SMS language
Encyclopedia
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 abbreviation
s 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 language
s, 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 smartphone
s 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. According to a study, though it is faster to write it takes more time to read than normal English. 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.
SMS language is a nascent dialect of English
that subverts letters and numbers to produce ultra-concise words and sentiments. 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 .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 room
s 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 keyboard
s on mobile phones.
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 emoticon
s 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.
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.
, noted just 10% of his messages used SMS language.
Abbreviation
An abbreviation is a shortened form of a word or phrase. Usually, but not always, it consists of a letter or group of letters taken from the word or phrase...
s and slang
Slang
Slang is the use of informal words and expressions that are not considered standard in the speaker's language or dialect but are considered more acceptable when used socially. Slang is often to be found in areas of the lexicon that refer to things considered taboo...
most commonly used due to the necessary brevity of mobile phone
Mobile phone
A mobile phone is a device which can make and receive telephone calls over a radio link whilst moving around a wide geographic area. It does so by connecting to a cellular network provided by a mobile network operator...
text messaging
Text messaging
Text messaging, or texting, refers to the exchange of brief written text messages between fixed-line phone or mobile phone and fixed or portable devices over a network...
, in particular the widespread SMS (short message service) communication protocol
SMS
SMS is a form of text messaging communication on phones and mobile phones. The terms SMS or sms may also refer to:- Computer hardware :...
. SMS language is also common on the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
, including in email
Email
Electronic mail, commonly known as email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages from an author to one or more recipients. Modern email operates across the Internet or other computer networks. Some early email systems required that the author and the recipient both be online at the...
and instant messaging
Instant messaging
Instant Messaging is a form of real-time direct text-based chatting communication in push mode between two or more people using personal computers or other devices, along with shared clients. The user's text is conveyed over a network, such as the Internet...
. It can be likened to a rebus
Rebus
A rebus is an allusional device that uses pictures to represent words or parts of words. It was a favourite form of heraldic expression used in the Middle Ages to denote surnames, for example in its basic form 3 salmon fish to denote the name "Salmon"...
, using pictures and single letters or numbers to represent whole words (e.g. "i <3 u" which uses the pictogram
Pictogram
A pictograph, also called pictogram or pictogramme is an ideogram that conveys its meaning through its pictorial resemblance to a physical object. Pictographs are often used in writing and graphic systems in which the characters are to considerable extent pictorial in appearance.Pictography is a...
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
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
in general, like most other language
Language
Language may refer either to the specifically human capacity for acquiring and using complex systems of communication, or to a specific instance of such a system of complex communication...
s, has many words that have different meanings in different contexts). SMS language does not always obey or follow standard grammar
Grammar
In linguistics, grammar is the set of structural rules that govern the composition of clauses, phrases, and words in any given natural language. The term refers also to the study of such rules, and this field includes morphology, syntax, and phonology, often complemented by phonetics, semantics,...
, and additionally the words used are not usually found in standard dictionaries
Dictionary
A dictionary is a collection of words in one or more specific languages, often listed alphabetically, with usage information, definitions, etymologies, phonetics, pronunciations, and other information; or a book of words in one language with their equivalents in another, also known as a lexicon...
or recognized by language academies.
The advent of predictive text
Predictive text
Predictive text is an input technology used where one key or button represents many letters, such as on mobile phones and in accessibility technologies. Each key press results in a prediction rather than repeatedly sequencing through the same group of "letters" it represents, in the same,...
input and smartphone
Smartphone
A smartphone is a high-end mobile phone built on a mobile computing platform, with more advanced computing ability and connectivity than a contemporary feature phone. The first smartphones were devices that mainly combined the functions of a personal digital assistant and a mobile phone or camera...
s featuring full QWERTY keyboards
QWERTY
QWERTY is the most common modern-day keyboard layout. The name comes from the first six letters appearing in the topleft letter row of the keyboard, read left to right: Q-W-E-R-T-Y. The QWERTY design is based on a layout created for the Sholes and Glidden typewriter and sold to Remington in the...
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
Punctuation
Punctuation marks are symbols that indicate the structure and organization of written language, as well as intonation and pauses to be observed when reading aloud.In written English, punctuation is vital to disambiguate the meaning of sentences...
, grammar, and capitalization are largely ignored.
The dialect has a few hieroglyphs (codes comprehensible to initiates) and a range of face symbols. According to a study, though it is faster to write it takes more time to read than normal English. According to research done by Dr. Nanagh Kemp of University of Tasmania
University of Tasmania
The University of Tasmania is a medium-sized public Australian university based in Tasmania, Australia. Officially founded on 1 January 1890, it was the fourth university to be established in nineteenth-century Australia...
, the evolution of ‘textese’ is inherently coupled to a strong grasp of grammar and phonetics.
