Act as a peer reviewer and write a detailed review of this research paper. Be strict and critical: On Certain Specific Features of Netspeak as an Object of Linguistic Investigation

Alexandra G. Anisimova
Lomonosov Moscow State University (Moscow, Russia)
<PRESIDIO_ANONYMIZED_EMAIL_ADDRESS>

                                                 Ludmila L. Baranova
Lomonosov Moscow State University (Moscow, Russia)
<PRESIDIO_ANONYMIZED_EMAIL_ADDRESS> 
The article sheds light on some of the recent developments in the language of the internet: namely, terms and various types of neologisms, which have appeared over the past decades, offering an overview of these new formations, supplemented by discourse analysis. The aim of the paper consists in systematizing certain specific features of Netspeak as a complex linguistic and social phenomenon. The study is based on the material gleaned from online editions of The Economist newspaper, with the examples selected using the method of continuous sampling. Research results indicate that the majority of neologisms are blends; however, abbreviations and compounds are also encountered. Besides, certain peculiarities of spelling and punctuation are discussed. These aspects of English reveal their dual nature on the Web, as, on the one hand, Internet users tend to simplify orthographic rules and the way full stops have been traditionally used in English, while on the other hand, spelling and punctuation are used creatively in order to show various emotions in an attempt to simulate the spoken form of the language.  The analyzed material shows that the emergence of the World Wide Web has boosted the capacity of English for expanding its linguistic apparatus, and the changes brought about by the continuous evolution of the electronic medium of communication should be thoroughly studied and understood.
Key words: Netspeak, Internet terms, neologisms, word building, derivatives, English spelling, English punctuation, stylistic diversity.
	The language of the internet has been in the focus of scholars’ attention for some time already [Crystal, 2001; Crystal 2009; Merzlyakova, 2010]. This means of communication received several names, such as cyberspeak, electronic discourse, Netlish, Netspeak. In specialized publications preference has been given either to CMC (Computer-mediated communication), or EMC (Electronically mediated communication), or DMC (Digitally mediated communication) [Crystal, 2009, 92]. In the present article the variant “Netspeak” is used, as it is neither too informal, nor too specialized. Besides, it reminds one of “Newspeak” used by George Orwell in his famous novel “1984”.
	Netspeak presents certain difficulties for researchers, and there are several reasons for this. First of all, it is the sheer amount of data found on the World Wide Web. According to Professor David Crystal, “There has never been a corpus of language data as large as this one. It now contains more written language than all the libraries in the world combined…”[Crystal, 2009, 92]. 
	Moreover, the language of the Internet is characterized by enormous stylistic diversity, manifested in formal and informal emails, blogs, social networks, and on various official sites, to mention only a few of its spheres of application. Another characteristic worth mentioning is how fast Netspeak evolves, which makes it difficult for scholars to keep up with changes taking place in it virtually every day.
	It has already been observed that Netspeak cannot be identified with spoken language, because it does not require immediate feedback (as in face-to-face conversation), nor can it be equated with writing, due to its hypertext links, and the use of animated text, both features being absent from any text on paper [Crystal, 2009, 95]. It does affect such aspects of language as orthography, punctuation, and vocabulary. But what is really fascinating about it, is its capacity to enrich the English language. 
	In the present article an attempt is made to systematize certain salient features of Netspeak, such as the emergence of new terms and new coinages, as well as the modification of spelling and punctuation norms, caused by conventions existing in the new medium. Besides, the Internet has proved to be a powerful tool for spreading false information using AI (artificial intelligence), and this relatively new development inevitably finds its manifestation in the language. Therefore, the overview of the most frequently used lexical units in this sphere is given in the present paper.  
First and foremost, Netspeak uses a large number of specialized words, which are used primarily in the electronic medium of communication. A considerable number of such lexical units belong to terms, as they meet all the requirements enabling one to categorize them as such. Thus, it is a well-known fact that a system of terms defines a system of concepts in a given field of knowledge. «Words become terms only when a precise scientific definition is firmly fixed to them, so that they become a kind of a sub-system of the general vocabulary» (Akhmanova O.S., Agapova G.N.,1974, p.2).
