IYSJL, Volume 4, No.

2, December 2021

IYSJL (2021)

INTERNATIONAL YOUNG SCHOLARS

JOURNAL OF LANGUAGES

Slang Language Use in Social Media Among Malaysian Youths:

A Sociolinguistic Perspective

Norshahira Mohd Ghazali¹, Nur Nabilah Abdullah¹*

¹Kulliyyah of Languages & Management, International Islamic University
Malaysia
*Corresponding author’s email: nnabilah@iium.edu.my

ABSTRACT
The rise of young people as social media users resulted in the creation of the
world's largest virtual community, as well as the emergence of internet slang as
a new linguistic form to meet the communicative demands of social
networking. Because internet slang language is not standardised and may differ
in different community environments, it can create communication barriers, as
well as a communication gap between older and younger generations. The
purpose of this study is to investigate the different types and functions of using
slang language on Twitter and TikTok among Malaysian youth using a
sociolinguistic approach. This study used descriptive qualitative research to
identify and analyse the various types and functions of slang words used as
captions on TikTok videos and Twitter tweets based on Chapman's theory. This
study's findings identified 17 slang languages, eight of which are primary slang
and ten of which are secondary slang, and discovered that the functions of slang
languages used by Malaysian youth on TikTok and Twitter are to express
something quickly and to communicate secretly so that a specific listener can
understand something.

Keywords: slang language, social media, youth, sociolinguistics approach

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INTRODUCTION
Youth use of social media and the internet has increased dramatically in recent
years, and social networking has become one of the primary modes of
communication for young people. With the rise of young people as social media
users, they created the world's largest virtual community. Saputra and Marlina
(2019) stated in their study that slang words created and used by internet users
have become popular, and that the slang words are also used by social media
users. Because of the rise in the number of young social media users, internet
slang has emerged as a new linguistic form to meet the communicative demands
of social networking.
Youths play an important role in the development of slang (Zhou & Fan,
2013; Huffaker & Calvert, 2006). They enjoy combining or creating new words
that are unappealing to their peers in order to become new and understandable.
For example, 'tweet' for a Twitter post, 'DM' for a direct message, and 'hashtag', a
character ‘#’ with a single sentence and a word that described a post or picture
into a category, to make social communication more accessible for people to find.
As a result, because young people are more creative and have new ideas, they
frequently use slang in their conversations, which affects their spoken language
creativity (Saputra & Marlina, 2019).

PROBLEM STATEMENT
Slang is typically found in informal speech and can be forms of a single term,
word category, or sentence. Slang is a very informal language that is mostly used
in conversations. It is a section of the vocabulary that is rarely used in everyday
situations and may include newly invented words and expressions, as well as new
or expanded words (Zhou & Fan, 2013). Slang language, on the other hand, can
create communication barriers because it is not standardised and may differ in
different community environments as well as communication gap between older
and younger generations (Venter, 2017).
The internet is growing in popularity and has an impact on the English
language in general, resulting in significant changes in English (Slim & Hafedh,
2019). Certain words have acquired new meanings as a result of social media,
such as changes in vocabulary, spelling, grammar, pragmatics, style, and changes
in form and use, which may be part of the language transition (Crystal, 2011; Al
Kadi & Ahmed 2018). Slang words used on social media among Malaysian youth,
particularly in sociolinguistic aspects, have received little attention. The purpose
of this research is to investigate the different types and functions of slang language
used by Malaysian youth on Twitter and TikTok.

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LITERATURE REVIEW
Slang
Slang, according to Kastrati (2017), is the language of a specific community, such
as a youth subculture that uses slang in rap music to sound unique and different.
According to Chen (2008), slang is a casual and non-standard vocabulary that may
include newly formed words and phrases as well as new and expanded meanings
of existing ideas. According to Olumuyiwa (1989, as cited in Odogwu, 2018),
slang refers to the variety of vocabulary used by youth, social, or professional
groups for group communication, excluding the majority of the speaker
population from understanding newly invented and rapidly evolving vocabulary.
Nowadays, Internet users use slang language, which has many forms, and
word formation allows slang to be created (Sahardin et al., 2020). According to
Winarto (2019), one reason people use slang is to simplify communication, such
as shortening words and sentences to a new word to make communication faster
and easier for them. Although some people find it easy to read or write, others
struggle to understand and comprehend the statement.
Language variation is important in the formation of slang terms (Al Kadi
& Ahmed, 2018). As a result, slang is closely associated with the lives of young
people who are eager to explore their identity, demand to be relevant, and live a
vibrant life in the internet age. Some social levels, particularly youth, speak
informally in a non-standard language that represents their era and reinforces their
identification as youngsters (Putri & Fauzia, 2017).
Slang is used for a variety of purposes, and according to Chapman's (1988)
theory, it can be divided into two categories: primary slang and secondary slang.
Primary slang is a language that is familiar to the speaker and is frequently used
and heard (Chapman,1988).
Primary Slang example (taken from Sunny, 2007):
i. I don't a wanna product of to my environment
ii. Frank, you gotta see somebody.
iii. What about us, Frank? What're we gonna do?
According to Chapman (1988), Secondary slang is more associated with stylistic
choices than true identity and tends to be metaphorically placed in people's minds
rather than literal.
Secondary Slang example (taken from Sunny, 2007):
i. We think Costello got rats on State Police.
ii. Except sell the ching chongs a bunch of fuckin' plastic.

