School of Foreign Languages, Soochow University Group members: 巴阳何元丽韩文超巫欣蓉许家绮

School of Foreign Languages, Soochow University • Group members: 巴阳何元丽韩文超巫欣蓉许家绮 • 2009/12/30 The Study of Zu/Ke Cultural Words

Table of Contents Introduction • 1.Topic • 2. Purpose • 3. Method Body • 1. Causes • 2. Formation • 3.Significance & Influence Conclusion

Introduction • With the development and prevalence of the Internet, many zu/ke（族/客）words spring out and penetrate into all sectors of language communication.

What is Zu/Ke? • Zu, originallyrefers to things who share the same property, such as minzu(民族）, jiazu（家族）, but nowadays it represents a group of people who has the same interest or hobby or the same action model. Originally, Zu vocabularies are popularly used in Taiwan. • Ke, used to refer a person by Chinese, such as “shuoke”(说客),“xiake”(侠客)，“menke”(门客), “cike”(刺客). However, nowadays, it refers to persons who have a connection with the Internet.

Purposes • Causes • Formation • Significance & Influence

Method • Data source (who, where) • Data collection (ways, procedures, tools) • survey/questionnaire • mainly collecting resources from the • Internet、magazines • Data processing (how to deal with data) • percentage calculation

Questionnaire 100 80 60 40 20 0 Blog Yue guang zu NEET Otaku Which zu/ke do you know?

Body • Causes • Formation • Significance & Influence

What causes the surge of Zu/Ke words? 1.Mental emancipation 2. The prevalence of the Internet 3. Attitude of following trend

What’s the Formation of These Zu/Ke Words? • Words borrowed from foreign countries • Words originating from Chinese

Acronym • In the English language, the widespread use of acronyms, initialisms, and contractions is a relatively new linguistic phenomenon, having become most popular in the 20th and 21st centuries.

Example 1: • DINK（丁克族）: Dual Income, No Kids A household in which there are two incomes and no children (either both partners are working or one has two incomes). DINKS are often the target of marketing efforts for luxury items such as expensive cars and vacations.

Example 2: • NEET (尼特族):Not in Education, Employment or Training It was first used in the United Kingdom but its use has spread to other countries, including Japan, China, and South Korea Respondents who were out of work or looking for a job, looking after children or family members, on unpaid holiday or traveling, sick or disabled, doing voluntary work or engaged in another unspecified activity .

Example 3: • LOHAS: Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability Health, happiness, environmental protection and sustainable is the core concept of LOHAS

Affixes • Some generations/group are made by adding some affixes, such as “-nik”(a person associated with a specified thing or quality)

Example : • Beatnik: one of a group of young people in the late 1950s and early 1960s, who did not accept the values of society and showed this by clothes and the way they live • Jazznik: jazz fan

1. Denotation + Zu • Usually, the meaning of this kind of zu can be gained through their literal meaning.

Examples: • Kenlao zu(啃老族）：children who depend on their parents’ support • Shuma zu(数码族）：people who love digital media • Qiongmang zu(穷忙族）: people who are busy with work but gain little return • Taoke(淘客）：people who often shop in taobao net

2. Connotation+ zu • To get know the meaning of this kind of zu, we must go deep into their literal meaning and get their extended meaning. Usually, we can get their meaning through their images.

a. Caomei zu (Strawberry Generation 草莓族 ) • Traits of strawberry: eye-catching appearance and soft texture/ can’t endure any pressure • Traits of caomei zu: look chic(漂亮的） and sophisticated /soft and get hurt easily/ can't take much pressure / spoilt

b. Yizu ( ant generation蚁族） • Trait of ants: high IQ /small features /living in groups /be busy with work/may produce heavy disaster • Traits of yizu: highly educated /average age: 22-29 years old /tend to live in urban fringe or suburbs/ engage in insignificant jobs/low-income /be concerned by society

3. Old Words With New Meaning + Zu • The meaning of this kind of zu can’t be gained through their literal or extended meaning. • They are granted with new definitions through adding new meaning to the old words.

a. Yueguang Zu(月光族） • Traditionally, yueguang in Chinese means the moonlight. • In the Internet, yueguang means “ When the end of month arrives, salary ends.” Net citizens take out two words --- “month” and “end” from the sentence. “Month” means yue(月) and “end” refers to guang(光) in Chinese. If linked together, by accident, they could make a phrase called yueguang, which means moonlight in English.

b. Youke(游客） • Typically, we define “youke” as persons who are visiting some places of interest. • Nowadays, in the Internet, it refers to persons who scan webpages.

c. Fangke(访客) • In Chinese, fangke refers to people who drop in at somebody’s home. • Now, in the Internet, it also indicates those who scan messages in the BBS but never reply any message.

Significance & Influence • What the significance of the occurring zu/ke vocabularies?

1. The newly innovation of “zu/ke” caters for people’s pursuing of novel, unique, vivid and colorful aesthetic attitudes, and the demand of fashionable and good tastes among modern people.

2. The vocabulary of “zu/ke” mostly refers to new things and phenomenon which reflect the rapid development of the society and the fact that emerging in large number of trendy things.

3. More and more people know the new words that describe the certain generations, and they prefer to join in some generation, making the zu/ke culture guide their lives.

4. “Zu/ke” becomes spiritual sustenance for modern people. The bigger the group is, and the stronger their power is.

Conclusion • Language is the most important tool of communication; it is also a special social-oriented product. • The zu/ke vocabularies reflect modern living style and people’s mind, so we should accept them with tolerance.

Thank you!

School of Foreign Languages, Soochow University Group members: 巴阳何元丽韩文超巫欣蓉许家绮