West Visayas State UniversityCollege of Arts and Sciences

La Paz, Iloilo City

A Diverse Application of Language: Filipino Gamers

A Linguistic Analysis

In Partial FulfillmentOf the Requirements in

Bachelor of Arts in English

Presented to:

Venus Papilota-Diaz Ph. D.

By:

Francis Mae Adelina P. Auman

AB-English 3B

April 2015

I. Introduction

The internet advancement has progressed greatly these days.

One of its greatest innovations is the development of online

games. Online games give great impact to society especially with

the lives of teenagers. Teenagers who often play these online

games are specified as players or gamers. These online gamers can

spend a day or more in front of computers playing their addicting

online games.

As of 2012 the most addicting online games played here in

the Philippines were: DOTA2 (Defense of the Ancients 2) an online

version of the multiplayer player versus player or PVP strategy

game Warcraft3 or DOTA; CF (Crossfire), SF (Special Force) both

multiplayer shooting simulation online games; CABAL, DragoNest

both RPG (role playing game) and; LOL (League of Legends) a DOTA2

like strategy game. Each game is unique with their plot and game

play. The major addicting element found in all these games is not

the ranking or the leveling up feature, rather the vast

interactions among gamers. In interactions, conversations exist.

The divergences between normal and gamer conversations are

clearly noticeable. Also, the conversations done by these gamers

are quite irrational and ludicrous. Fragments of LOL

conversations were taken from in-queue, in-game and end-queue

state. The messages posted in their chat boxes in these said game

states were the means for us to study their language, their

jargons and their discussions.

Various linguistic researches frequently focused with

communication through culture, arts, countries and music though

only few studies were conducted to understand internet users’

languages. And only a part of it is focused on gamers’ manner of

speaking. There are game statuses and game play reviews but no

“gamer dialect manual”. None except the users of the said

language can discuss the language in detail. In addition, barely

few actual evident researches were constructed to study online

gamers’ language. Thus, I decided to focus on this subject

particularly Filipino gamers’ language. Subsequently, I

investigated their dialect not to understand it but at the least

to analyze the uniqueness of their approach in communication.

This study will help us distinguish that there are diverse

collection of language not only found in online but notable

ubiquitously.

II. Brief Literature

I found a research somewhat similar to the study I was

conducting on the internet. My main concern was not to understand

the language but to analyze the uniqueness of the words they use

and how they effectively deploy their responses to their fellow

gamers giving commands, orders or even insults to them. This

study will also define that there is no general dialect that can

be applied to all games. Some research has been conducted to

investigate the potential of computer games in providing language

learning. Basically, the research of computer game based language

learning focuses on two perspectives: computer games as a virtual

environment that supports language learning on its own and

computer games as a tool or medium to facilitate collaborative

learning.

The first study concerning online gamer dialect was The

Ubercool Morphology of Internet Gamers: A Linguistic Analysis by Dana Driscoll.

The study focused on Quake players’ dialect. Primarily on their

clans’ or groups’ chat rooms on the IRC (Internet Relay Chat).

Their objective was to understand in-game and chat room

discussions. Though the study was supposed to be specific, after

analyzing the data they presented, I understood that the study

was indeed having a general idea. Even if the author focused on

Quake players, the game Action Quake II has an international

server. The dialect was essentially using an English preference

for general understanding. To conclude, that the study was in

fact precise on linguistic analysis but was not particular on

which kind of internet or online gamer was studied.

This research can no longer be declared as the first of its

kind though this may be the first linguistic analysis specific to

Filipino gaming dialect. My main concern was not to understand

the language but to analyze the uniqueness of the words they use.

This study will also define that there is no general dialect that

can be applied to all games. Each game is exceptional, thus only

a specific dialect can be used.

III. Methodology

Our study was performed by copying LOL players’ messages

from their in-queue, in-game and after the game chat boxes. It

was unworkable to consider all messages from all of the games

played, and there were no saved log files available. Therefore I

copied the whole conversation produced randomly in some games.

The usernames and messages written in this paper is the actual

conversation duplicated in these random games. There was no

alterations or revisions made.

An analysis was completed to determine which words were

often used. Each word was analyzed for morphology, actual

spelling and meaning both in English and in Filipino. The words

often used in most conversation were indeed irrational and

incomprehensible. Though it was important to determine word

definitions, thus throughout the whole study I was guided by a

gamer himself which was a very good friend of mine who willingly

helped me. After completing the study, word definitions,

morphemes and word formation results were listed. In addition a

statistical data was provided.

Results

The following words listed are results of the research. Each

was categorized according to how the words were formed and

produced. The results show the morphological forms, voiced pauses

and other symbols used by online gamers. The Filipino actual word

meaning and English translation is present in the list. Most

words were often found in Filipino texts and chats. Also a

statistical data was provided after the list of results.

*Clips:

Clips are commonly used words by Filipino gamers

wag/wg – huwag (don’t)

ban/binan – (banned from participating)

sup – (support)

anyare – anong nangyari (what happened)

dis – (this)

imba – (imbalance)

korni– (cliché)[street jargon]

corneto – korni nito (cliché)

dafuQ – (the fuck)[street jargon]

*Acronyms

Some of these acronyms are often used online, and some are

used often by ordinary people in messages, chats, e-mails or

such. There are also acronyms specified only with games and most

are used only in the League of Legends.

