Morphological Analysis of Word Formation Processes: A Case Study of Facebook Users in Nigeria

Abstract

The aim of this study is to unveil the word-formation processes unconsciously applied by the users of Facebook in Nigeria in the creation of new expressions to fit their social communication needs through morphological analysis. The study is an analysis of the language of social media interaction entailing the application of knowledge of familiar word-formation processes in the examination of the means of creating new words by Facebook users in Nigeria. These word-formation processes are not strictly restricted to Facebook users in Nigeria alone. The choice of Facebook in Nigeria is for the limitation of the study in terms of the area to gather data. This project is a simple qualitative study. Data for this study is collated through direct observation of the nature of language used on the Facebook platform. The data collated was analyzed descriptively and major findings were made in the study. A number of word formation processes were observed as used by various Nigerian Facebook users which includes logograms, cases of initializing, cases of omission, clipping and nonstandard spelling.