RUNNING HEAD: MOROPHOLOGICAL ANALYSIS
Morphological Analysis
English 1200
Christi Bock
4/16/2012
This paper is an analysis of my son Jordan Bock’s speech when he discusses his online video
game Runescape. After observing, discussing and recording Jordan playing the game I will
analyze the data collected. This paper will then be addressing the jargon that Jordan uses when
he talks about his game, and jargon he types into the game itself.
Morphological Analysis
Introduction:
According to our textbook “the average high school student knows about sixty thousand
basic words” (Bedford/ St. Martin, 2010). These are words that have a basic meaning such as on
or cold. This does not include the countless other words that one can make by adding suffixes or
prefixes to them. When one also looks at the jargon that can be associated with online games a
high school student’s vocabulary can increase by a considerable amount. More and more
teenagers and young adults are spending hours in the online world of video games, using jargon
for words that are currently not in the current college dictionary and initialisms instead of writing
out the whole word. There is a growing concern among educators and healthcare professionals
that this time playing video games is taking away from the time spent developing the skills
needed to transition into higher education and the workforce. According to research done by
Hope M. Cummings, M.A., of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and Elizabeth A.
Vandewater, Ph.D., of the University of Texas at Austin, "female gamers spent an average of 44
minutes playing on the weekdays and one hour and four minutes playing on the weekends, and
male gamers spent an average of 58 minutes playing on the weekdays and one hour and 37
minutes playing on the weekends" (Journals, 2007). This is a significant enough amount to make
a societal difference in the language of adolescences and young adults.
Hypothesis
The hypothesis of this project is that during the recording of Jordan Bock the following
morphological process will be noted:

Onomatopoeia: this occurs when words are created to sound like the thing they name.
Examples of this in our text were buzz, hiss, or sizzle (Bedford/ St. Martin, 2010).
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Morphological Analysis

Initialisms: in which a new word is created by using the initial letters of each word in a
phrase or title, but unlike an acronym each letter is pronounced. Examples of this in our
text were IBM or NBA (Bedford/ St. Martin, 2010).
Review of Literature
The morphological process known as Onomatopoeia is around us even more that we
realize. The idea of using words that sound like the action or sound that a person is describing
makes a lot of sense. It is how the mind works, we associate sounds with words. Who cannot
think of Rice Krispies without thinking of Snap Crackle Pop.? Besides advertising the Comic
Industry has also used this process extensively. Spiderman has the Thwip, which is the sound of
his web shooter. Batman has wham!, pow!, "biff!", when he is in a fight. (Wikipedia, the free
encyclopedia, 2012). Most of the young adults that are playing these video games have grown up
in this culture so it is natural that they would in turn use this in their own gaming experience.
The morphological process known as Initialisms is used a lot in online gaming and
texting between young people it has even started to show up in some school work that students
are turning in. There is even a web site Netlingo that is dedicated to keeping current lists of what
these terms mean. The web site compares this phenomenon to the way that secretaries took
shorthand in the past. (shorthand- Netlingo the internet dictionary, 1994 - 2012)
Methodology
The research subject Jordan Bock, is a 13 year old young man. He has been playing an
online game for the past two years called Runescape. RuneScape is a fantasy multiplayer online
role-playing game released in January 2001 by Andrew and Paul Gower, and developed and
published by Jagex Games Studio.
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Morphological Analysis
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Players interact with each other through trading, chatting, or by participating in mini-games and
activities, some of which are competitive or combative in nature, while others require
cooperative or collaborative play (Gower, 2012).
Methods
Jordan was recorded a few different times while he was playing his game. The first
attempt that was tried was using a recording devise that used a tape, but the recording was not of
a high enough quality to distinguish anything. The device was picking up too much background
noise. The second attempt used an Android phone and unfortunately it shut off and did not get
the whole recording. The final attempts used a downloaded an app to the Android phone that
would record a talk and this attempt was successful. By this time though the subject was a little
irritated the recording was not the highest quality. The subject was asked to describe his game
and what he was doing on the game. He was asked to describe what he called different objects
and activities. The subject was told to describe this in a way that someone who had never played
the game would understand.
Results
Unfortunately the hypothesis was not correct. Some initialisms were heard, but the majority of
the words that were heard had a different morphological process called clipping. This is a
process that shortens a word by removing one or more syllables. An interesting observation was
that the subject would sound out all the letters. When one creates an acronym or initialism they
Morphological Analysis
use the first letter out of words in a phrase. What was heard were single words that were
abbreviated, or in some cases there was back formation occurring. Please see the appendix for a
complete list of words. One of the words that caught the researcher’s attention was the word
thug. In the dictionary thug is described as somebody, especially a criminal, who is brutal and
violent. In this case though the word thug is used to describe the action of thieving, which is not
what the word means according to the Encarta Dictionary. In this way this word creates a
homophone which is where a single word has two or more meanings. This word is not
necessarily recognized by the public but is used interchangeably among this online gaming
community.
Implications
As a mother I am always concerned with my child’s ability to use correct grammar and I
have been concerned with how this communication affects young people’s ability.
Communication is an ability that one needs in the workforce, and in higher education. If a person
does not know how to spell or communicate appropriately because all they do is write or speak
the way they do online this will affect their ability to support themselves in the future. In the
professional field as a teacher, one might run into this in a student’s papers. Students need a good
base of writing skills. There is a saying use it or lose it. When a person practices something the
wrong way, like not using correct grammar, they tend to do things the wrong way in all
scenarios. This is the same way with things that are not in the field of language arts, for instance
math. If a student repeats in their mind over and over again that 2 + 2 = 5 it will be hard to
retrain the student that 2 + 2 = 4. The implications of young people communicating this way are
still unknown, this is something that would warrant further long-term research.
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Morphological Analysis
References
Bedford/ St. Martin. (2010). Contemporary Lingustics. Boston: Macmillian Publishing Solutions.
Gower, A. a. (2012). Retrieved April 21, 2012, from RuneScape: http://www.runescape.com/
Journals, J. a. (2007, July 2). Study Examines Video Game Play Among Adolescents. Retrieved April 17,
2012, from Science Daily: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/07/070702161141.htm
shorthand- Netlingo the internet dictionary. (1994 - 2012). Retrieved April 22, 2012, from Netlingo:
http://www.netlingo.com/word/shorthand.php
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. (2012, April 15). Retrieved April 17, 2012, from Onomatopoeia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onomatopoeia
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Morphological Analysis
Appendix
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1. Att – for attack

Clipping

Derivation - none
2. Str – for strength

Clipping

Derivation - none
3. Def – for defense

Clipping

Derivation – none because fense is not a word.
4. Hp – for hit points

Initialism

Derivation - none
5. Mag – for magic

Clipping

Derivation - none
6. Thug - for thieving
Morphological Analysis

Homophone( see results for more info)

Derivation in thieving suffix ing N →V
7. Agil – agility

Clipping

Derivation in agility suffix ity A → N
8. Frm – farming

Clipping

Derivation - in farming suffix ing N → V
9. Wc – for wood cutting

Initialism

Derivation in cutting suffix ing V → A
10. Tele – for teleport

Clipping

Derivation – none
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