SS – super skill

KS – kill steal

TP – teleport

WP – well played

AP – ability power type

ADR – attack damage range type

GG – good game

FF - fast finish

TY – thank you

NP – no problem

BRB – be right back

WTF – what the fuck [street jargon]

TP – tropang pochi (sarcastically saying that you are a

funny player)

GJ – good Job

GB – God Bless

GL – good luck

*Compounds

Filipino gamers do not use compounds or specifically LOL

gamers. I don’t have an example or any compound word found in the

lists of conversations I’ve taken from the LOL gamers’ chatboxes.

*Blends

Filipino gamers rarely blend words, although they do love

shortening the word.

anyare – anong nangyari (what happened)

nlng – na lang (expressing feeling of having no choice)

*Infixes

in - infix, in this subject, if inserted to an English word

will form a borrowed or colloquial Filipino word. It indicates a

past action.

Example: binan – from the word ban

kinill – from the word kill

*Prefixes

an/am – prefix, can be added to most words, may mean

literally adding the Filipino word “ang” which means “the” a part

of the word or expressing intensity.

Example: antalino – ang talino (smart)

ampangit – ang pangit (so ugly)

*Unique Words

Included is a list of standard Filipino or English words

which was given new definition by the Filipino gamers.

naman – of course

aw – pity

bida – do not follow teamwork

top – top lane

bot – bottom lane

tank – vanguard player

jungler/farmer – roaming player

paper – easily beaten

baog – at a disadvantage

corneto – (literally an ice cream brand) cliché

laggg – connection hanging, lagging or buffering

pulis – clever tactic

stun – paralyze

wew – wow

taba – has an advantage

/ff – surrender

noob – newbie or beginner

dre – friend

tae – expressing disappointment

hero - player

tore/tower – turret (part of the base)

*Voiced Pauses

Gamers can only talk through their chatboxes, they use

voiced pauses as how they use it in verbal communication

“oi” (calling attention), “zzzzzzz” (expressing boredom)

“grrrrr” (expressing anger)

*Laughter

Gamers love to express their emotions, most especially

laughter. There are a lot of gamer laugh, here are some examples.

“harhar”, “lol”, “haha”

*Alphanumeric Substitutions

Most gamers are quite creative and unique. They use numbers

and other symbols in typing words. Sometimes it is used to curse

other people, given that most of the games filter words posted on

the chatbox.

O – 0

A - @

E – 3

I - 1

*Alternative Spelling

Filipino gamers often use different styles in typing words.

The most common practices are either to shorten the word or add

additional unnecessary letter to lengthen the word.

aqoh - ako (me)

pde – pwede (can)

tau – tayo (us)

yan – iyan (that)

cla – sila (them)

ung – iyong (your)

mamaw – halimaw (monster)

momo – mamaw sa kabobohan (big idiot)

vovo – bobo (dumb)

n1 – (nice one)

w8 – (wait)

d2 – dito (here)

kc – kasi (because)

di – hindi (no)

meh – (me)

kau – kayo (plural form of you)

la – wala (none)

dyan/jan/ – diyan (there)

yan – iyan (that)

palng/plng – pa lang (expressing small quantity)

potah – (fuck) [street jargon]

vovop – bobo po (saying stupid in a sarcastic way)

sya – siya (him/her)

nlng/lng – na lang (expressing feeling of having no choice)

voov – noob na bobo/newbie na bobo (stupid newbie/dumb

beginner)

Inutil ampota – (fucking useless) [street jargon]

bat – bakit (why)

palaks – (power up)

t@nga – dull

*Expressions

Gamers cannot show their own faces, so gamers express their

facial expressions with the use of emoticons. These emoticons are

the same emoticons seen in everyday written conversations.

:( - sad face

T.T/T_T – crying face

XD – euphoric

@@ - puppy eyes

tsk/tae/aw – disappointment

wew – compliment or insult

:)))) – overjoyed

Listed below is a statistical calculation regarding Filipino

gamers’ morphological formations. The first set of results listed

represents the different ways of communicating without unique

coinages. The second set of results includes unique coinages, but

does not include the alphanumeric symbols, emoticons, voiced

pauses or laughter.

Total number of words without Unique Coinages: 98

Clips 53 – 54.08%

Acronyms 40 - 40.82%

Blends 5 - 5.10%

Compounds 0 – 0%

Total number of words with Unique Coinages: 157

Unique Coinages 62 – 39.49%

Clips 53 - 33.76%

Acronyms 40 – 25.48%

Blends 5 - 3.18%

Compounds 0 – 0%

Discussion

I used desktop recorder software to gather our data’s in

which I can have the chance to view it in a couple of times to

observe on how they perform their conversation thru chat.

Filipino street jargons and game’s unique words compose the

Filipino gamer language. Only gamers themselves understand the

irrational words posted in their chat boxes that appear in their

in-queue, in-game, end-queue states and their discussion sites.

