Understanding micro-blogging users’ translanguaging in Chinese language play: a qualitative phenomenological approach

4.1.1 Interlingual translanguaging play

Jokes that manipulate word boundaries (Crystal 1998) can be regarded as a prime example of language play. This emphasis on surpassing language boundaries aligns with the essence of translanguaging. Our findings indicate that Chinese online users possess the ability to deliberately choose and give priority to suitable communicative resources from various named languages and other semiotic systems. This facilitates the creation of clever language play intended to produce ludic effects.

Among the 171 extracted comments, it is worth highlighting that commenters not only create monolingual homophonic jokes but also experiment with the boundaries of different named languages to form mixed homophonic jokes. Table 1 presents an example of such a joke. The most popular comment reads as follows: “只有25个英文字母了因为Q被拴起来了”. This joke originates from the internet buzzword “栓Q” (shuān Q), which is equivalent to “thank you” in English. The term “栓Q” gained popularity after an English teacher blogger named Teacher Liu used it on the Douyin platform. He was recorded saying, “People say that the Guilin scenery is the best in the world. Welcome to Guilin, welcome to Yangshuo, thank you.” Due to his non-standard pronunciation, the phrase “thank you” sounded very similar to “栓Q” in Mandarin, prompting Chinese netizens to playfully imitate it (People’s Media Convergence 2022). In this language play, the commenter combines “栓Q” with the number of English letters, utilizing the literal meaning of “栓Q” (where “栓” is a verb denoting the action of tying and “Q” is a noun) rather than its connotative meaning. This creative use gives rise to the translanguaging play concerning the English alphabet. It is evident that the original phrase “栓Q” engages in wordplay based on pronunciation across languages and has evolved to encompass various meanings. Building upon this, the mixed homophonic joke presented in Table 1 manipulates the literal meaning of the original phrase “栓Q”.

It is intriguing to observe that such translanguaging play elicits critical and creative responses from other readers, as demonstrated in Table 2. On one hand, one reader intentionally utilizes an emoji ❄ (symbolizing ‘snow’) instead of named languages to evaluate the dry humor of “栓Q”. On the other hand, readers who engage with the translanguaging play employ expressions like “welcome to 桂林 (Guilin), welcome to 阳朔 (Yangshuo), 酸Q (suān Q)” to echo this mixed homophonic joke. This indicates that a large majority of Chinese online users are familiar with the sociocultural knowledge associated with “栓Q”, enabling them to respond creatively by utilizing linguistic and semiotic resources. Moreover, other readers offer critical responses by commenting on a 26-English-letter joke. The first reply in Table 2 states: “只有 24 个了， 因为b被你装了 (There are only 24 now, because you ‘装逼’ zhuāng bī, meaning ‘show off’ in Mandarin); 只有 23 个了， 因为p是你放的 (There are only 23 now, because you ‘放屁’ fàng pì, meaning ‘bullshit’ in Mandarin); 只有 22 个了， 因为i是会消失的 (There are only 22 now because ‘爱’ ài, meaning ‘love’, will fade away)”. This reply connects the English letters “b, p, i” to the near-homophone Chinese characters “逼 (bī, meaning ‘show off’ in Mandarin), 屁 (pì, meaning ‘bullshit’ in Mandarin), 爱 (ài, meaning ‘love’ in Mandarin)”. The language user then cleverly employs verb phrases expressing an action or state to indicate a decrease in the number of English letters, resulting in the creation of a novel homophonic joke about the English alphabet. This showcases the ingenuity and agency of the language user in orchestrating such linguistic play.

The translanguaging play orchestrated by the micro-blogging users demonstrates that they are capable of playing with the writing system of language to create a novel phrase, i.e., utilizing a similar-sound Chinese word to replace parts of the phrase in English. And according to the number of likes, these mixed homophonic jokes are highly enjoyed by the rest of the audience, which further contributes to the critical ‘imitation’ by other commenters in their replies. Furthermore, the process of interpreting such ‘bilingual’ homophonic language play also prompts readers to engage in the translanguaging process.