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
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
that subverts letters and numbers to produce ultra-concise words and sentiments. The invention of mobile phone messages may be considered as its source, although elliptical
Ellipsis
Ellipsis is a series of marks that usually indicate an intentional omission of a word, sentence or whole section from the original text being quoted. An ellipsis can also be used to indicate an unfinished thought or, at the end of a sentence, a trailing off into silence...
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 .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
Text messaging
Text messaging, or texting, refers to the exchange of brief written text messages between fixed-line phone or mobile phone and fixed or portable devices over a network...
, 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
Internet slang
Internet slang is a type of slang that Internet users have popularized, and in many cases, have coined. Such terms often originate with the purpose of saving keystrokes. Many people use the same abbreviations in texting and instant messaging, and social networking websites...
and Telex speak, and has evolved from the shorthand use in Internet chat room
Chat room
The term chat room, or chatroom, is primarily used by mass media to describe any form of synchronous conferencing, occasionally even asynchronous conferencing...
s 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 keyboard
Computer keyboard
In computing, a keyboard is a typewriter-style keyboard, which uses an arrangement of buttons or keys, to act as mechanical levers or electronic switches...
s on mobile phones.
Criticism
Welsh journalist and television reporter John HumphrysJohn Humphrys
Desmond John Humphrys , is a Welsh-born British author, journalist and presenter of radio and television, who has won many national broadcasting awards...
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 emoticon
Emoticon
An emoticon is a facial expression pictorially represented by punctuation and letters, usually to express a writer’s mood. Emoticons are often used to alert a responder to the tenor or temper of a statement, and can change and improve interpretation of plain text. The word is a portmanteau word...
s 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.
David Crystal
David Crystal
David Crystal OBE FLSW FBA is a linguist, academic and author.-Background and career:Crystal was born in Lisburn, Northern Ireland. He grew up in Holyhead, North Wales, and Liverpool, England where he attended St Mary's College from 1951....
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
Txtng: the Gr8 Db8
Txtng: The Gr8 Db8 is a book written by linguist David Crystal.The title is a logogram which stands for Texting: The Great Debate. In his book, Crystal examines the use of text messaging and its effect on language and literacy...
. 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.
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 CrystalDavid Crystal
David Crystal OBE FLSW FBA is a linguist, academic and author.-Background and career:Crystal was born in Lisburn, Northern Ireland. He grew up in Holyhead, North Wales, and Liverpool, England where he attended St Mary's College from 1951....
, noted just 10% of his messages used SMS language.
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”. BBCBBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
. - 4 March 2003: “Is txt mightier than the word?”. BBCBBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
. - November 2006: The New ZealandNew ZealandNew Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
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 http://www.nzherald.co.nz/topic/story.cfm?c_id=329&objectid=10410066
Single letters can replace words
- be becomes b
- see or sea becomes c
- okay becomes k or kk
- are becomes r
- you becomes u
- why becomes y
- oh becomes o
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
- for or fore becomes 4, so:
- before becomes b4
- 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
- and becomes &
- thank you becomes 10q, thnq, ty
Combinations of the above can shorten a single or multiple words
- your and you're become ur
- 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 slangInternet slangInternet slang is a type of slang that Internet users have popularized, and in many cases, have coined. Such terms often originate with the purpose of saving keystrokes. Many people use the same abbreviations in texting and instant messaging, and social networking websites...
- Cupertino effectCupertino effectThe Cupertino effect is the tendency of a spell checker to suggest or autocorrect inappropriate words to replace misspelled words and words not in its dictionary....
- English language spelling reform
- NewspeakNewspeakNewspeak is a fictional language in George Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four. In the novel, it refers to the deliberately impoverished language promoted by the state. Orwell included an essay about it in the form of an appendix in which the basic principles of the language are explained...
- SextingSextingSexting is the act of sending sexually explicit messages or photographs, primarily between mobile phones. The term was first popularized in early 21st century, and is a portmanteau of sex and texting, where the latter is meant in the wide sense of sending a text possibly with...
- CybercultureCybercultureCyberculture is the culture that has emerged, or is emerging, from the use of computer networks for communication, entertainment and business. It is also the study of various social phenomena associated with the Internet and other new forms of network communication, such as online communities,...
- Tironian notesTironian notesTironian notes is a system of shorthand said to have been invented by Cicero's scribe Marcus Tullius Tiro. Tiro's system consisted of about 4,000 signs, somewhat extended in classical times to 5,000 signs. In the European Medieval period, Tironian notes were taught in monasteries and the system...
, scribal abbreviationScribal abbreviationScribal abbreviations are the abbreviations used by ancient and mediæval scribes writing in Latin and, later, in Greek and Old Norse...
s and ligatures: Roman and medieval abbreviations used to save space on manuscripts and epigraphs - JejemonJejemonJejemon is a pop culture phenomenon in the Philippines. According to Urban Dictionary a Jejemon is a person "who has managed to subvert the English language to the point of incomprehensibility." The Philippine Daily Inquirer describes Jejemons as a "new breed of hipster who have developed not only...