„MIS KEELES MA RÄÄGIN, I DON’T KNOW“. EESTI SISULOOJATE INGLISE KEELE KASUTUSEST YOUTUBE’IS
„MIS KEELES MA RÄÄGIN, I DON’T KNOW“. ON THE USE OF ENGLISH BY ESTONIAN YOUTUBERS
Author(s): Kristiina Praakli, Mari-Liis Korkus, Aive Mandel, Elisabeth Kaukonen, Annika Kängsepp, Triin Aasa, Kristel Algvere, Helen Eriksoo, Marion Mägi, Getri Tomson, Liina LindströmSubject(s): Media studies, Language acquisition, Sociolinguistics, Cognitive linguistics, Baltic Languages, ICT Information and Communications Technologies
Published by: Tallinna Ülikooli Kirjastus
Keywords: YouTube; participatory media; content creators; youth language; code-switching; English;
Summary/Abstract: This article focuses on English use in the example of Estonian-speaking YouTubers. Altogether, we analysed videos from eight content creators, each well-known among high-school-aged viewers who post regular videos in Estonian. The dataset consists of videos (or video excerpts) in which we look into the proportional share of English words or phrases and explore potential functions of code-switching. The results show that while all eight YouTubers use English in multiple videos, the usage frequencies differ significantly and reflect individual differences. English emerged in platformspecific contexts where the words were directly related to content creation (26% of all code-switching cases). Occasionally, the speakers referred to English pop culture phenomena (16%), expressed emotions (12%) and used loanwords or other (embedded) elements (6%). For numerous cases (23%), it was hard to determine why they preferred using an English word or phrase instead of its Estonian equivalent.
Journal: Philologia Estonica Tallinnensis
- Issue Year: 7/2022
- Issue No: 1
- Page Range: 263-291
- Page Count: 29
- Language: Estonian