4.1.2 Image-based translanguaging play

Human communication has always been multimodal, with individuals drawing upon various resources such as images, layout, and other modes to construct meaning rather than relying solely on isolated text (García and Li 2014; Li 2018a). This multimodal use of language is also evident in social media, where online users have the ability to incorporate multiple languages, emojis, images, and videos through the affordances of multimodal input systems (Zhang and Ren 2020). Building upon this understanding, the following section provides a comprehensive description of the creative language play exhibited by Chinese online users on the multimodal Weibo platform. The focus is on the exploration of novel modes of communication.

Within the comment section, it becomes apparent that some instances of language play extend beyond conventional methods of relying solely on isolated text. Instead, they manifest as creative language utilization utilizing multimodal signs. As depicted in Figure 3, a commenter incorporates an image with ambiguous meanings to fulfill their communicative needs and evoke joyful laughter. It is worth noting that the image can be identified as a form of dad jokes, as per our aforementioned definition, as it plays on the semantic meaning of the Chinese character “拉(lā)”. The character “拉(lā)” has multiple interpretations as a verb, including dragging, shitting, and helping others, among others. In the picture, “拉(lā)” is displayed on a pink door, conveying the action of pulling the door. However, the figure within the image misinterprets the meaning of “拉(lā)”, mistakenly assuming that it signifies permission to defecate in front of the door. Amusingly, his misinterpretation and subsequent actions result in his arrest by the police.

Figure 3:

An isolated image: the figure in the picture took a dump in front of the door with “拉(lā)” character, then being arrested by the police.

4.1.3 Trans-semiotic translanguaging play

Pennycook (2017) has proposed that research on translanguaging should encompass a broad spectrum of semiotic possibilities rather than solely focusing on language codes. As such, translanguaging encompasses “multimodal social semiotics” (Li and Ho 2018: 38), emphasizing not only the utilization of integrated linguistic repertoires but also the dynamic combination of integrated semiotic repertoires for meaning-making. The advent of digital technology further expands the array of available semiotic repertoires for language users (Zhao and Flewitt 2019), enabling them to draw upon multiple semiotic resources in online communication. In the subsequent section, it becomes evident that much of language play operates in a wider range of semiotic possibilities via the affordances of the Weibo platform.

In the comment section, Chinese online users combine languages with multiple semiotic resources such as emojis and punctuation marks to construct translanguaging language play. Examples are provided in Table 3. The first comment in the table is 小鱼问大鱼： “大～鱼～你～喜～欢～吃～什～么～鱼～啊？” 大鱼说： “我喜欢吃说话慢的鱼”， 小鱼： “哦酱我造了”. The commenter engages in the process of creative language play by manipulating the punctuation mark in the writing system, as well as regional accent, visually presenting the witty reaction of the small fish to avoid being eaten. There is a great distinction between the two sentences expressed by the small fish. In the previous sentence, the commenter adds a tilde mark that indicates an extension of the tone after each character to show the slower-speaking characteristics of the small fish. In the latter, the commenter deliberately removes the tilde “∼” and converts the accent from Mandarin to Taiwanese “哦酱我造了 (‘ok, got it’ in Mandarin)”. Since “ok, got it” takes fewer words in Taiwanese than in Mandarin, so that the small fish can speed up the entire sentence.

Table 3:

Three comments with multiple semiotic resources sorted by hot degree.

Commenters	Time	Likes	Contents
酸**	22/6/23	2,287	小鱼问大鱼： “大～鱼～你～喜～欢～吃～什～么～鱼～啊？” 大鱼说： “我喜欢吃说话慢的鱼”， 小鱼： “哦酱我造了”
			[A small fish asks a big one, “what ∼ kind ∼ of ∼ fish ∼ do ∼ you ∼ like?” The big fish replies, “I like eating those that speak slowly.” The small fish says, “ok, got it.”]
张**	22/6/23	70	“小白➕小白等于什么？” “小白兔 （two）”
			[What is xiǎobái plus xiǎobái? “xiǎobáitù (two)”]
那**	22/6/23	54	从前有只与众不同的鹌鹑， 别的鹌鹑都是在白天下蛋， 只有它很喜欢在晚上下蛋， 于是它的 🥚 们有了一个特殊的新名字叫做： 晚鹌鹑🥚
			[Once upon a time, there was a unique quail. All the other quails laid their eggs in the daytime, but only the unique one liked laying its eggs at night. So, its 🥚 had a special new name: wǎn ān chǔn🥚 (Good night, idiot)]

