SMS language

SMS language or Textese (also known as chatspeak, txt, txtspk, txtk, texting language or txt talk) is a term for the abbreviations and slang most commonly used due to the necessary brevity of mobile phone text messaging, though its use is common on the Internet, including e-mail and instant messaging. It can be likened to a rebus, which uses pictures and single letters, or numbers to represent whole words (e.g, "i <3 u" which uses the pictogram of a heart for "love", and the letter "u" replaces "you").

For words which have no common abbreviation, users most commonly remove the vowels from a word, and the reader is forced to interpret a string of consonants by re-adding the vowels (e.g., "dictionary" becomes "dctnry", or "keyboard" becomes "kybrd"). The reader must interpret the abbreviated words depending on the context in which it is used, as there are many examples of words or phrases which use the same abbreviations (e.g., "lol" could mean "laugh out loud" or "lots of love", and "cryn" could mean "crayon" or "crying"). So if someone says "ttyl, lol" they probably mean "talk to you later, lots of love" not "talk to you later, laugh out loud"; and if someone says "omg, lol" they probably mean "oh my god, laugh out loud" not "oh my god, lots of love". Context is key when interpreting txtese, and it is precisely this shortfall which critics cite as a reason not to use it.

The advent of predictive text input and smartphones featuring full QWERTY keyboards may contribute to a reduction in its use. This type of language does not always obey or follow standard grammar; furthermore, the words used in the writing system are not found in standard dictionaries or recognized by language academies.

Significance

The objective of textese is to use the fewest number of characters needed to convey a comprehensible message. Hence, punctuation, grammar, and capitalization are largely ignored.

The dialect has a few hieroglyphs (codes comprehensible to initiates) and a range of face symbols.^[1] According to a study, though it is faster to write it takes more time to read than normal English.^[2] According to research done by Dr Nanagh Kemp of University of Tasmania, the evolution of ‘textese’ is inherently coupled to a strong grasp of grammar and phonetics.^[3]

History

Textese is a nascent dialect of English that subverts letters and numbers to produce ultra-concise words and sentiments.^[4] The invention of mobile phone messages may be considered as its source, although elliptical styles of writing date back to at least the days of telegraphese. There are no standard rules for writing SMS languages, and a lot of words can also be shortened, such as "text" being shortened into "txt". Words can also be combined with numbers to make them shorter, such as "later", which changes into "l8r", using the numeral "8" for its phonetic pronunciation. Textese seeks to use the fewest number of letters, and helps in dealing with space constraints of text messaging, although the advent of texting clearly came from a desire to type less, and to communicate more quickly, than one can manage without such shortcuts.

It is similar to Internet slang and Telex speak, and has evolved from the shorthand use in Internet chat rooms to accommodate the small number of characters allowed (early SMS permitted only 160 characters and some carriers charge messages by the number of characters sent), and as a convenient language for the small keyboards on mobile phones.

Criticism

Welsh journalist and television reporter John Humphrys has criticized txtese as "wrecking our language". The author cites ambiguous examples such as "lol" which may mean "laughing out loud" or "lots of love", depending on the context in which it is used. Humphrys describes emoticons and txtese as "irritating" and essentially lazy behaviors, and surmises that "sloppy" habits gained while using txtese will result in students' growing ignorance of proper grammar and punctuation.^[5]

David Crystal has countered the claims that SMS has a deleterious effect on language with numerous scholarly studies. The findings are summarized in his popular book Txtng: the Gr8 Db8. Despite scholarly research to the contrary, the popular notion that text messaging is damaging to the linguistic development of young people and to the English language itself persists.^[6]

Frequency of use

In one American study, researchers found that less than 20% of messages used SMS language. Looking at his own texting history, the study's author, linguist David Crystal, noted just 10% of his messages used SMS language.^[7]

The use of txt in school exams

There have been some reports in the media of children using SMS language for essays in school:

• 16 August 2002: “Examiner's warning over exams culture”. BBC.
• 4 March 2003: “Is txt mightier than the word?”. BBC.
• November 2006: The New Zealand Qualifications Authority discourages the use of text abbreviations after suggesting that they may be used in certain subjects provided they clearly show the required understanding. NZQA Press statement [1]

Vocabulary

Single letters can replace words

• be becomes b
• see becomes c
• the becomes da
• okay becomes k
• no becomes na
• are becomes r
• you becomes u
• with becomes wit (or "w/")
• why and yes become y
• is becomes iz
• oh becomes o

Single digits can replace words

• ate becomes 8
• for becomes 4
• to or too becomes 2
• one or won becomes 1

A single letter or digit can replace a syllable

• ate becomes 8, so:
  • great becomes gr8
  • mate becomes m8
  • wait becomes w8
  • later becomes l8r or l8a
  • skate becomes sk8
  • skater becomes sk8r
• tomorrow becomes 2mro
• for or fore becomes 4, so:
  • before becomes (combining both of the above) b4
  • therefore becomes thr4
• once becomes 1ce

Combinations of the above can shorten a single or multiple words

• Your and You're become ur or yr and u're

Common abbreviations

See also

Look up txt in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Emoticon
• Enhanced Messaging Service
• Internet slang
• Martian language
• Microblogging
• Multimedia Messaging Service
• Newspeak
• SMS
• Text messaging

References

• Rai, Himanshu (30 October 2005). “Thumbs Up!” New Straits Times, p. F14.

Relevant literature

• The Gr8 Db8 (Hardcover) Amazon.com ISBN 978-0199571338

External links

• 2b or not 2b?
  • David Crystal - Guardian Unlimited - 5 July 2008.
    • This lengthy article talks about the rise of SMS messaging, the language used, precedents for abbreviated language in English and links to further contributions on the subject by Will Self and Lynne Truss.
• [2]
• Dictionary, for reference