PUB - Publikationen an der Universität Bielefeld

While video games have become an omnipresent medium over the last decades, linguistic research has only scratched the surface of the language of gamers and gaming. Ludolects – a term coined by Astrid Ensslin for the language variety used in metaludic discourse by gamers – offer particularly interesting angles for linguistic research, as language and communication are shaped by the rules and constraints of the respective games. This case study serves as an attempt to describe the word-formation processes at work in the lexicon of the English League of Legends ludolect, which is one of the most popular video games of recent times. Due to high competitiveness of the community and fast-paced gameplay, the players rely on brevity and make extensive use of shortening processes, most notably clippings and initialisms, but also different, more creative strategies.