Internetiniai sporto ir politikos straipsnių komentuotojų slapyvardžiai

230 Languages and Culture | 84 JUDITA DŽEŽULSKIENĖ Kaunas University of Technology INtErNetINIaI sPorto AND POLITICS ARTICLES KEY WORDS: online pseudonym, comment genre, electronic discourse. The Internet space is a special electronic medium, in which not only a new variant of language is used – speaking while writing or writing while speaking (Crystal 2001: 238), new online genres – but also new circumstances are created for the functioning of anthroponyms. Every person who wants to use the communication tools provided by the Internet (e-mail, chat sites, conferences, social networks) must register their name. The most common forms of anthroponyms used on the Internet are the login name (username, login) and the online nickname (nickname). so virtual names are necessary to be accepted in the electronic space, to identify and participate in virtual communication. However, it often happens that the chosen name is not registered, because there can be no completely identical names in one virtual environment. in addition, the name to be recorded must comply with the technical requirements, not only not to be repeated, but also to include the desired digits or symbols in the sequence of characters. Strict requirements are only imposed on those names that must be unique and unknown to others, but online aliases, on the contrary, reach all participants in virtual communication and are necessary for successful introduction and communication. In the context of information technologies, a new possibility has emerged to create one’s own “I”, which can be seen primarily from the pseudonym presented in the electronic discourse. An online alias, or pseudonym, is a fake, invented virtual name of a person, which is usually chosen not by someone else (parents, neighbors), but by the communicator himself (becharaIsraeli 1995). It is chosen from a list of available or existing names or created from scratch. An online nickname can be anything, starting with punctuation J. DŽEŽULSKIENĖ. Online nicknames of commentators of sports and politics articles 231 or in digits. All that is known in the virtual space about the communicator is the nickname – the first sign indicating the person, which serves several purposes. The online pseudonym is not only used to introduce oneself, but also to be recognized, to attract attention (Crystal 2001: 50). In virtual space, the choice of a nickname is determined by many non-verbal factors. Previously, Lithuanian pseudonyms were mostly used in literature or when political conditions were unfavorable to Lithuanianness. They were used to hide the real data of the author: gender, age, profession (būtėnas 1981). Nowadays, online pseudonyms are not only used to hide, but often to create a new identity, which includes significant characteristics of the author. Virtual communication is a favourable medium for creating a certain image (stommel 2007). It has been noted that the choice of pseudonyms depends on the author's gender (subrahmanyam, Greenfield,tynes 2004; Андрианова 2009) and age (scheidt 2001). In some cases, a person wants to play a role, in others – to create a certain impression, so the creation or choice of a nickname is not only related to the author himself, but also to those to whom it is assigned. The nature of electronic communication allows communicators to play certain roles, wearing masks (Danet 1998). but when you put on a mask, you have to play the corresponding role. and it can eventually begin to pressure (Hiltz, Turoff 1994: 95 from Shark 2001). Changing the topic of communication may also require a different role. It is therefore understandable that one person may have many aliases and not be limited to one or three virtual names. The comment on an online article, like an online chat, creates a communication situation here and now. However, linguistics specialists note that this virtual genre differs from other online genres in that it is meaningful only in conjunction with the commented text, other comments and the general context of the situation, when background knowledge is required (Marcinkevičienė 2006: 60). Therefore, thematic groups of pseudonyms of commentators of online articles, although similar to the groups of virtual names used in online chat sites (bechara Israeli 1995) or in e-mails (ryklienė 2001: 85), have a number of peculiarities related to the commented article itself, the content of the comment created, other comments and the interactively communicating discourse community. In previous studies, English-language online nicknames used in chat sites were divided into 16 thematic groups (becharaIsraeli 1995), which, when summarized, show that in the online space, nicknames can be personal or 232 Languages Culture | 84 names, names of states, hobbies, professions or other activities, names of inhabitants, owners of characteristics, names of