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On Idiomatic Variation in Digital Communication—A Cognitive Sociolinguistic Study
HUANG Man
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DOI:10.17265/1539-8080/2025.12.004
Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China
This paper investigates idiom variation in digital space through a cognitive sociolinguistic perspective. By analyzing authentic social media texts, we identify the variation strategies that show creative manipulation of conventional idioms. Basing on the Blending Theory, it is revealed how the variants emerge through cognitive operations integrating original idiom constructs with novel context. This paper repositions idioms and their variants as dynamic cognitive resources, contributing to understanding real-time language change in digital environments.
idiomatic variation, digital communication, metaphor, Blending Theory
HUANG Man, On Idiomatic Variation in Digital Communication—A Cognitive Sociolinguistic Study. US-China Foreign Language, December 2025, Vol. 23, No. 12, 473-479 doi:10.17265/1539-8080/2025.12.004
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