Communication has been around for almost as long as humans have. But once upon a time, words were enough. Then came an era of memes, YouTube, gaming culture and an entire generation that decided that a whole five-word message could be replaced by one perfectly timed pixel. Humans have always been evolving to adapt to changing times, and so has been the spoken languages.
Gen Alpha or Gen Z isn’t the first generation to modify a language. Every decade has come with its own new lingo, from “groovy” by Baby Boomers to “whatever” from Gen X and “YOLO” by millennials. These generations haven’t erased traditional English, but they created new linguistic trends within the language originating from contemporary internet culture.
This switching between different ways of speaking is known as code-switching, changing how we communicate depending on the people, place and situation. It isn’t about being confused about which way of speaking is “correct”. It’s about understanding that different situations require different language identities.
For example, ancient and medieval societies were often multilingual. In many parts of South Asia, people historically moved between Sanskrit, Persian, Arabic, Prakrits, folk languages and later English, based on education, administration, religion, trade and social setting.
Now you may think, “Bro, what does that even have to do with the main topic?”
The argument is that previous generations often switched between languages, dialects and, of course, formal and informal styles. And Gen Alpha can shift between formal English, casual English, slang and meme-based communication, demonstrating the trend of register shifting. It’s their ability to alter the way they communicate differently to different people in different situations depending on the audience and social setting while still communicating in the same language. The most fascinating part is how quickly they are able to switch, knowing when ‘meme language’ DOESN’T work. For example: A Gen Alpha student isn’t going to walk into an interview and say,
“What’s good, twin, I’m genuinely going to cook.”
They understand that different settings require different ‘modes’. This demonstrates their very precise linguistic competence. Emojis and GIFs are used as additional tools to boost this communication. The ability to know ‘which version of yourself to communicate in’ is a part of knowing a language.
The internet didn’t invent code-switching. It formed a code to switch into, like you’d be seeing more “peak” than “supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” nowadays or more “Rizz” than “Charismatic.”
Another really beautiful aspect of Gen Alpha’s new code is that a person doesn’t need to live in the same neighborhood, or even the same continent, for someone to get their slang. The new lingo has united people all over the world, signifying that language has never really belonged to dictionaries; it is owned by people who use it.
And if history has ever taught us something, it’s that today’s ‘nonsense’may just be tomorrow’s normal.
(The author is a Grade 5 student in Presentation Convent Higher Secondary School, Srinagar)