The basic criterion to differentiate between the term and the word of the general language is definability. The description of a word in a unilingual dictionary is based on physical characteristics of a word which are understandable for a layman. Unlike it, the definition of a term is more specialized and difficult to understand without the background knowledge, as it is more precise and is based on other terms.
 A consubstantial term is a word once borrowed from the general language which has undergone the process of terminologization. There are different stages of terminologization. Terms can maintain a common seme with the word of the general language, but the meaning of a term always becomes narrower and more precise. If a common seme is not preserved, it means that the process of terminologization has been completed and the consubstantial term has become the term proper. Requirements to the form of a term, in turn, include the following ones: 1) compliance with the norms of standard literary language; 2) conciseness; 3) derivational capacity; 4) invariance; 5) motivation; 6) nominative nature [Anisimova A.G. ,2010].
It is essential to mention that Netspeak comprises several groups of words which to a certain extent comply with the requirements set out above. Some of them have not yet become terms proper, but can be attributed to the group of terminoids. For example:
1.	Words connected with screen areas and functions:
•	File – information stored on a computer as one unit with one name [The Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary]. 
•	Insert – a file menu in software that allows the user to add something (e.g. a picture) into a document or file [www.computerhope.com].
•	Format – the way in which information is arranged and stored on a computer [The Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary].
•	Tool – an element of a computer program (such as a graphics application) that activates and controls a particular function [www.merriam-webster.com].
•	Window – a separate area on a computer screen that shows information and can be moved around [The Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary].
•	Help menu – a feature of some computer software programs that you use if you are having problems or want to find out how to do something [www.dictionary.cambridge.org].
Another group comprise terms which are related to computer hardware:
•	Freeze/hang – a situation when a process or system ceases to respond to inputs [www.techtarget.com].
•	Lock – a method of preventing access to a file or other data [www.computerhope.com].
•	Crash – a situation when a computer or system suddenly stop operating [www.computerhope.com].
It turns out that possibly one of the most productive ways of coining new 
terms in Netspeak is blending. Thus, here the following examples can be adduced:
•	Netiquette (net/internet+etiquette) informal – the commonly accepted rules for polite behaviour when communicating with other people on the internet [www.techtarget.com].
•	Netizen (net/internet+citizen) informal – someone who uses the internet, especially someone who uses it in a responsible way [www.techtarget.com]. 
•	Infobahn (information+bahn – German for “train”, “railway”, or “metro”) – the internet and other systems that allow people to share information electronically [www.techtarget.com].
Interestingly, in so far as the potential to produce derivatives is concerned, no term can possibly compete with “blog”, which is also a blend consisting of “web” (as in World Wide Web, of which only the last letter is retained and “log” – with the original meaning of “record”, or “an official record of events, especially on a journey in a ship or plane”) [The Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English]. This blend is registered in the dictionary with the following meaning: “a web page containing information or opinions from a particular person or about a particular subject, to which new information is added regularly” [The Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English]. 
As has been pointed out by Professor Crystal, “the word has been a fruitful source of lexical growth” [Crystal, 2009, 105], producing an avalanche of derived words and meanings, some of which are listed below:
•	Blogger – someone who writes a blog [The Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary].
•	Audioblog – a type of blog that includes sound files. These could be recordings, spoken journals or any other media broadcast through a computer [www.dictionary.cambridge.org].
•	Videoblog/vlog – in contrast to “blog”, which is primarily text-based and published on a website, a vlog consists of video footage, often featuring a person speaking directly to the camera, showcasing a process, or documenting events [www.vervology.com].
•	Photoblog – a blog in which the postings are primarily in the form of photographs [www.languages.oup.com].
