Slides are available at <http://savethevowels.org/talks/meme_linguistics.html> --- <h1>The Linguistics of Memes</h1> <h3>Dr. Will Styler</h3> </section> --- ### Content Warning - This lecture will discuss memes of all types - There will be some 'profane' language - There will be cursed memes --- ### Aging warning - I'm doing my best, but I've been [doing this since 2007](https://wstyler.ucsd.edu/posts/lolcats.html) -  --- ### Today's Plan - What are memes? - Are memes language? - Why does that matter? --- # What are memes? --- ## What is a "meme"? > A unit of cultural information, such as a cultural practice or idea, that is transmitted verbally or by repeated action from one mind to another. --- ### 'Meme' is multifaceted - Cultural concepts (e.g. ideas, practices, rituals) - Physical actions (e.g. dances, planking, rickrolling) - Language itself is memetic, by some definitions! --- ### More 'memey' uses of meme - Phrases with codified meaning - "You love to see it" - "Kony 2012" - "We have 69 copies left." "Nice." - "F in the chat" --- ### Uncaptioned but meme-y images  --- ### Captioned images  --- ### Videos and GIFs - [[dʒɪfs]](https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2020/02/25/how-do-you-say-gif-properly-ask-giphy-jif/4750684002/) -  --- ### 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 -  --- ### Memes have meaning -  --- ## 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! ---  ---  ---  ---  --- ### Some meanings require a bit more understanding ---  ---  --- ### ... 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 ---  ---  --- ### 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 ---  --- ### 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?' ---  ---  ---  ---  ---  --- ### Sharing disguised loss memes is a meme of its own - (and it's not one that's widely appreciated) -  --- ### 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 --- ### Speakers of a language know 'correct' and 'incorrect' forms - There are 'conventions' which are by and large followed - "Mara went to the store with Darnell" - *"Somebody set up us the bomb. All your base are belong to us." --- ### Memers know when memes are 'grammatical' and 'correct - Memes can be ungrammatical - Meme forms can be used incorrectly ---  ---  ---  ---  ---  --- ### Memes are able to be 'wrong' - Not cursed or 'bad', but not good uses of the form or template - These mirror linguistic grammaticality judgements of speakers - **This one checks out!** ---  --- ## 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 ---  ---  ---  --- ### Memes are creative - New memes can be created for situations - 'You've got a meme for everything' ---  ---  --- ### 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 -  --- * --- ### 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  ---  ---  --- ### Boomer memes  ---  ---  ---  ---  --- ### Memes can 'index' certain identities and social affiliations ---  ---  ---  ---  --- ### Memes often need in-group knowledge ---  ---  ---  ---  ---  --- ### 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 - Minimal pairs are possible - Mememes? ---  ---  ---  --- ### Meme style cues have meaning in isolation too ---  ---  ---  --- ### 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 -  --- ### Memes can ask questions -  --- ### Memes can issue directives -  --- ### Memes can express our feelings -  --- ### Memes can change things about the world -  --- ### Memes can accomplish the same purposes as language! - Boy, it sure seems like... --- # Memes have almost all of the characteristics of language! ---  - 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? --- ### All that time you've spent on a linguistics degree will also help you study memes -  --- ### 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 -  --- ### Acknowledgements - Thanks to [LingUA at UCSD](http://ling.ucsd.edu/undergrad/student-opportunities/lingua.html) - Thanks to the Linguistically Informed Memery Crew - Thanks to Lolcats, for getting me started --- <huge>Thank you!</huge>