Lexical Features of Internet Memes

Internet communication systems, apart from traditional verbal means, use non-verbal means such as emoticons, GIFs, and memes. Internet memes have become an integral part of online culture, and their lexical features play an important role in their growing popularity. They are combinations of images and text, which spread quickly as a simple text that changes. The description of the term meme can be found in available studies by different authors as a synthesis of updated meme concept characteristics. Memes are still related to Dawkins' definition, but they have some special properties due to their mode of transmission and speed of replication. With the expansion of computer communications and the rapid growth of Internet forums, chats, blogs, and social networks, the term meme was coined as a new form of Internet communication. The paper studies such aspects of memes as the evolution of vocabulary, which reflects changes in modern languages. The number of statements regarding the lexical nature of memes as an element of Internet language development makes it possible to consider different interpretations of the meme concept including studying the examples of memes including melodies, ideas, symbols, phrases, images, etc. we suggest that the concept of text can be applied to the description of Internet memes as a lexical element. The language of internet memes is frequently a coordinated reflection of current dialect patterns and may incorporate slang, language, and indeed recently made words and expressions. It is vital to note that the lexical highlights of internet memes are closely related to a certain period. Interpreting these references is significant in understanding and re-creating memes. Internet memes frequently use special phonetic structures, which may incorporate unusual words and expressions, or alter existing expressions. The lexis of memes is an interesting phenomenon for studying as a part of the development of language and online culture, which highlights the language capacity of constant alterations and adjustments.