Why does that matter? --- ### We're going to focus on images today - In the modern, internet-focused definition of 'meme' - ... but these same arguments could be made for videos, phrases, etc... --- # Are memes linguistic? --- ### What makes language languagey? - There are many people who've talked about this! - There's not a consensus on exactly what makes Language language - ... but there are a number of features which most folks agree on - **If memes are language, they should fit these characteristics!** --- ### Language Characteristics - Semanticity - Arbitrariness of form and meaning - Speaker knowledge of grammaticality - Full productivity and creativity - Social transmission - Compositionality - Accomplishes linguistic functions (e.g. assertions, questions, commands, expressives) --- ## Semanticity --- ### Elements of language have meaning - The /-z/ suffix in 'memes' has a defined meaning - "Penguin" has a defined meaning - "I went to the park" has a defined meaning --- ### Memes are meaningless - <img class="r-stretch" src="humorimg/drake_nah.jpg"> --- ### Memes have meaning - <img class="r-stretch" src="humorimg/drake_yeah.jpg"> --- ## Arbitraryness --- ### Arbitrariness of form and meaning - The meaning of ⛄ is closely related to its form, it is 'iconic' - The meaning of /kæt/ is *not* related to its form - In language, the relationship between form and meaning is *arbitrary* --- ### Meme Iconicity - Memes are often strongly iconic - Relying on facial expressions - Photos of situations - The meaning of 'templates' is based on their image - Meanings are often grounded in specific cultural contexts - Memes can become more abstract and less iconic over time! --- <img class="r-stretch" src="memes/sweating_meme.jpg"> --- <img class="r-stretch" src="humorimg/howaboutno.jpg"> --- <img class="r-stretch" src="humorimg/orly.jpg"> --- <img class="r-stretch" src="memes/tell_me_y.jpg"> --- ### Some meanings require a bit more understanding --- <img class="r-stretch" src="morphology/brian_blank.jpg"> --- <img class="r-stretch" src="memes/inevitable.jpg"> --- ### ... but memes can become more abstract --- ### Abstraction of memes - Many memes are iconic, but some templates and meme formats can approach arbitrariness! - Very concrete and iconic memes can detach from their forms --- <img class="r-stretch" src="memes/abstraction/saladcat.jpg"> --- <img class="r-stretch" src="memes/abstraction/saladcat_amongus.jpg"> --- ### Content Warning: Miscarriage --- ### Loss - Originally posted by the webcomic [Ctrl+Alt+Del](https://cad-comic.com/) - A very serious comic about the author and his wife losing a pregnancy --- <img class="r-stretch" src="memes/loss/loss_original.jpg"> --- ### Loss - This comic was... strongly criticized - Didn't fit the tone of the strip - The dramatic element was widely considered to be poorly done - Vigorous parody began - Hiding 'Loss' references became a meme of itself - 'Is this loss?' --- <img class="r-stretch" src="memes/loss/loss_original.jpg"> --- <img class="r-stretch" src="memes/loss/loss_translation.jpg"> --- <img class="r-stretch" src="memes/loss/loss_thingseverybodyhates.jpg"> --- <img class="r-stretch" src="memes/loss/loss_legolas.jpg"> --- <img class="r-stretch" src="memes/loss/loss_symbol.jpg"> --- <img class="r-stretch" src="memes/loss/loss_poem.png"> --- <img class="r-stretch" src="memes/loss/loss_city.jpg"> --- <img class="r-stretch" src="memes/loss/loss_astley.jpg"> --- <img class="r-stretch" src="memes/loss/closs.jpg"> --- <img class="r-stretch" src="memes/loss/loss_patternrec.jpg"> --- ### Sharing disguised loss memes is a meme of its own - (and it's not one that's widely appreciated) - <img class="r-stretch" src="humorimg/crow_of_judgement.jpg"> --- <img class="r-stretch" src="memes/loss/loss_daddy.png"> --- ### Loss memes have become very abstract - Distant from the original iconic form of Loss --- ### So, many meme templates are mostly iconic - Some require cultural or social knowledge - ... and some have abstracted away from iconicity completely - **This one's questionable for memes!** --- ## Grammaticality Judgements --- ### Humans know when language is being used 'incorrectly' - \*Please to be attending classes in this Wednesday more to find out. - We'll go into a lot more nuance! --- ### We have the same sensations about memes <img class="r-stretch" src="memes/ungrammatical/ungram_saladcat.jpg"> --- ### We'll focus on this later! - *So this week, be looking for 'bad' or 'incorrectly made' memes* --- ## Productivity and Creativity --- ### Language is productive and creative - Language can produce an infinite set of meanings - Sub-elements of language can be recombined to produce new and different language - Language can be used to describe anything (given time!) --- ### Memes are productive - Able to be adapted to new scenarios - Templates can be combined or re-used to create new memes - Memes can be combined to produce new memes --- <img class="r-stretch" src="ling_memes/japanese_vowels.jpg"> --- <img class="r-stretch" src="ling_memes/academic_debate.jpg"> --- <img class="r-stretch" src="memes/abstraction/catcreation.jpg"> --- ### Memes are creative - New memes can be created for situations - 'You've got a meme for everything' --- <img class="r-stretch" src="ling_memes/exemplar_ring.jpg"> --- <img class="r-stretch" src="ling_memes/measure_nasality_acoustically.jpg"> --- ### New meme templates can always be born - See [Reddit's /r/MemeEconomy](https://www.reddit.com/r/MemeEconomy/) - ... and the rest of the internet --- ### [Tiger King](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiger_King) was released on March 20th, 2020 <img class="r-stretch" src="memes/financially_recover.jpg"> --- *<img class="r-stretch" src="memes/tiger_king_salad_cat.jpg"> --- ### Images can go from 'funny image' to 'meme template' with repeated use - This is referred to as 'lexicalization' when it happens to words --- ### Memes can be used to describe any situation - ... and new memes can be generated to fill in any gaps - Memes are both **creative** and **productive** --- ## Traditional Transmission --- ### Language is learned from others' language use - Our language is dictated by the language we're exposed to - Cultural knowledge is included - Our language represents our social groups --- ### Memes are transmitted traditionally - Memes are culturally and socially specific - Memes spread within subcultures before reaching 'mainstream' - We can tell facts about people from their meme choices - Some memes need in-group knowledge to be understood --- ### Memes from Will's Era <img class="r-stretch" src="humorimg/serious_cat.jpg"> --- <img class="r-stretch" src="humorimg/youwinthisround.jpg"> --- ### Boomer memes <img class="r-stretch" src="memes/boomer/boomer_lifeguard.jpg"> --- <img class="r-stretch" src="memes/boomer/boomer_clocks.jpg"> --- <img class="r-stretch" src="memes/boomer/boomer_younger.jpg"> --- <img class="r-stretch" src="memes/boomer/boomer_food.jpg"> --- <img class="r-stretch" src="memes/boomer/minion_old.jpg"> --- ### Memes can 'index' certain identities and social affiliations --- <img class="r-stretch" src="memes/trans_talking_about_gender.jpg"> --- <img class="r-stretch" src="memes/nevercomingout.jpg"> --- <img class="r-stretch" src="memes/pepe.jpg"> --- <img class="r-stretch" src="ling_memes/languagefacts.jpg"> --- ### Memes often need in-group knowledge --- <img class="r-stretch" src="memes/watch_lvmh.jpg"> --- <img class="r-stretch" src="memes/watch_okboomer.jpg"> --- <img class="r-stretch" src="ling_memes/slavic_accusative.jpg"> --- <img class="r-stretch" src="ling_memes/pie_lana_del_rey.jpg"> --- <img class="r-stretch" src="memes/sociolinguistics.jpg"> --- ### Memes have traditional transmission - They are learned from other meme users - They are bundled with and index sociocultural information - Your upbringing and environment play a strong role in determining how you use and understand them - **Yup, that's languagey!** --- ## Compositionality --- ### Language is compositional - Larger wholes are made up of smaller parts, each contributing part of the meaning - 'Unlockable' (un+lock+able) - "I'm never gonna give you up." --- ### Memes are compositional - The captions themselves carry meaning (duh) - Meme templates carry meaning too! - Other stylistic elements can carry meaning --- ### Meme template meaning - Changing ONLY the template changes the meaning --- <img class="r-stretch" src="memes/minimalpairs/triplet_1.jpg"> --- <img class="r-stretch" src="memes/minimalpairs/triplet_2.jpg"> --- <img class="r-stretch" src="memes/minimalpairs/triplet_3.jpg"> --- ### Meme style cues have meaning in isolation too --- <img class="r-stretch" src="memes/form/impact_font.jpg"> --- <img class="r-stretch" src="memes/deepfried_1.jpg"> --- <img class="r-stretch" src="memes/form/allisonbell.jpg"> --- ### Memes are compositional! - They're evaluable in terms of many components, each contributing meaning - These meaning components are productive, and can be re-used elsewhere --- ## Linguistic Functions --- ### Language accomplishes functions - We can make simple assertive sentences - "The duck quacked at his bae" - We can ask questions - "Who posted the loss meme?" - We can issue directives - "Declare a LING major." - We can express our feelings - "I'm confused by deep fried memes" - We can change things about the world - "I sentence you to ten hours of community service" --- ### Memes can make simple assertions --- <img class="r-stretch" src="memes/emotional_support_dog.jpg"> --- ### Memes can ask questions --- <img class="r-stretch" src="humorimg/whynotboth.jpg"> --- ### Memes can issue directives --- <img class="r-stretch" src="humorimg/dewit.gif"> --- ### Memes can express our feelings --- <img class="r-stretch" src="memes/confused.gif"> --- ### Memes can change things about the world --- <img class="r-stretch" src="memes/ban.gif"> --- ### Memes can accomplish the same purposes as language! - Boy, it sure seems like... --- # Memes have almost all of the characteristics of language! --- <img class="r-stretch" src="humorimg/coolstoryhouse.jpg"> - Why do we care? --- ## Linguistics can help us understand memes! --- ### Most subfields have meme-related questions! - Phonology/Phonotactics - What form elements can co-occur? What's not a legal combination - Morphology - What are the correspondences between meme form and meaning? - How do memes go from funny pictures to productive chunks of meaning and form? - Semantics - How do we describe the meaning of memes? - Pragmatics - What effects do context and discourse have on meme meaning? --- ### Meme Linguistics continued! - Sociolinguistics - What does meme use tell us about people's social life? - How are memes used to index social identity? - Conversation and Discourse Analysis - What roles do memes play in advancing conversations and discourse? - Translation theory - Can a meme be translated effectively into another language or culture? - Can memes be made into text? - Diachronic Linguistics - How do memes change over time? - Do memes follow the same patterns as language? --- ### Learning about memes teaches us about language, and vice versa - <img class="r-stretch" src="memes/stonks.jpg"> --- ### Wrapping up - Memes are bits of cultural information which are spread from person to person - They share many of the properties often attributed to conventional signed and spoken language - Linguistic tools and methods are useful for their analysis --- ### In summary - <img class="r-stretch" src="memes/memesarelanguage.jpg"> --- ### Acknowledgements - Thanks to [LingUA at UCSD](http://ling.ucsd.edu/undergrad/student-opportunities/lingua.html) for giving this talk an early venue - Thanks to the Linguistically Informed Memery Crew - Thanks to Lolcats, for getting me started --- <huge>Thank you!</huge>