SMS language

"txt" redirects here. For other uses, see TXT.

SMS language or textese (also known as txt-speak, txtese, chatspeak, txt, txtspk, txtk, txto, texting language, txt lingo, SMSish, or txt talk) is a term for the abbreviations and slang most commonly used due to the necessary brevity of mobile phone text messaging, in particular the widespread SMS (short message service) communication protocol. SMS language is also common on the Internet, including in email and instant messaging. It can be likened to a rebus, using 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 that have no common abbreviation, users most commonly remove the vowels from a word, and the reader is required to interpret a string of consonants by re-adding the vowels (e.g. dictionary becomes dctnry and 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 that use the same abbreviations (e.g., lol could mean laugh out loud or lots of love, and cryn could mean crayon or cryin(g)). 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. "onw" means "oh no way!" nothing else. Context is key when interpreting textese, and it is precisely this shortfall that critics cite as a reason not to use it (although the English language in general, like most other languages, has many words that have different meanings in different contexts). SMS language does not always obey or follow standard grammar, and additionally the words used are not usually found in standard dictionaries or recognized by language academies.

The advent of predictive text input and smartphones featuring full QWERTY keyboards may contribute to a reduction in the use of SMS language, although this has not yet been noted.

The objective of SMS language is to use the least number of characters needed to convey a comprehensible message, also as many telecommunication companies have an SMS character limit, another benefit of SMS language is to reduce the character count of a 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

SMS language is similar to that used by those sending telegraphs that charged by the word; people wanting to save money began shortening their messages to pay a smaller amount.

SMS language 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, and telegraph operators were reported as using abbreviations similar to those used in modern text to chat amongst themselves between sending official messages dating back 120 years ^[5].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 so helps in dealing with the space constraints of text messaging, as well as permitting the sender to type less and to communicate more quickly than one could 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 SMS language as "wrecking our language". The author cites ambiguous examples such as "lol", which may mean "laughing out loud", "lots of love", or "little old lady" depending on the context in which it is used. Humphrys describes emoticons and textese as "irritating" and essentially lazy behavior, and surmises that "sloppy" habits gained while using textese will result in students' growing ignorance of proper grammar and punctuation.^[6]

David Crystal has countered the claims that SMS has a deleterious effect on language with numerous scholarly studies. The findings are summarized in his 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.^[7]

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.^[8]

Use in school exams

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

• 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 or sea becomes c
• okay becomes k
• are becomes r
• you becomes u
• why becomes y
• oh becomes o
• we becomes v
• the becomes d

Single digits can replace words

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

A single letter or digit can replace a syllable or phoneme

• to or too becomes 2, so:
  • tomorrow becomes 2mro or 2moro
  • today becomes 2day or 2da
• for or fore becomes 4, so:
  • before becomes b4
  • therefore becomes thr4
  • forget becomes 4get
• ate becomes 8, so:
  • great becomes gr8
  • late becomes l8
  • mate becomes m8
  • wait becomes w8
  • hate becomes h8
  • date becomes d8
  • later becomes l8r or l8a
  • crate becomes cr8
  • skate becomes sk8
  • skater becomes sk8r
• once becomes 1ce
• and becomes &, nd, n
• have becomes hv, ve
• thank you becomes 10, thnq, ty

Combinations of the above can shorten a single or multiple words

• your and you're become ur, yr and ure
• wonderful becomes 1drfl
• someone becomes sum1
• no one becomes no1
• any one become any1 or ne1
• see you becomes cu
• for you becomes 4u
• easy becomes ez
• enjoy becomes njoy
• adieu becomes +u

See also

• Internet slang
• Cupertino effect
• English language spelling reform
• Newspeak
• Sexting
• Cyberculture
• Tironian notes, scribal abbreviations and ligatures: Roman and medieval abbreviations used to save space on manuscripts and epigraphs

Notes

1. ^ New Statesman
2. ^ Reuters.com
3. ^ Messaging 2.0
4. ^ Newsweek.com
5. ^ www.metro.co.uk
6. ^ John Humphrys (2007-09-24). "I h8 txt msgs: How texting is wrecking our language". Associated Newspapers. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-483511/I-h8-txt-msgs-How-texting-wrecking-language.html. Retrieved 2009-05-26. 
7. ^ University Press blog
8. ^ Crystal, David (5 July 2008). "2b or not 2b?". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2008/jul/05/saturdayreviewsfeatres.guardianreview. Retrieved 25 March 2011. 

References

• Rai, Himanshu (30 October 2005). "Thumbs Up!". New Straits Times. http://findarticles.com/p/news-articles/new-straits-times/mi_8016/is_20051030/thumbs/ai_n44310325/?tag=content;col1. Retrieved 25 March 2011. 

Further reading

• Crystal, David; McLachlan, Edward (2008). Txtng: the Gr8 Db8. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-957133-8. 

External links

• txtk.net's National Texting Registry