Student Teacher 36 | - ✏ Freelance Writer
Apr 11, 2016 | #1
Instant Messaging and Texting: What do the Linguistics Say?
In recent years the use of short message service (SMS) and instant messages (IMs) have greatly increased as the technology that utilizes them (cell phones and personal computers) becomes ubiquitous throughout the world. In December 2008 alone, Americans sent over 110 billion text messages (Yen). The popular media is full of tales of horror insisting that students lose their ability to communicate with correct grammar and spelling once the texting demon has taken hold, but is this the truth? This paper investigates Texting and Internet Messaging and attempts to determine whether or not there is cause for concern from a linguistic standpoint. For the ease of reading during this paper, the word 'texting' will refer to any form of IMing or SMSing from this point on, unless otherwise specified in the text.
Is the Concept of Messaging or Texting New?
Most emphatically, the linguistic concepts that underlie messaging or texting are not new. The technology that allows us to send texts and SMS is recent, but the concept of sending short, abbreviated messages to express one's self in the shortest form possible has been around since mankind developed speech and communications. Today's texting, which is composed of a variety of linguistic forms, is an extension or advancement of forms that were developed many centuries ago. Today's texting has merely been adapted to modern technology. The use of the linguistic concepts behind texting, however, has been fairly consistent throughtout history.
John Sutherland, Lord Northcliffe Professor of Modern English Literature at University College, London, is quite negative on both the sociology and linguistics behind texting. Although he points out that "Human beings will use any medium to communicate and to make records. We can go back to the Incan "quipa" (mnemonic string knots), Sumerian clay pots, medieval tally sticks" (Sutherland, 18), he also states point blank that texting is "Snot-talk." Sutherland even likens texting to a "pig's ear." Crystal, however, disagrees, and suggests that texting is actually a new type of language which integrates various facets of linguistic strains from hieroglyphics and other mneumonics. Indeed, Crystal believes that one of the reasons that observers believe that texting is deviant, like a pig's ear, or Snot-talk is the general lack of punctuation in texting messages. He also believes that texting is not a foreign language; it is a new type of language. The linguistic basis of this new form of language, however, is not new.
Letters, Logograms, Rebuses. The idea of using letters, logograms, and rebuses in writing has existed for centuries. A logogram is a written symbol which represents a word but does not express its own pronunciation. Crystal uses the examples:
b4 - before
2day - today
xxx - kisses
zzzz - sleeping
^_ ^ - cute
*o* - surprised
The concept of using an actual symbol to represent its name was the basis of hieroglyphics. One example of the way that hieroglyphics resemble English, according to Crystal, is the use of the smile symbols:
:-) smile
:-( frown
Further, ancient Egyptian writing contained the rebus, or a message that utilized pictures to show the sounds of the words. Most school children have completed numerous rebus-type puzzles in their basic grades. Crystal utilizes the example of the bee:
Good. Be good.
Or this:
Be[bee]fore.
Da Vinci utilized rebuses, as did several other well known writers in history. Thus when modern texters say things like:
B good B4 U zzzz, or Bgud B4 U zzz
they are really following an old tradition. Taking this a step further, the use of initialisms has not only been "around" for centuries, but is ingrained in our personal and professional lives. We have ADHD. Our cousin works for NASA. We watched Hurricane Katrina on CNN. We respond NP (no problem) to the memo that asks us to work late. Our GF or BF (or g/f or b/f) (girl friend or boy friend or best friend) brings us dinner when we work late. It's time to LOL(laugh out loud) when someone tells a great joke, but sometimes they have to type that they are JK (joking) when we just didn't get that it was a joke, not a serious comment.
Going back in history a step further, we might respond to all our emails in the PM (post meridiem), and regret that the friend who had signed an IOU (I owe you) is now RIP (resting in peace). It scares us; it is time to see the MD (doctor) ASAP (as soon as possible) so the same thing does not happen to us. Though this is a fun paragraph, IMHO (in my humble opinion) it must stop b4 (before) I can go on to the next topic, that of other uses in history of texting.
Telegraph. The Phillips Code was established by congress in 1879, and renewed in 1907, and designed to provide a method of easily reporting information for press reports and for court reporting (Phillips). As the author of the code points out:
"The necessity for codes and coding be-came apparent with the earliest forms of signalling, as only very limited intelligence could be transmitted by the crude devices of those days. When the electric telegraph made possible the speedy transmission of alphabets and numerals, coding was still important to reduce line time and costs."
