GENERATION Z'S LEXICAL CREATIVITY ON SOCIAL MEDIA: AN ANALYSIS OF WORD FORMATION PATTERNS AND SEMANTIC SHIFT

Abstract

The development of social media has not only transformed Generation Z's communication patterns but has also given rise to linguistic dynamics marked by the creation of new lexical forms and meanings. This study aims to analyze the patterns of word formation and semantic shift as a representation of Generation Z's lexical creativity on social media. The research uses a qualitative descriptive approach from a morphological and semantic perspective. The data consist of lexical forms used in Generation Z's communication on TikTok, Instagram, X, Facebook, and WhatsApp, collected through observation, note-taking, and documentation techniques, and analyzed through identification, classification, contextual meaning analysis, and interpretation of the relationship between form and meaning. The results show that lexical creativity is formed through acronymization, shortening, blending, borrowing, and form modification, while at the semantic level there is a tendency toward broadening, metaphorization, contextualization, and reinterpretation of meaning. The relationship between these two dimensions forms three main patterns: a change in form with relatively preserved meaning, a relatively unchanged form with shifted meaning, and the adoption of a form accompanied by recontextualization of meaning. These findings confirm that Generation Z's lexical creativity is not merely a symptom of slang use, but a form of linguistic productivity that brings together morphological innovation and semantic dynamics. Social media thus becomes an important space for the formation, dissemination, and re-signification of vocabulary that reflects language's adaptation to the culture of digital communication