Arab World English Journal (AWEJ) Volume 10. Number 1. March 2019                                       Pp.231-241
DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.24093/awej/vol10no1.20

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  English Adjectives in Online Comments of Algerian English Speakers 

 Khadija Belfarhi
Department of English
Interdisciplinary Laboratory of Pedagogy and Didactics (LIPED)
University of Badji-Mokhtar Annaba Algeria

Abstract:
Adjectives are central in any use of language due to their role in providing descriptions to the aspects of the noun. The role of adjectives becomes more and more important with the emergence of computer-mediated communication (СMС). The aim of the present paper is to shed light on the use of adjectives in СMС. It is assumed that adjectives in online comments do not keep the same linguistic structure and function like in spoken English and new forms emerge as the result of using СMС. It analyses adjectives used by non-native English speakers through collecting a corpus of fifty utterances obtained from comments posted publically in Facebook. The results demonstrate that adjectives take different forms by means of combining with non-linguistic forms, and express functions other than just modifying nouns in the narrow sense. Adjectives combine with non-linguistic forms to reinforce their function, and a pragmatic function seen in implying the description.
Keywords: Adjectives, CMC, comments, emojis, English, Facebook, function, online, pragmatics

Cite as:    Belfarhi, K. (2019). English Adjectives in Online Comments of Algerian English Speakers.
Arab World English Journal, 10 (1) 231-241 .
DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.24093/awej/vol10no1.20