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iii. You want some coke? There it is. Don't move till you numb.
According to Sunny (2017), the term rats in the film refers to a person
who is unpleasant, untrustworthy, or dishonest. It is common to express someone's
attitude. Meanwhile, the term ching chongs refers to a Chinese man and is
particularly popular among drug traffickers and street gangs. As a result,
employing this slang style to convey resourcefulness is a deliberate stylistic
choice. Finally, coke is an abbreviation for cocaine. As a result, slang words are
used in private to express something only to those who understand what they are
saying.

Social Media and Language

Social media refers to a set of channels, services, and web apps through which
people communicate in order to promote collaboration, community growth,
interaction, and sharing online (Acheaw & Larson, 2015). Social networking has
become increasingly popular among young people as a way to connect with
friends outside of the classroom and not just on campus. According to Lenhart et
al. (2015), approximately 57% of social media users are between the ages of 18
and 29, and these users have a personal profile on multiple social media platforms.
Slang language is popular on the Internet or in social media, where certain
words have taken on new meanings, such as the noun friend, which has become a
verb ‘to friend’ or ‘to unfriend’ and the noun google which has become a verb ‘to
google’ (Crystal, 2011). The word friend comes from Old English and dates back
to the 13th century. It now has a new meaning due to a language term used in
Facebook that implies a user agreeing or refusing to be friends with someone
online (Slim & Hafedh,2019).
Slang language is used by youths to facilitate communication. Previous
studies and theoretical reviews discovered various types of slang words from
social media platforms, and a collection of modern slang known as internet slang
emerged as a result of the enormous rise of social networks (Kay et al., 2014).
Therefore, this study looks at internet slang words on social media used by
Malaysian youth today.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
This study used descriptive qualitative research to identify and analyse the the
different types and functions of slang words used as captions on TikTok videos
and Twitter tweets. TikTok and Twitter were used as data sources in this study,
and the accounts chosen are owned by Malaysian youth. The data was gathered
through non-participant observation techniques (Michael et al., 2017). The data

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for this study was compiled from tweets on Twitter and TikTok captions between
January 1, 2020, and March 14, 2021. The data was analysed based on Chapman’s
(1988) theories for analysing slang word types and their function from a
sociolinguistic perspective.

RESULTS & DISCUSSIONS

The study examined the various types of slang language found in TikTok video
captions and Twitter tweets and divided them into two categories: primary slang
and secondary slang. Based on the data, this study identified 17 slang languages,
eight of which are primary slang and ten of which are secondary slang, that were
frequently used by Malaysian youth on TikTok and Twitter between January 2020
and March 2021.
Primary Slang
Young people's conversations may contain primary slang (Chapman, 1988). The
eight slang words identified in the data are tapau, bapak, geez, syok, koyak,
gostan, payung, and pishang (Table 1). Because Malaysian youth frequently use
this slang in their captions on TikTok and Twitter, these Malaysian slang words
are known as primary slang.

Table 1: Primary Slang – Malaysian Slang

No. Primary Slang Meaning in context as used in TikTok or Twitter
1. tapau take away food
2. bapak expressing extremely delighted or impressed about
something
3. geez to express surprise, disappointment, frustration,
annoyance
4. syok pleasing
5. koyak to indicate mental fatigue or exhaustion.

6. gostan reverse one's vehicle or turn it around

7. payung treat someone for something

8. pishang bored or boring

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Figure 1 shows that the word tapau is classified as primary slang because it is a
common Malaysian slang phrase used to address the fact that they want to pack
food or order takeout. The word tapau is derived from the Chinese word (da bao),
and Malaysian youth changed the spelling, but it was read or pronounced based
on ‘da bao.’

Figure 1: Example in Twitter - tapau

Figure 2 depicts yet another instance of primary slang. It appears that one of the
Twitter users replied to a friend's tweet with the word payung. Because payung is
a common Malay slang widely used by Malaysian youth, it is also classified as
primary slang. They use this phrase to express their desire to treat someone to
something. Malaysian youth have also adopted the Malay word payung, which
means umbrella, in addition to the standard Malay nouns for an object.