In the following translanguaging play, the phonetic similarities between different named languages and the meaning of certain words are explicitly manipulated. As depicted in the second instance (refer to Table 3), the commenter begins by combining a specific symbol and languages to pose the question “小白➕小白等于什么？ (What is xiǎobái plus xiǎobái?)”. In this question, the original Chinese character “加 (‘plus’ in Mandarin)” is replaced by “➕”, resulting in the visual nature of translanguaging. Subsequently, in the response, the commenter utilizes a combination of English and emojis to provide a creative answer. Since the number of xiǎobái is 2, it is translated as “two” in English so the answer becomes xiǎobái (two). Remarkably, Xiǎobái (two) bears a similar pronunciation to the Chinese phrase “小白兔 (xiǎobáitù, ‘little white rabbit’ in Mandarin)”, thereby transforming the final answer into “little white rabbit”.

In addition to the creative use of specific symbols, commenters also utilize the visual language of emojis to convey meaning, as evident in the last comment in Table 3: “从前有只与众不同的鹌鹑， 别的鹌鹑都是在白天下蛋， 只有它很喜欢在晚上下🥚， 于是它的🥚们有了一个特殊的新名字叫做： 晚鹌鹑🥚”. In this example, the commenter replaces the original Chinese character “蛋(egg)” with an egg emoji in the last two sentences. This substitution contributes to the defamiliarization of the joke and creates a lighthearted effect. On one hand, the novel expression helps to capture the attention of some readers. On the other hand, this unfamiliar expression may lead to confusion and incomprehension among others.

4.1.4 Intercultural translanguaging play

In relation to intercultural communication, which aims to address cultural or linguistic differences in order to achieve communication goals (Zhu 2019), dad jokes that go against the cooperative principle of conversational communication (Hye-Knudsen 2021) may rely on linguistic or cultural differences to evoke humorous effects. These jokes are amusing not only because they violate linguistic conventions but also because the violation is connected to specific cultural factors. This allows speakers or listeners to better comprehend the humorous effect produced by these jokes. In other words, through these dad jokes, the solemn perception of traditional culture is subtly diluted, enabling people to further experience the joyous effect of challenging tradition in a gentle manner.

As demonstrated in Table 4, the content of this joke is based on the renowned novel Journey to the West. The joke revolves around three main characters: Sun Wukong, Bull Demon King, and Princess Iron Fan. Within the novel, Bull Demon King and Princess Iron Fan have a distinct relationship, with Bull Demon King epitomizing the fear of his wife. The first half of the joke accurately portrays their relationship as depicted in the original story. However, the joke creator mischievously establishes a false background discourse to set the stage for Sun Wukong’s words. In other words, the first sentence, “过年了 (New Year’s Eve),” serves as a humorous introduction laid down by the joke maker. This logically leads to the sentence “嫂嫂， 还批牛爷？ (Sister-in-law, still criticizing your husband?).” The phrase “还批牛爷 (haí pī niúyé)” sounds similar to “happy new year,” which simultaneously reflects Sun Wukong’s reaction to Princess Iron Fan’s continued criticism of her husband and responds to the false background discourse of “New Year’s Eve.” Furthermore, Princess Iron Fan’s response, “谢谢谢谢 (thank you, thank you),” not only clarifies the linguistic manipulation but also presents a slightly foolish image of Princess Iron Fan that deviates from the traditional characterization. Ultimately, this further enhances the humorous atmosphere. It is evident that humor in translanguaging play stems not only from dynamic linguistic practices that manipulate language rules but also from the playful manipulation of images inherent in traditional culture. Thus, creative translanguaging play encompasses more than just linguistic structures, as it is both personal and cultural, as asserted by Schreiber (2015).