•	Bloggerati (“blog” + “literati” – the educated class, intelligentsia, or people interested in literature or the arts, from Latin: plural for literatus) – people who write blogs: bloggers as a group [www.merriam-webster.com]. In other words, people who are blog savvy.
•	Blogosphere (blog+sphere) – all the blogs or bloggers on the internet regarded collectively [www.merriam-webster.com].
•	Blogorrhoea (blog+logorrhoea – a tendency to extreme loquacity [The Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English]) – if a blog goes on for too long.
•	Blogebrity (blogger+celerbrity) – a blogger who is enjoying a status like a celebrity in the cyberspace [www.collinsdictionary.com]. 
One more productive way of coining terms for Netspeak is using prefixes “cyber-” and “hyper-”. A few examples will suffice:
•	Cyberspace – all the connections between computers in different places, considered as a real place where information, messages, pictures etc. exist [www.computerhope.com].  
•	Cyberculture – the culture arising from the use of computer networks, as for communication, entertainment, work, and business [www.computerhope.com].  
•	Hypertext – a way of writing computer documents that makes it possible to move from one document to another by clicking on words or pictures, especially on the internet [www.computerhope.com].  
•	Hyperlink – a word or picture in a website or computer document that will take you to another page or document if you click on it [www.computerhope.com].  
Another prefix widely used in Newspeak is “e-” (for “electronic”), as in the following examples:
•	Email – a system that allows you to send and receive messages by computer [The Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English].
•	E-text – a text that is in a form that a computer can store or display on a computer screen [www.vocabulary.com].
•	E-voting – enables votes in an election to be cast and/or counted through electronic means [www.polyas.com].
•	E-card – a greeting card chosen from a website by the sender, and sent by the site to the recipient as an email with a link back to the site to view the card [www.dictionary.com].
However, not only prefixes are used to coin terms for Newspeak. Quite a productive suffix proves to be “-bot”, shortened from the word “robot”. The etymology of this word is worth mentioning. It dates back to the 1920s, when a Czech writer Karel Čapek used it in his play “R.U.R. Rossum’s Universal Robots”, as a derivative from the Czech word “robota” with the meaning “forced labour”, or “hard work of a serf for the master” [The Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English]. To illustrate the use of the suffix in coining terms the following examples can be adduced:
•	Chatbot – a computer program that stimulates and processes human conversation (either written or spoken), allowing humans to interact with digital devices as if they were communicating with a real person [www.oracle.com].
•	Softbot (software robot) – a program that interacts with a software environment by issuing commands and interpreting the environment’s feedback [www.citeseerx.ist.psu.edu].
•	Spybot – a program used for detecting and removing spyware used with Microsoft Windows computers [www.computerhope.com].
One more suffix widely used in creating terms for Netspeak is “-ware”, referring to “things in operating a computer” [The Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English]. In this case a number of examples can be given:
•	Donatware/donateware/donationware – a software product that is offered to the public for free, along with requests for optional donations. It is commonly considered a type of freeware because users can obtain the full product without paying for a license [www.techopedia.com]. 
•	Shareware – software that is available to use and which you pay for only if you wish to continue using it after a particular length of time [www.dictionary.cambridge.org].
•	Malware (malicious+ware) – software that is designed to damage the way a computer works [www.dictionary.cambridge.org].
•	Abandonware – software that is no longer sold or supported by its creator [www.merriam-webster.com].
Finally, the list of terms used in Netspeak would not be complete without at least mentioning abbreviations, which are shortened forms of terms, e.g.:
•	EMC – electronically mediated communication [Crystal, 2009, 92].
•	CMC –   computer-mediated communication, i.e. communication by email, instant messaging, social media sites, etc.  [www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com].
•	FAQ – frequently asked questions (a list of questions and answers about a particular subject, especially one giving basic information for users of a website) [www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com].
•	ISP – internet service provider, i.e. a company that provides you with an internet connection and services such as email, etc. [www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com].
