Internet Pragmatics meets Construction Grammar

Semi-schematic text-memes in digital communication (Research Article)

Abstract

This paper brings together Internet Pragmatics and usage-based Construction Grammar by examining semi-schematic text-memes as emergent constructions in digitally mediated communication. Using the text-meme construction [(We got) X before GTA 6 / VI] as a case study, it shows that such patterns constitute conventionalized form-meaning pairings shaped by their digital embedding, cross-platform diffusion, and recontextualization, as well as by variation and creativity. At the same time, text-meme constructions function as socially indexical resources that enable stance-taking, signal group membership, and give rise to metapragmatic negotiation. The paper thus underscores the potential of a constructionist perspective to enrich Internet-pragmatic accounts of language use in digitally mediated environments—a perspective that combines structural and pragmatic analyses and to which media linguistics should give greater attention in the future.