ABSTRACT
The burgeoning development of computer-mediated communication (CMC) in China has introduced exciting linguistic practices characterized by multilingual interactions and creativity. Various meaning-making resources, including linguistic features from languages other than Mandarin Chinese, have been adopted by netizens in China and its diaspora. Among these resources, English and its linguistic features have played a significant role in Chinese online communication. In this chapter, I investigate the creative linguistic practices with English by Chinese netizens in one of the most popular domestic video-sharing sites in China, bilibili.com. Data were sampled focusing on comments with use of English and associated linguistic features. From 138 videos, 3,703 cases of literacy practices with English were identified. A further analysis of the linguistic structures from these comments reveal that Chinese bilibili.com users are remarkably creative in their strategies of English utilization. Besides using English phrases and sentences, they also adopt English abbreviations, novel Chinese-English code-mixing, transformation and localization of English expressions, and English-stylized taboo language use. On the basis of these practices, I highlight the multilingual awareness and capability of Chinese netizens and their creative linguistic strategies for dynamic and playful online communication.