•	URL – uniform resource locator, typically, the address of a World Wide Web page [www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com].
•	ASP – Application Service Provider, an entity or organization that offers software applications to its customers over the internet [www.dhl-freight-connections.com].
However, as has been mentioned above, the proliferation of new terms is not the only specific feature of Netspeak. One more issue to focus on in the present article is the way new words of the general language appear in social media and chatgroups, which poses serious challenges for lexicographers. Some of these new formations are registered in online dictionaries, whereas others are discarded, which raises questions about the principles of either including this or that word in a dictionary or not. 
In this respect online dictionaries differ drastically from printed ones. The latter usually wait until a word is widely used for a considerable amount of time by large numbers of people, and only after that make it part and parcel of the English vocabulary. Their reasoning is understandable: if a neologism is included in any printed dictionary too soon, it may become outdated even before the dictionary is published [The Economist, August 27, 2014].  
However, today the Internet is drastically changing traditional lexicographic practices. Many authoritative dictionaries become available online, offering users audio recordings of British and American pronunciation variants, access to thesauri, word origin, and other search options. Hence, online lexicographers register new words more readily than the compilers of printed dictionaries do. On the one hand, online lexicographers do not have to worry about space: the internet provides them with almost limitless opportunities.  On the other hand, the competition among online dictionaries is rather intense: if they do not include new coinages, they may be outdone by others.
As a result, one may come across Netspeak neologisms registered in authoritative online dictionaries, some of which are discussed below:
•	Adorkable informal – (of a person or thing) socially awkward or not fashionable, but in a way that makes you love or like them. The main character is neurotic, nerdish and adorkable. She wears those adorkable glasses. [www.dictionary.cambridge.org]. (Interestingly, “adorkable” is not a regular case of blending, as part of it – “dork” – is placed in the middle of the word “adorable”, modifying its meaning and making it informal, as “dork” is marked as such in dictionaries, defined as “someone who you think is or looks stupid”) [The Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English]. 
•	Duck face informal – someone’s face when their lips are pushed outwards, especially in photographs [www.dictionary.cambridge.org]. 
•	Selfie informal – a photograph that you take of yourself, usually with a mobile phone. Selfies are often published using social media. E.g., He posted a series of close-up selfies on his Instagram yesterday. [www.dictionary.cambridge.org].
•	Fatberg (fat+iceberg) – a large mass of fat and waste material that forms in sewers (=waste pipes under the ground [www.dictionary.cambridge.org].
•	Vaguebooking – posting deliberately vague messages on social networks to prompt a response, e.g. Dave is: “Thinking that was a bad idea”; Miriam is: “Wondering if it is all worth it” [www.collinsdictionary.com].
•	Ghosting informal – the act or practice of abruptly cutting off all contact with someone (such as a former romantic partner) usually without explanation by no longer accepting or responding to phone calls, instant messages, etc. [www.merriam-webster.com].
It should be added, and not in passing, that Netspeak is a social phenomenon, as well as a linguistic one, and therefore it can be an effective means of influencing people’s opinions and changing their attitudes. Thus, lexical units used to describe the spreading of false information via the Internet are too numerous to list, so some of the most widely used ones will suffice.
It is fairly obvious that here the words “disinformation” and “misinformation” come to the fore. These are often used interchangeably, but still there is a subtle difference in their meaning. For example, “disinformation” is defined as “false information spread in order to deceive people” [www.dictionary.cambridge.org], whereas “misinformation” is “wrong information, or the fact that people are misinformed” [www.dictionary.cambridge.org]. In other words, “disinformation” is false information which is spread with the intent to deceive, often as part of a campaign, while “misinformation” “is when false information is unintentionally spread, for instance by repeating a rumour to a friend or reposting an unsubstantiated claim on a social-media platform” [The Economist, May 2, 2024].