Figure 2: Example in Twitter – Payung

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Secondary Slang
Secondary slang is the use of different words to express something with different
meanings (Chapman, 1988). The study discovered eight secondary Malaysian
slang terms on Twitter and TikTok: bocah, noob, cable, boss, sia, Se7, lincah and
kerek (Table 2). Because the slang used by the Malaysia youth is not pristine
speech, these slang words were classified as secondary slang.
Table 2: Secondary Slang – Malaysian slang
No. Secondary Slang Meaning in context as used in TikTok or Twitter

1. bocah kids
2. noob a low skilled person in a game
3. cable having a connection in a big organization
4. boss calling or referring someone as "boss" when you need a
favour
5. GGWP abbreviation for ‘good game well played’
6. sia use to describe a mood in a particular instances and can
be use in any situation (bad or good)
7. Se7 a form of creative respelling from the Malay language
‘setuju’ which means agree
8. lincah quick
9. kerek ignorant or selfish

Figure 3 illustrates the use of bocah in a TikTok caption. Semantically, the word
bocah means kid or children, and the word bocah is originated from Indonesia
language. However, Malaysian youth, particularly boys, use this phrase in mobile
games to indicate that the players are not very good at playing and act like
children. As a result, it has become common among gamers to refer to other
players as bocah when expressing something sarcastically. Furthermore, bocah
can be classified as a secondary slang for expressing something secret, with only

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a few people understanding the meaning, such as in the mobile gaming

community.

Figure 3: Example in TikTok – bocah

Another example in Figure 4 shows that the word kerek refers to someone who
believes he or she knows everything. Kerek is a Malay slang term that means
ignorant or selfish. This expression is classified as secondary slang because only
a selected group of people understand its meaning, such as Malaysian youth.

Figure 3: Example in TikTok – Kerek

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Another popular secondary slang used by Malaysian youth is the use of acronyms.
An acronym is a word or phrase abbreviation formed from the first letters or letters
of a word (Crystal, 2003). From the data, there are 15 common slang words found
in forms of acronyms (Table 3).
Table 1: Slang words with original words for acronym

No. Slang Words Original Word

1. BTW By the Way

2. BRB Be Right Back

3. FYI For Your Information

4. YTJT Yang Tahu Je Tahu which means those who

know will know

5. IYKYK If You Know, You Know

6. FR For Real

7. PPL People

8. IB Inspired By

9. LMAO Laughing My Ass Off

10. HMU Hit Me Up

11. SMH Shaking My Head

12. PLS Please

13. 2 Too

14. LMK Let Me Know

15. IYKWIM If You Know What I Mean

The example in Figure 5 shows the use of "smh" in the caption on TikTok. The
phrase "smh" was derived from the word ‘shaking my head’ and typically used
when something seems too obvious, old stupid, or disappointing.

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Figure 5: Example of acronym phrase in TikTok - smh

Another term popular among Malaysian youths today was YTJT, which was
derived from the original Malay phrase ‘Yang Tahu Je Tahu,’ which means ‘only
those who know will know.’ This phrase is frequently used by Malaysian youths
nowadays when they are discussing a secret. It has the same meaning as IYKYK,
which is slang for ‘If You Know, You Know.’ Figure 6 depicts one of the Twitter
users' use of YTJT in a tweet.

Figure 6: Example of acronym phrase in twitter- ytjt

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This study discovered the various types of slang used by Malaysian youth on
social media platforms such as TikTok and Twitter, with the primary functions
being to express something quickly and to communicate secretly so that a specific
listener can understand something (Coleman, 2012). Moreover, Malaysian youth
frequently use a lot of the acronym such as lmao, which is derived from the phrase
‘laughing my ass off,’ to indicate a funny situation or to respond to something
hilarious. This phrase abbreviation is more convenient because it allows today's
youth to text faster while still conveying the same meaning. Another function of
slang words is to allow people to communicate in secret, so that only certain
listeners understand what they are trying to say. Slang words are informal words
and phrases used in communication that frequently exclude specific groups,
posing a language barrier for some.

CONCLUSION
The study examined slang words used by Malaysian youth on social media,
specifically TikTok and Twitter, which are popular among young people these
days. Malaysian youth used TikTok to post the video, create interesting content
to gain viewers on TikTok, and they also used this application as a medium to
communicate with their peers. Similarly, Twitter is a popular social media
platform because it allows users to express themselves by sending and receiving
short messages known as tweets. This study demonstrates how enriching language
use in social media allows youth to communicate creatively.

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