Collectively, these findings indicate that commenters, through the process of language play, have the ability to manipulate various aspects of linguistic properties. This includes the writing systems, pronunciation systems, and meanings of words in different languages, as well as the interplay of linguistic features with traditional culture. It is worth noting that the Weibo platform, with its multimodal input systems, provides Chinese online users with semiotic resources that enable them to engage in creative translanguaging play, something that conventional users may not typically do.

4.2.1 Translanguaging as joke facilitation

According to Hye-Knudsen (2021), dad jokes are often described as bad, unfunny, and lacking humor, and telling such jokes may require the teller to endure potential embarrassment and public judgement. However, similar to the use of translanguaging strategies in self-praise to avoid possible offense in social interactions (Ren and Guo 2022), the utilization of translanguaging practices in dad jokes can, to a certain extent, alleviate the potential embarrassment associated with telling a bad joke and allow the speakers to save face. Moreover, the fluid and dynamic nature of manipulating well-defined language structures, different languages, and multiple semiotic modes further enhances the creativity of language play and extends the playful effect of anti-humorous dad jokes.

The following semi-structured online interviews provide evidence of the creativity and playfulness of translanguaging practices. According to Excerpt 1, when asked to elaborate on what made the joke funny, Participant A simply responded with “funny” and briefly explained that “栓Q is closely related to our buzzwords in China today.” This indicates that Participant A is aware of the sociocultural context in which the language play originated, as well as the relevant cyberculture. In other words, the commenter intends to use “栓Q” to establish a connection with other netizens who are familiar with the buzzword and the relevant cyberculture, ultimately fostering a shared identity among those who traverse the online space. In Excerpt 2, Participant B also expressed that the joke “矮(ǎi) love 游(yóu)” (which phonetically resembles “I love you” in Mandarin) was much more enjoyable compared to others. Through transcending fixed linguistic structures and systems, these translanguaging practices not only enhance the humor and fun of language play but also capture the attention of readers or viewers. They serve to draw people in by utilizing playful language elements that go beyond conventional linguistic boundaries.

4.2.2 Translanguaging play as a source of enjoyment

Throughout history, language play has been driven by various pragmatic purposes. It serves not only as a means of personal and public enjoyment but also as a way to express disagreement, discontent with living conditions, and the desire for social change (Li and Lee 2021; Luk 2013). However, when it comes to translanguaging language play in the context of dad jokes, the aim is to achieve nonsensical cooling effects, as per the contributor’s requirements. Users engage in language play solely for the purpose of entertainment, either for themselves or for the amusement of others. In this sense, the emphasis on enjoyment (Ren and Guo 2022; Zhang and Ren 2022) is a distinctive characteristic of boundary-transcending translanguaging practices observed in dad jokes in this particular study.

The semi-structured online interviews shed further light on the ingenious nature of this language play in achieving enjoyment and mental pleasure. For example, Participant B expressed her positive attitude towards the interactive topic, stating that it was a means for her to experience enjoyment and pass the time at work. Similarly, Participant A explained that surfing the internet could provide relaxation from the stress of the real world. Therefore, the translanguaging play observed in the comment section not only challenges traditional patterns of language play but also offers new opportunities for participants to escape the pressures and monotony of everyday life by engaging with and commenting on these amusing jokes.

Indeed, it is important to recognize that the enjoyment derived from the translanguaging language play in dad jokes stems not only from the breaking of language rules and the innovation of language play at linguistic and semiotic levels but also from the creative rebellion against traditional Chinese culture, as exemplified by the case of Journey to the West discussed earlier. The joke creator and viewer derive additional pleasure from challenging and nudging the conventional aspects of traditional culture. This act of rebellion can be understood as a form of playful subversion, a concept previously explored by scholars (Li and Zhu 2019; Li et al. 2020). On one hand, participants experience the pleasure of playing with language rules and subverting long-held conventions within the alternative reality created by playful subversion. On the other hand, these linguistic practices that mock conventions and authorities, as they continue to evolve, will eventually transform into a new type of cultural form and become the target of future subversions. To some extent, this cycle contributes to the continuous vitality of language and culture, as they adapt and thrive through playful subversion and creative rebellion against established norms.