It goes without saying that disinformation is not a new phenomenon, but social media and artificial intelligence allow lies to be spread more easily. Disinformation campaigns may be quite effective and try to influence voters’ choice in an election, turn social groups against one another, and even question scientific research. With the latest developments in technology the spread of false information becomes even more complex, and these changes are naturally reflected in the English language. 
In what follows some recent strategies connected with introducing deceptive content are listed, showing how readily they find their manifestation in English:
AI-generated news refers to misleading articles produced by AI for made-up-news sites. At first sight the websites that host such stories may look similar to those of real media sites. They often run stories about travel or entertainment alongside articles that spread harmful falsehoods [The Economist, May 2, 2024]. 
Bot has already been mentioned above in connection with forming new terms by means of suffixation, as a suffix. However, it can be used as a word in its own right,
with the meaning of a social-media account programmed to perform a certain action. Bots (originally short for “robots”) may be useful, but they are often employed to achieve unethical purposes: a bot may be set up to appear like the account of an ordinary person, then harass other users, amplify falsehoods or trick others into clicking on dodgy links. Social-media platforms try to detect and minimise their activity, but often unsuccessfully [The Economist, May 2, 2024].
Captcha test is an acronym for “Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart”. Captchas are used by various websites to try to identify bots. They ask users to perform a task that a computer is supposed to be unable to do, such as to type out a sequence of letters, or to identify a set of matching visual cues. But as technology improves, bots are starting to outsmart them [The Economist, May 2, 2024].
Catfish means “a person who creates a fake social-media profile, posing as someone else” [The Economist, May 2, 2024]. Some create a range of fake profiles to support their made-up identity with fictional friends and family. Catfish typically try to form an emotional connection with other social-media users for the purpose of harassment or financial gain. Catfish are sometimes also referred to as “sock puppet” accounts.
Co-ordinated inauthentic behaviour (CIB) refers to using software to control hundreds or thousands of social-media accounts, usually to spread disinformation. Such accounts may all send out the same message, or like and share a given post. CIB manipulates social-media algorithms by suggesting that there is widespread interest in a particular viewpoint. This means a site is more likely to show posts sharing this viewpoint to other users [The Economist, May 2, 2024].
Content farms are websites that rely on low-paid writers or AI to produce articles in large numbers, with the goal of becoming highly ranked by search engines in order to attract advertisers. They may also be used to spread false information [The Economist, May 2, 2024].
Content moderation is a policy adopted by most social-media platforms setting rules for good behaviour on their sites, known as “community standards”. If a user breaks a given rule – by making hateful comments, for example, or spreading lies – they may be punished with a temporary suspension or permanent ban. Deciding what does or does not count as breaking the rules is the responsibility of moderators employed by these sites. Their work is highly contentious and is often criticized by users [The Economist, May 2, 2024].
Dark web is a hidden, encoded part of the internet that is not discoverable on mainstream search engines, requiring special browsers to reach it.  Illegal activity is known to take place there. Some dark-web sites offer services such as hacking, identity theft and the creation of “deepfakes” [The Economist, May 2, 2024].
Deepfake is an AI-generated image or video that convincingly shows a person doing or saying something they have not done or said, by putting their face onto the body of someone else or generating an entirely new video. It is a well-known fact that now AI techniques can even imitate people’s voices, and this malicious use of fake audio is sometimes also described as a deepfake [The Economist, May 2, 2024].
Doxxing (informal) is defined as “publicly identifying or publishing private information about someone, especially as a form of punishment or revenge” [www.merriam-webster.com]. In other words, it refers to spreading true information with an intention to cause harm, usually by sharing personal information about a target, such as their address, online. Such leaks are a form of harassment [The Economist, May 2, 2024]. The etymology of the word is worth mentioning. It is an interesting case of changing the spelling of “docs”, short for “documents”, and is traced back to “dropping docs”, or “doc-dropping” [www.merriam-webster.com]. 
Fake news was originally used to describe disinformation. However, now the word has acquired a political shade of meaning, because Donald Trump has frequently used it to attack his critics [The Economist, May 2, 2024]. 