This definition essentially encompasses the reasons that texting became popular on cellphones: it originally reduced line time and costs. It is also important to remember that the Phillips Code was developed for use with Morse code. Thus, not only did the codes themselves represent information, but each 'code' was made up of Morse code! This makes the level of complexity of our current texting appear to be child's play.
The original Phillips Code indicated that the letter "B" could be used to signify the word 'be'; "C" signified 'see'; "R" signified 'are', and "U", 'you; there is a direct correlation with modern texting. One of the largest differences, however, is that the Phillips Code provided a definitive listing of texting shorthand, approved by Congress. In today's texting world, the dialect can vary considerably depending upon the demographic of the user.
Wire signals defined in the Phillips Code provided another, even more succinct way to communicate. If the sender sent at "2", he had important business. "12" asked if the receiver understood. A "13" in response meant that the receiver understood. "17" meant there was lightning on the sender's end. "88" sent love and kisses. "95" meant that the President was sending out a wire, and other traffic would stop.
Police and Rescue. Until 2005, police, fire, and rescue units, along with ham radio and citizen's band radio operators utilized a code called the 10 code, developed by the Illinois State Patrol in 1937 as a response to the need for quick and clear communication over lines that were sometimes garbled. Radio operators might ask "10-20?" as shorthand for "What's your location?". The use of the word "ten" before each code allowed the radio system time to come up to power after the microphone was keyed, and ensured that the listeners received the full message. Though the federal government recommended that 10-codes be dropped in 2005, many police jurisdictions still use them because it allows the broadcast of sensitive nature without divulging the information to the public at large. The Association of Public Safety Communications Officials International (APCO) still produces a list of recommended standardized 10-codes that can be utilized in emergency situations (Association of Public Safety Communications Officials International, 49). Although the 10-codes are a verbal code, they exist for the same reason that do text shortcuts: to facilitate communication over the airwaves in a quick, efficient, and cost saving manner. In this regard, and in the way they are organized, the codes are another example of text-type codes.
Summary. Shortened version of regular communications, delivered across a variety of medium, has existed nearly since man began to communicate. Texting is an example of this type of communication adapting to new technology.
Linguistic Analysis of Texting
There is little empirical analysis of linguistic forms of texting. Segerstad, however, suggests that texters accomplish short messages in text or SMS by omitting punctuation, utilizing unconventional forms of punctuation, leaving out spaces, spelling like the words are spoken, writing with only consonants, writing either in all capitals or all lower case letters, using short words rather than long ones, using emoticons, using symbols to replace words, using punctuation for emphasis, and using asterisks (Segerstad). This dovetails with Thurlow's description, which includes omitting letters, omitting punctuation, utilizing initialisms, using unconventional forms of spelling, and using stylized accents (Thurlow).
Other areas of linguistic concern in texting may include ambiguity, use versus mention, type versus token, and indexicality.
Ambiguity. There are four types of ambiguity that are especially pertinent to texting. Lexical ambiguity, semantic ambiguity, syntactic ambiguity, and grouping ambiguity can all make an important difference in how texting is texted, and how it is understood by the receiver.
- Lexical Ambiguity, or Vagueness. Lexical ambiguity can result when a word that is being used can be used in more than one sense. A burrito can be good (tasty). A child can be good (nice). A woman can be good (moral). A pastor can be good (exemplary). Each of the uses of the word 'good' in this paragraph provides a different interpretation of the word. Unless the receiver has some relation to or understanding of the material being presented, it may be difficult for him or her to glean the sender's true meaning.
- Semantic Ambiguity, or Equivocation. Semantic ambiguity can result when the word can have different meanings. If I were to text the instructor the line "Your class is bad", the meaning is unclear. Is the class acting bad? Is the class a bad (ie, ineffective or inadequate) educational experience? Is the class bad in the slang term, in which case it would really be good?
- Syntactic Ambiguity, or Amphiboly. In this form of ambiguity the sentence can mean different things bec ause of the way the text is presented. "The horse was tatooed on her back." Was the horse tatooed on the horse's backside, or did the woman have a horse tatooed on the woman's back? "She drew the drapes." Did she close the drapes, or did she take a pencil and paper and draw a set of drapes?
