Semantic Shift of English Loanwords in Youth Slang: A Modern Sociolinguistic Study

Abstract

The development of social media among Indonesian youth has created a new communication ecosystem that accelerates the emergence of slang and reshapes the meanings of English loanwords. This phenomenon shows that language use is no longer limited to its lexical dimension but is strongly connected to identity formation, the circulation of popular culture, and the communicative practices that characterize digital interaction. Although English loanwords are increasingly used across various platforms, studies examining the mechanisms of semantic change within youth slang remain limited and have not fully mapped the sociocultural factors that shape these shifts. This study aims to analyze the changing meanings of English loanwords in youth slang and to explain the social and digital processes that influence these transformations. A qualitative approach using Fairclough’s Critical Discourse Analysis was employed to examine digital secondary data drawn from posts and public conversations on several social media platforms. The findings indicate that widely used terms such as cringe, flex, insecure, gaslighting, and random experience various forms of semantic change, including narrowing, expansion, generalization, and amelioration. These changes emerge through discursive reproduction shaped by virality, platform algorithms, patterns of user interaction, and the expressive tendencies of contemporary youth. From a sociocultural perspective, these evolving meanings reflect the formation of hybrid linguistic identities that align with global popular culture while adapting to local communication norms. This research contributes to the development of digital sociolinguistics and provides a deeper understanding of how language continues to evolve within an increasingly connected and algorithm-driven society.