flora, fauna and objects, nicknames as a play of words and sounds or phrases. In studying Lithuanian pseudonyms, we have mainly limited ourselves to literary or other pseudonyms appearing in the Lithuanian press (biržiška 1943; būtėnas 1981; Mačiulis 2008). asta ryklienė (2001), investigating the peculiarities of e-mails, also discussed the nicknames found there. However, pseudonyms, which have emerged as a result of the possibilities offered by online publications to communicate, have not been examined so far, although the genre of comments is currently quite popular in online discourse. This article discusses how the authors of online comments identify themselves, replicating and reacting to articles published in the electronic space. The article attempts to reveal the motives for the creation of pseudonyms and reviews the peculiarities of their use in online discourse. The analysis is based on comments of online sports and politics articles (October and November 2009), collected from one of the most popular online news websites www.lrytas.lt. The research material consists of 1000 names of commentators and their functional equivalents – 500 each from both topics. About a third of the collected material (36%) consists of functional equivalents of commenters’ pseudonyms, which are perceived as part of the comment on an online article – heading, beginning of the text, expression of opinion, indication of the addressee with whom one communicates. The goals of the commentator’s interactive participation in the electronic discourse emerge from them: the desire to replicate and express a view of the ideas expressed in the article or in other comments. The group's pseudonyms are particularly abundant when commenting on online articles on political topics. The review of this group shows that commenters are trying to replicate as economically as possible and use the nickname field as a place where the comment heading is displayed (as the beggar said, WHY THE THIEF RULES), or the comment text is started (Oh, I suggest, but in fact, I Respect Kreivius). this way helps to draw readers' attention to the author of the comment or his position. instead of writing a nickname, linguistic or paralinguistic elements express surprise, concern, (non)approval, joy or other emotions (oh, well, CHA, joa,!!!,:D,:))? ? ), which are easy to understand in the context of the commented article or other comments. 20% of commenters choose meaningless nicknames – combinations of letters, symbols and numbers, the meaning of which is difficult to determine: nml, /o\, v, SS, 5757. this may indicate that some commenters want to introduce themselves when commenting on political or sports articles on the www.lrytas.lt website. J. DŽEŽULSKIENĖ. Online nicknames of commentators of sports and politics articles 233 that articles are not always relevant. They want to be admitted to the kitchen as soon as possible as a free space for interpersonal communication. The remaining 44% of the material collected is considered to be true aliases, which are discussed in more detail in this article. The authors of sports and political commentators’ real pseudonyms, collected from the website www.lrytas.lt, aim to identify their identity: to say a name, to belong to a social, professional or other group, to indicate an authorial trait, to identify with someone (a well-known person, a character from films or fiction, an animal, a plant). The distribution of such nicknames in comments on different topics is shown in Table 1. 1 lEntEl. Online nicknames www.lrytas.lt in comments nickname type comments comments Politics in (per Sports cent) (per cent) Personal name real 32 42 precedent 19 19 By institution 3 5 territory (nationality, place of (own) 5 3 residence or origin) 11 9 group By social characteristics activity (professional, occupation) 1 5 kinship 2 0 social status 5 0 situation or assessment (names of animals, plants, supernatural beings-3 5 types) By personal characteristics traits of manner 5 5 Random Names of Dead Objects 14 7 Most of the commenters choose nicknames that include a personal name. people who write on political topics use them slightly less than those who speak on sports topics. Probably this nick- 234 Languages Culture | 84 The name group is chosen when one wants to remain true to one’s name, surname, nickname or does not want to stand out too much from others. but it is not always clear whether the chosen name really corresponds to the real one. Usually, when commenting, the authors indicate only the name: Daiva, Algis, Laima, Rokaz, barbora, stasys, ieva, Gintaras, Algimantas, vytas, audrius. it shows the participants in communication communicating as equals with equals, when the friendly relationship could be hindered by the use of the surname, perceived as an indicator of distance or position difference between communicants. In the collected material there were only two cases where the commentators