Infodemic was defined by the World Health Organisation as a crisis of “too much information”, both real and false. This can be especially harmful during a rapid outbreak of disease, such as the covid-19 pandemic, or when wars begin, because it becomes hard to determine what is and is not true. Faced with an overwhelming number of posts in social media, people may focus on whatever they see most frequently or what their friends or family share, even if the information is untrue [The Economist, May 2, 2024].
Malinformation refers to the spread of verified information with the intent to cause harm or manipulate. This might be done by leaking personal information about someone to endanger them (see “doxxing”), or by sharing something true but removing some of its context, e.g. by cutting frames out of a video or cropping a photo [The Economist, May 2, 2024].
Memes are pictures, videos, ideas or jokes that are spread rapidly and circulated among people with similar interests, often without identifying the original author. As they can become extremely popular, they have become an effective tool for spreading false information [The Economist, May 2, 2024].
Microtargeting is connected with tracking internet users’ online habits, creating a virtual portrait of a person and what they might buy. These data can be bought by advertisers to address a certain demographic. But they can also be used to start a disinformation campaign by targeting specific users based on their preferences and biases [The Economist, May 2, 2024].
Placement refers to the initial posting of a fabricated piece of media or lie online, typically through an anonymous or false account, to launch a disinformation campaign.  [The Economist, May 2, 2024].
Troll is defined as “a person who intentionally antagonises others online by posting inflammatory, irrelevant, or offensive comments, or other disruptive content” [www.merriam-webster.com].  Trolls post upsetting or provocative materials online to elicit a reaction from others and usually do not operate under their real names [The Economist, May 2, 2024]. 
	Finally, as has already been mentioned at the beginning of the present article, Netspeak is often associated with changes in spelling and punctuation, with norms becoming more variable and changing faster than one might think. This is especially noticeable in the case of the younger generation using Netspeak, the so-called Gen Z (short for Generation Z): a way of referring to the group of people who were born in the late 1990s and early 2000s [www.dictionary.cambridge.org]. 
Thus, they quite often play with the traditional English orthography, introducing unusual spelling, e.g. using “nooooo” instead of “no”, “yaaass” instead of “yes”, “Hellllloooooooo!” instead of “Hello!” (making the words look more emotional and emphatic as a result), or distorting the spelling of words in such a way that they are not recognised by content moderators, e.g. writing “cray” instead of “crazy” (which is considered to be a sensitive and offensive word to use about people [www.macmillandictionary.com]), or “seggs” instead of “sex” [The Economist, October 21, 2024]. 
Sometimes symbols which are not part of the English alphabet are introduced in the spelling of words, e.g. “Latin@” (“Latino”, “Latina”, as someone coming from Mexico, Central America, or South America, and who speaks Spanish or Portuguese) [www.macmillandictionary.com]. The same can be said about the percentage sign used in “c%l” (cool) [Crystal, 2001, p.88]. 
In fact, as Professor Crystal observes, “New spelling conventions have emerged, such as the replacement of plural -s by -z to refer to pirated versions of software, as in warez, tunez, gamez, serialz, …downloadz, and filez. Non-standard spelling, heavily penalized in traditional writing…is used without sanctions in conversational settings” [Crystal, 2001, p.88]. David Crystal goes on giving some other examples of deviant spellings used in Netspeak, for instance kool (cool), fone (phone) [Crystal, 2001, p.88].
As far as punctuation is concerned, in Netspeak the tendency is to use the minimum of stops, and in some emails and chats there may be no stops at all [Crystal, 2001, p.89]. At the same time, the symbols which are not part of traditional punctuation may be introduced, such as # (cross-hatch), ~ (the tilde, meaning “about”), * (an asterisk), each of which has received its new name on the internet: “a crunch”, “a squiggley”, and “a twinkle”, respectively [Crystal, 2001, p.89].  Emphatic statements and attitudes may be expressed by means of “exaggerated or random use of punctuation, such as !!!!!!! or £$£$%!” [Crystal, 2001, p.89].  
