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A Linguistic Contrast of Emotional and Relationship Lexicon Through the Lens of Linguistic Relativity

Students & Supervisors

Student Authors
Mashfia Afrin
Bachelor of Arts in English, FASS
Nayeemur Rahman
Bachelor of Arts in English, FASS
Supervisors
Dr. Md. Asif Kamal
Professor, Member [research & Publication Steering Committee], FASS

Abstract

Since the last decade, social media platforms have become a breeding ground for new vocabulary. Along with vocabulary from several other domains, relationship terms, such as ghosting, situationship, and love bombing, are gaining popularity among Gen Z to describe emotional experiences more precisely. This study aims to explore how Gen Z terms have emerged to express modern relationship dynamics by examining their meanings and usage and contrasting their explicit emotional clarity with the implicit portrayals of emotion and intimacy in Rabindranath Tagore's Chokher Bali, applying the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis. A qualitative method was used in this study, where textual analysis was conducted on relationship portrayals in Chokher Bali and compared with Gen Z relationship terms collected from social media. This study recommends that educators incorporate Gen Z relationship vocabulary into discussions of classical literature to help young students relate to traditional narratives and suggests that future research explore whether this approach enhances student engagement with literary texts.

Keywords

Gen Z Language Relationship Expression Linguistic Relativity

Publication Details

  • Type of Publication:
  • Conference Name: Discover English 2025
  • Date of Conference: 07/11/2025 - 07/11/2025
  • Venue: AIUB Campus, 408/1 (Old KA 66/1), Kuratoli, Khilkhet, Dhaka 1229, Bangladesh
  • Organizer: Department of English, AIUB & TESOL Society of Bangladesh
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