- Grouping Ambiguity, or Composition and Division. In this form of ambiguity, the meaning is not clear because of the way the items are grouped. "The Rottweilers eat more than the terriers." Do Rottweilers always eat more than terriers, or do they eat more this time because there are more Rottweilers than terriers? How about a teacher's classic line "My 302 section is doing better than you are." Is the whole section doing better than me personally? Or are they doing better than the entire class, including me?
Use versus Mention. In speaking and communicating, people talk about words. This can cause a great deal of confusion. Consider the orange orange. We eat the orange, and it is colored orange. If we are discussing the orange orange, we might also note that it contains six letters. Clearly the orange itself, the orange orange, does not hold six letters. The word orange does, however.
Type versus Token. The concept of type versus token can be difficult to understand. Consider the example below:
[The orange is orange.]
How many sentences are there in the box? Some readers will say one; some readers will say two. Both readers will be correct, after a fashion. One sentence is repeated twice, as is pointed out by those who count only one sentence. This is a type. Readers who say two sentences, however, are inferring that the sentence is a token, or a string of words. Since there are two strings of words, there are two sentences in this interpretation.
Indexicality. Indexicality is a sentence which can be true or false depending upon who is reading the sentence or upon the content of the sentence. The indexicality is determined by an indexical word. An indexical word's meaning is related to the context of the sentence. Here is an example one might see in a text message:
[Ur mother is a tramp.]
Most readers would immediately reject this sentence as being false; no one wants to believe their mother is a tramp. However, if a reader's mother really is a tramp, and goes out each night in high heels to make her salary as a streetwalker, this sentence will not only give the reader dis-ease, it will be true. Taking the analysis a step further, and adding in the concept of semantic ambiguity discussed earlier, there may well be no one in the room who believes their mother is a tramp. The other meaning of this sentence, after all, would be that one's mother is a true tramp, complete with Charlie Chaplin style makeup and a hobo's bag on a stick.
Discussion and Synthesis
How does all this talk of tramps relate to texting? The subject topic makes a fun, but enlightening, comparison come to life. Consider that the reader receives a text:
[Bring over 2 tramps.]
The reader has some choices to make.
HERE are two tramps.
Here are two more tramps.
And when the reader, the text receiver, finally thinks they have the situation resolved, more choices present.
If this isn't enough to cause a dilemma, perhaps the sender meant to bring home two of the band the Saddle Tramps, or the Menstrual Tramps, the Cadillac Tramps, the Magic Tramps...
Crystal pointed out that texting is likely here to stay, but he also has pointed out that the language structure and linguistic structure of text messages is very similar to that of a bonafide language. The examples shown here, however outrageous, could also apply to a verbal conversation or a written letter or an email. The difficulty is with the language expression itself and the variability of the language, not of the mode of delivery (which is text). The difficulty is also not related to abbreviations and their use; the research showed that abbreviations of various kinds have been in common use for centuries.
Instead, text users do not have as much context on which to base their meaning decisions as do readers of books, novels, letters, and even emails. There are not as many 'clues' in the verbage, which is very short and limited to 168 characters at most. The net result is that the reader learns to study the few available clues for context and meaning, and to construct a likely meaning from what they know of the sender, the situation, and the text of the message. In short, they learn to analyze what they read, a short sentence at a time.
Crystal's contention is that this is a valuable skill, one which actually increase language understanding and develop reading and communications skills. I agree.
Works Cited
Association of Public Safety Communications Officials International (APCO). "10 Codes."
Crystal, D. Txtng: The Gr8 Db8. Oxford: Oxford Publishing.
Phillips, W. The Phillips code: A thoroughly tested method of shorthand arranged for telegraphic purposes. And contemplating the rapid transmissio of press reports; Also intended to be used as an easily acquired method for general newspaper and court reporting. New York: New York Telegraph and Telephone Age.
Segerstad, Y. af. "Use and adaptation of written language to the conditions of computer mediated communication." Unpublished PhD dissertation, Goteverge University. Goteberg University.
Sutherland, J. "Cn u txt?"
Thurlow, C. "Generation txt? The sociolinguistics of young peoples' text messaging." Discource Analysis Online.
Yen, H. "Popularity of texting edging out cell phone calls."