Morphological Creativity and Identity Expression in the Slang of LGBTQIA+ Thais in the Hiwwhee Gang

Abstract

Background and Objectives: The Thai LGBTQIA+ community has fostered a vibrant lexicon of slang that reflects its morphological creativity, identity expression, and popularity. A particularly influential force in this linguistic movement is the Hiwwhee Gang—a popular group of queer YouTubers with over five million followers—which plays a significant role in the creation, dissemination, and circulation of queer language in digital media. This study aims to identify and categorize the specific types of LGBTQIA+ slang used by the Hiwwhee Gang by analyzing how these expressions reflect the group’s morphological creativity, construct group identity and signal in-group membership. It also examines how their use of slang facilitates audience engagement, and circulates and fosters a sense of inclusion within their online community.

Methods: The study adopts a qualitative linguistic approach, analyzing 34 slang items used in the Hiwwhee Gang’s YouTube content. These were categorized according to word formation processes, including blending, compounding, clipping, borrowing, onomatopoeia, and semantic shift, together with an analysis of frequency, the motivations underlying word formation, and the sociocultural contexts of slang use among LGBTQIA+ communities, using the Hiwwhee Gang as a case study.

Results: Thai LGBTQIA+ slang is notable for its creative use of lexical blending, sound imitation, and phonological play to produce humorous effects. While blending and compounding are common in the Gang’s slang, ideophones and performative speech acts, suggesting the group members’ behavior, actions, or values via slang, such as สะดุ้ง (sa dung or startled) or เซะตุ้มเล้ง (se tum leng or chaotic), pointing to the discourse-stylistic nature of queer conversation. Likewise, semantic shifts are notable, as terms like ขมวด (khamuat or to wrap) and ฉ่ำ (cham or juicy) take on entirely new meanings in different context. These linguistic innovations not only offer humor and identity performance but also resist mainstream discourse and play an important role in resisting heteronormative ideology by generating linguistic forms that challenge conventional word structures and traditional meaning-making processes.

Application of this study: The findings are valuable for scholars in linguistics, gender studies, and digital media. Educators and language policy designers may also apply these insights to better accommodate linguistic diversity in designing curriculums which respect linguistic diversity. Moreover, the research also promotes the preservation and elevation of queer vernaculars as culturally significant linguistic forms.

Conclusions: The use of slang among the Thai LGBTQIA+ community functions as a tool for identity construction, community boundary formation, and the creation of spaces for social participation through language. When queer speakers reinterpret existing lexical items and move beyond conventional linguistic and semantic frameworks of the dominant language, a culturally specific language emerges that enables presence, visibility, and solidarity. The findings further indicate that creativity in word formation plays a crucial role both as a cultural tool and as a strategy for resisting mainstream social structures in contemporary Thai society.