Some other examples of the so-called “extended expressivity” of stops in Netspeak are as follows [Crystal, 2001, p.124]:
•	Yes!!!!!!!
•	WHAT?????
•	You’vegota ̂&*! cheek 
So, on the one hand, both in spelling and in punctuation a certain simplification and deviation from the accepted norms can be observed, and on the other – an attempt to add more expressivity to the new medium of communication, which is neither speech, nor writing in the proper sense of these words, but rather a certain hybrid of the two.
To conclude: “It is a well-known fact that any living language is like a living organism, immediately reacting to significant changes in the outside world – whether it is discovering new continents, bringing about industrial revolutions or technological breakthroughs…” [Baranova, 2021, 84].  The spread of electronic communication is no exception, especially as the internet is not just a technological breakthrough, but also another stage in the evolution of language in its two basic forms – spoken and written. New developments in a number of linguistic spheres have been taking place since the invention of the World Wide Web by Tim Berners-Lee: lexis and grammar, spelling and punctuation, to mention only a few. In the present article special attention has been given to the analysis of several terms forming part and parcel of Netspeak, as well as their derivational potential. At the same time, the ease with which new words are coined on the internet could not possibly be overlooked, and several neologisms have been adduced to illustrate this point. It is worth mentioning that the majority of such coinages are stylistically informal, and marked as such in authoritative online dictionaries.
One more salient aspect of Netspeak proving that it is not only a linguistic phenomenon, but also a social one is connected with its ability to reach extremely large audiences disseminating truthful as well as deceptive information. This feature of the internet language is also taken care of in the present article. Last, but by no means least, certain peculiarities of spelling and punctuation in Netspeak are discussed. These aspects of English reveal their dual nature on the Web, as, on the one hand, internet users tend to simplify orthographic rules and the way stops have been traditionally used in English, while on the other hand spelling and punctuation are used creatively in order to show various emotions in an attempt to simulate the spoken form of the language.
It goes without saying that further research in the field is needed to unveil the yet undiscovered specific linguistic features of Netspeak, because it is still in the process of evolution.
REFERENCES
1.	Akhmanova O.S., Agapova G.N. (1974). Terminology: Theory and Method. Moscow: MSU. 
2.	Anisimova A.G. (2010). Metodologiya perevoda angloyazychnykh terminov gumanitarnykh i obshchestvenno-politicheskikh nauk [The Methodology of Translating English Terms in the Field of the Humanities and Social Sciences] Doktorskaya dissertatsija. Moscow: MGU (in Russian).
3.	Baranova L.L. (2021). English in the Pandemic: Changes and Challenges. Professional Discourse & Communication, 3(4), p.p. 84-90.
4.	Crystal, D. (2001). Language and the Internet. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
5.	Crystal, D. (2009). The Future of Language. London and New York: Routledge.
6.	Economist. How dictionary-makers decide which words to include. Retrieved from https:// www.economist.com (accessed: 25 September, 2024).
7.	Economist. The vocabulary of disinformation. Retrieved from https:// www.economist.com (accessed: 14 October, 2024).
8.	Economist. TikTok is changing how GenZ speaks. Retrieved from https:// www.economist.com (accessed: 3 November, 2024).
9.	Merzlyakova L.V. (2010). Lingvisticheskiy format virtual’nogo diskursa [The Linguistic Format of Virtual Discourse] Vestnik OGPU, №3-4, p.p.40-48.
10.	 The Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, 4th ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2020.
11.	The Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, 4th ed. London: Pearson Education Longman, 2006.
12.	The Macmillan English Dictionary for Advanced Learners, 2nd ed. Oxford: Macmillan Publishers Limited, 2007.
13.	http: www.techtarget.com.
14.	http: www.computerhope.com.
15.	http: www.computerhope.com.