Often gamers only chat to curse or disparage other gamers. This

is commonly known as Trash Talk. Gamers are communicating or trash

talking while their playing the game, it is common for them to

shorten the words for speed typing for them to focus on the game.

There is a vast world of language found online. In regards with

games, they too have their own specific dialect. A rule of

specificity for dialect is being followed, not only for a

specific game but also for the particular place where that game

is being played. Though it may be an identical game, the

distinction in language in which country it is played can be

distinguished. Here is an example of a conversation taken from a

random League of Legends team in their in-queue, in-game and

after the game situation.

In-queue

LyL.Dark.Angel: aqoh ap sure win po

SNC.Unknown: wag bida bida

Rabid_Katalepsy: adr support kami

Rabid_Katalepsy: ty

Rabid_Katalepsy: ty

Rabid_Katalepsy: adr support kami ni vanquish

SNC.Unknown: binan nila

Rabid_Katalepsy: aw

Rabid_Katalepsy: ayaw :(

Rabid_Katalepsy: sure win po tau

LyL.Dark.Angel: top

LyL.Dark.Angel: aqoh

Rabid_Katalepsy: gg

JMG.PaperCraFt: top na lang me

joymulaan movers: AKO NA

joymulaan movers: ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

In-game

joymulaan movers: dyan palang GG na

Rabid_Katalepsy: vovo mo

LyL.Dark.Angel: pansinin mo ung hero

joymulaan movers: momo

SNC.Unknown: ff HAHAHA

Rabid_Katalepsy: anyare?

Rabid_Katalepsy: adr ka eh....

SNC.Unknown: wla ako damage

Rabid_Katalepsy: umiiyak na yan

SNC.Unknown: ff na -_-

LyL.Dark.Angel: wag

LyL.Dark.Angel: palaks lng

joymulaan movers: TANGAA

joymulaan movers: mga HANGAL

joymulaan movers: vovo

joymulaan movers: potah

LyL.Dark.Angel: distance

LyL.Dark.Angel: tower lng

joymulaan movers: base tau

Rabid_Katalepsy: gg na to

Rabid_Katalepsy: ff nlng tau

Rabid_Katalepsy(sent to all): WP

joymulaan movers: kaya ingat nga

joymulaan movers: sana panalo to xD

joymulaan movers: CORNETO

iBb. Vanquish: lol... la kahit ss

joymulaan movers: skill lng

LyL.Dark.Angel: wtf

iBb. Vanquish: aw

joymulaan movers: @@

SNC.Unknown: ty

iBb. Vanquish: np

LyL.Dark.Angel: wg.... oi!

LyL.Dark.Angel: TP TP cla

iBb. Vanquish: funny game Harhar

iBb. Vanquish: pulis cla eh

joymulaan movers: duo pa more

Rabid_Katalepsy: push mo yan :))))

joymulaan movers: korni

Rabid_Katalepsy: benta na

SNC.Unknown: la na meh gana

iBb. Vanquish: /ff

joymulaan movers: pinataba

Rabid_Katalepsy: ur face!!

joymulaan movers: weak kau..

joymulaan movers: GG

iBb. Vanquish: ggwp

After the Game/End-queue/End-game Status

joymulaan movers: noob

joymulaan movers: dafuQ

joymulaan movers: ahahahaha

joymulaan movers: GG

iBb. Vanquish: ggwp

Rabid_Katalepsy: utak!!! gg!!

SNC.Unknown: zzzzzzz

LyL.Dark.Angel: dis game -_-

LyL.Dark.Angel: gg

IV. Conclusion

As researchers, I can observe the shorten words, the

different spellings, the acronyms and made up words used by these

Filipino gamers to adapt to the speed of communication while on

the same time playing the game. It is a factor for a team play

game to communicate. Thus, they developed this expertise in

understanding these words, terms and even the most crucial

typographical errors. The study showed that Filipino gamers only

use unique words. If not, they use shortened words instead.

Filipino gamers do not use alphanumeric characters often,

although emoticons and acronyms were applied repeatedly.

There is a vast world of language found online. In regards

with games, they too have their own specific dialect. A rule of

specificity for dialect is being followed, not only for a

specific game but also for the particular place where that game

is being played. Though it may be an identical game, the

distinction in language in which country it is played can be

distinguished. This study will never be completed similar to

studies prior to ours. However the main concern of analyzing the

uniqueness of morphemes, word formation and word definition they

utilize were indeed answered and completed. This study has also

attested that there is no general dialect that can be applied to

all games or rather a general or universal dialect that can be

applied to everything. Everything is exceptional just like

language, for us to understand, we must first linguistically

analyze it.

Language evolves as time passes. Just like the gamer

dialect, its language will change as the game advances and

improves. It would be exciting to study more dialects since each

are unique and will change in the future.

V. References

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defense_of_the_Ancients

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_game

The Ubercool Morphology of Internet Gamers: A Linguistic Analysis by Dana

Driscoll

http://anthro.palomar.edu/language/language_2.htm

http://www.researchgate.net/journal/0362-

2525_Journal_of_Morphology

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/392807/morphology