introduced themselves by name and surname (dmitrij solovjov, Benjamin Disraeli), and several cases where only the surname is used (aurimavicius, valuev). Non-Lithuanian personal names may also reflect different cultural communication traditions. Sometimes the authors, emphasizing the immediacy and familiarity of communication, refer to the slang variant of the name (zoska, FELKA, Zagmas, tomys, arcius, jole) or use the diminutive form (Juliukas). and in order to be unique and unique, add a digit (Algimantas 2), change the writing register (romas, EDAS) or otherwise graphically distinguish the nickname. Although there are multi-word online personal names (ANŪPRAS IŠ ZALAVO), nevertheless, in order to achieve the principle of communication economy, one-word pseudonyms predominate in this group. An online nickname can also be preceding names – personal names of popular people. Commentators are willing to identify with popular characters, artists, biblical, fictional or film characters. When commenting on political articles, the name of a well-known politician or cultural figure is chosen (BUROKEVIČIUS, Uspaskich, K.Starkevičius, Dirmeikis, Kuzia, Čiurlionis, Pikasas***) or the name of a criminal (Henyte). personal names can also be modified in order to convey one's opinions (usually negative) about one or another person (Kubilas, Uspaskich from Brussels). Both sports and political commentators choose characters from humorous TV shows (Tinta, tata, cololo, lalaila, pilypukas), films (Simsons, tadas blinda, 007), operas (figaro), popular jokes (Petriukas), fiction (Juze), religious texts (jezus, mikalda). By choosing the pseudonyms of this subgroup, commentators aim to highlight some characteristic of a known person that is important to the author commenting on the virtual text. Sometimes the context of the situation reveals why the commentator chose this name. e.g. Michalda, the one who prophesies, Figaro, the man of agility. reviewing the aliases of this group it becomes clear that in order to con- J. DŽEŽULSKIENĖ. Online nicknames of sports and politics commentators 235 poor precedents of reasons for choosing names, you need to have sufficient background knowledge and take into account the context of the situation. Another group of pseudonyms used by commentators of political and sports articles reflects certain social characteristics of the author – they indicate belonging to a social, professional, national or interest group. Authors commenting on both politics and sports articles usually want to show ethnic affiliation (American, Lithuanian, Norwegian, Lithuanian Lithuanian, male, British) or identify themselves by origin, place of residence (Siaulietis, klaipėdietis, Šiaulių Pietinis, Ireland, from Kaunas, USA, Chicago). Commentators of political articles do not shy away from nicknames indicating an exceptional social position (the Countess, the King of Belgium, the Exile, the old man, Bomzh, Valkata), kinship ties (mother, father). The pronouns used to indicate belonging to oneself (faithfulness to one's own beliefs) or to one's own group are we, I, such one, TA. Sometimes the real name or its abbreviation is chosen as a nickname: the name of a political organization (tskp), a state institution (UkMin), a well-known sports team (žalgiris, arsenal, LRytas), a popular television show or channel (Dviračio žynios, Bbs, VIASAT). By identifying themselves in this way, commenters indicate their orientation, views, seek to identify the organization represented, want to appear relevant and competent, have strong arguments to express their opinion. the nicknames of the commentators of different articles indicate different occupations and interests: partisan, dean, president, turyst, thief, pedophilia are used in the comments of political articles; A common, former athlete, LR fan, Žalgiris fan, Žalgirietis, Barsietis are used when talking about sport. the connection of the pseudonyms with the topic of the commented article shows the clear purposeful motives of the commenters in choosing a certain role and the corresponding mask, obliging to act according to it. very rarely commenters of online articles choose nicknames related to nature. Most of them are zoomorphisms, describing a person according to the characteristic or stereotypical characteristic of the named animal: llama, aselino, kurmis, bear, peleda, piula. Animal names as nicknames are more common in commenting on sports articles. Several authors who commented on articles on political topics chose pseudonyms that identify plants: Nettle, hemp. The collected material also contained nicknames denoting supernatural beings (god, Kipšas, nelabs). It is difficult to guess why the commentators use words denoting inanimate objects (cross, pipe, kite, Suris, wall). therefore, the nicknames of this group are considered random nicknames of unclear motivation. 236 Languages and Culture | 84 A small number of the collected nicknames indicate a commenter’s chosen and self-assigned feature of the method or reflect a state, usually related to the moment when the comment is written. Occasionally the authors of comments use pseudonyms to emphasize lack of competence or casual participation in virtual communication: idiot, fool, green, FUKSAS, or on the contrary – emphasize the desire to dominate among communicators: first, all-knowing, Knowing, DECIDER. nicknames can reflect a whole range of emotions – from anger, sadness, disappointment to joy and satisfaction. The comments on political articles were usually accompanied by ironic nicknames: axes, zyza, Optimist, comedian, clown, circus, OBJECTIVE, depressed, saunuole, and commentators on sports topics spoke with the following nicknames: Patriot, moved, disappointed, unpatriot, sober. aliases of this kind indicate to other readers of comments the direction of the commenter's written text content. analyzing the pseudonyms of the commentators of the articles of the website www.lrytas.lt, it becomes clear that online names are characterized by exceptional visualization. First of all, quite important are the graphic means that visually help the name to stand out from other names. Often the peculiarities of the spelling of the name are determined not only by technical possibilities, but also by the set of names in the online list of commentators. for example, the same nickname of different commenters, who introduce themselves by the same name, can be written several times: MINDAUGAS, Mindaugas, MINDE, minde; route, route; John, John2, John. It is worth discussing some of the most typical language transformations occurring in pseudonyms. First of all, there is a conscious desire to break established spelling norms and not to write the nasal, capital, long vowel letters (mikas, ona, tskp, arunas). Often in pseudonyms, as in the Internet space in general, unusual spelling is used (macaule, Victoras, Bomzh, Rokaz), and Lithuanian letters – usually č, š, ž, ė – are not used (Ricka, aurimavicius, ausra, kryzius, Brone). In order to give uniqueness to nicknames, numbers and symbols are added to the names (Algimantas 2, chealsea4ever, viko200, Pikasas***), writing (EGLĖ, MuzikAli) or language register (makulatura_sucks) is changed. Since the possibilities of graphic visualization are limited, communicators are looking for an unusual stylistic effect, they want to redefine what has been named with a pale, worn-out expression. Sometimes, for the sake of attractiveness and successful pragmatic effect, foreign words are used (rucka, igetmoney, lorenzo, danielle, DeMarco, De_Saint), jargons (Vycka, Minde), distorted words (from Brussels) or otherwise violated the language will.Summing up the J. DŽEŽULSKIENĖ. Online nicknames of commentators of sports and politics articles 237 moms. It can be seen that nicknames can be abbreviated by dropping the endings (turyst), the vowels of the endings or the roots (nelabs). By using syllable (UkMin) or alphabetic abbreviations (tskp, bbs, usa) communicators aim to convey larger content in a laconic form and rely on the background knowledge of other commentators. pseudonyms of commentators of political and sports articles on the internet news website www.lrytas.lt, it can be said that the pseudonym is a significant part of the comment genre, reflecting the commentator’s self-expression, desire to promote himself, to be unique, to be evaluated and replicated anonymously. real aliases on the website www.lrytas.lt occurred much less (44%) than their functional counterparts, replacing the comment heading, addressee, or unnecessary signs and letters samples. The search of real nicknames leads to the conclusion that most often commenters use personal names or precedent names, indicate nationality, origin or place of residence. 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Received 15/09/2011 INtErNEt NICKNaMEs oF tHE autHors oF tHE CoMMENts oF sPorts aND PolItICal artIClEs Summary The internet space is a very specific electronic medium with new features favourable for the functioning of personal names. an internet nickname, or a pseudonym, is a false virtual personal name, assumed by a recipient himself/herself rather than given by somebody else (parents, other people). by assuming a nickname, a person wants to be identified, attract other people’s attention rather than just introduce himself/herself. The choice of a virtual nickname is determined by a number of non-linguistic factors. Previously lithuanian nicknames were mostly used in literature or for political reasons by figures of lithuanian national movement. the nicknames were mostly used to disguise the actual personal data of the author: gender, age and profession. Nowadays internet nicknames do not only disguise the recipient’s identity, but often also create a new identity. to ensure successful communication, the new identity has features most relevant to the author.