International Journal of Language and Linguistics Vol. 3, No.

2; June 2016

The Effect of Text Messaging on the English Language Aspects and Communication

Dr. Nagla Awad Ahmed Albasheer

Jazan University
Saudi Arabia
Dr. Ibrahim Mohamed Alfaki
Nile Valley University
Sudan

Abstract
This study aims at investigating the effect of Text Messaging on the aspects of English language and
communication. The descriptive research method is used. The findings indicate that: Text Messaging violates the
rules of Standard English by deviating from the existing norms. Text messaging has great effect on the English
language aspects. Furthermore, text messaging has a significant effect on communication. Text messaging
increases confidence and interaction in shy and lonely people. The use of abbreviations leads to differences in
understanding of single words because of the different ways of writing these words. The use of text messaging has
spread and has become a new challenge in communication. The study has also shown that women tend to use
longer and wider text messaging than men. Text messaging increases cheating among users. Moreover, text
messaging wastes valuable resources like time, efforts, and money. It also causes thumb pain, sleep problem and
finally, radiation is harmful to text message users.
Key Words: English language, language aspects, text, text messaging.
1. Introduction
1.1 Background
English language professionals have embraced the world of collaborative opportunities the Internet has
introduced. Many tools such as e-mails, discussion forums and chat are by now familiar to many English language
teachers. Recent innovations- blogs wikis and RSS feeds maybe less familiar but offer powerful opportunities for
online collaboration for both English language professionals and learners. The encouragement of peer-to-peer
networking and buddy learning, so central to a constructivist learning approach, which has made discussion
forums the mainstay of web courses in most disciplines. Language teachers have found that students at many
different levels benefit from the extra writing done in discussion forums and from its use to communicate
meaningfully in real contexts. While dedicated software for creating discussion forums exists (such as WWW
Board), many instructors have access to built-in forums creation in a learning management system (LMS) such as
web CT or Blackboard. Features across the different systems are very similar, although the look and feel may
differ significantly. Some dedicated products, such as Web Crossing, offer additional add-ons such as polls, live
messaging, and enhanced monitoring. Although most commonly used as part of a class, there are certainly uses of
forums outside that setting as well as in learner participation in native speaker forums. For commonly studied
languages, there are on-line forums available on a wide variety of topics, often organized by media outlets or
interest group. As one recent study of their use by language learners points out that students need to approach
such forums with a good understanding of the conventions used and of the cultural dynamic at work.
The advent of SMS has devised existing linguistic forms deviating from the established ones and by reshaping all
the conventional communicative practices. Being the popular medium of communication among young, thumb
generation, the language of SMS has evolved and reinvented its unique stylistic features, which violate the rules
of Standard English. Language and fascinate and tempt many to examine and analyze these distinctive features
exhibited by this new language called ‘Text speak’. Therefore, Electronic English among the people is one of the
informal situations of education and it opens the door for all people, because it breaks the barriers.
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Moreover, some people feel shy and hesitant so through the text messaging they can easily communicate without
any problems or restrictions. Since the late 1990s, the use of the short messaging system (SMS, also known as
“texting”) available on mobile phones has seen phenomenal growth. Statistics show that on average there are
more than 280,000 SMS messages sent every hour in Norway. This means that more than 6.7 million per day send
those messages in a country with only 4 million inhabitants (Sandvin et al., 2002).Among teens, SMS is the
preferred form of mediated interaction, surpassing instant messaging, e-mail, voice mobile telephony and even
traditional fixed-line telephone calls. SMS messages have several characteristics that make it useful for teens and
increasingly for other groups. First, they are relatively cheap and they are personal, conveying a message directly
from one person to another. Since mobile telephones are now ubiquitous among Norwegian teens, one knows that
if one sends an SMS to a certain telephone number then it will come to that person, and not to another individual.
SMS is asynchronous, meaning it does not necessarily require the immediate attention of the receiver. In addition,
it is relatively unobtrusive. If, for example, a person turns off the ringing sounds on his or her mobile telephone,
nobody is the wiser that a teen is sending and receiving communications. Indeed, research shows that teens send
and receive SMS messages in class at school and through the night. Around 20% of teens say that they send and
receive SMS messages after midnight on a weekly basis (Ling, 2004).
In some ways, SMS is an odd duck. It is difficult to write messages on mobile phones since there is no traditional
keyboard or writing instrument. Moreover, message length is limited to only 160 characters, the displays for
reading the messages are small, and transmission relies on terminals limited by poor batteries. When SMS was
originally designed, the system was not even primarily intended as a form for personal interaction. Rather, it was
created as a way to alert users to voice mail messages and perhaps as a system to broadcast weather or stock
information. Nonetheless, SMS is now a vibrant medium. Text messages where used to coordinate everyday
events, to maintain social networks and to help entertain oneself in the open moments of one’s day.
In the words of one17-year-old boy, “Often when you are sitting on the bus and subway it is boring and so you
can write messages and that entertains you in those boring moments.” To be sure, the culture of SMS is centered
among teens and in particular among female users. In spite of the fact that adult males were early adopters of
mobile telephones (Ling, 2000), it is among females that one currently finds the great motor of SMS culture. In
the words of a focus group informant, "Most of the messages I get from boys are pretty short because they don’t
think it is so fun to sit there and punch in on the phone. That is more of a girl thing" (Erin, 17). In contrast, female
teens write longer messages that are more complex. They include aspects of standard (such as emoticons and
items such as “xxx”), and they are more inclined to include in their SMS messages such refined formalities of
traditional written letters as salutations and closings.
A number of studies are beginning to appear that examine the linguistic properties of e-mail and other computer-
mediated communication (Werry, 1996; Baron, 1998, 2000, 2003; see also Herring, 1996). A central question in
this context is the nature of the communication and the effect of the medium on the formation of the language. It
is the intention of this study to explore the linguistic aspects of this form of communication and its effect on
English language aspects.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
People have different opinions concerning text messaging. Some people agree with the idea that text messaging
enhances and leads to the importance of using English Language among all levels of the community, by using
English in texting . Yet some other people disagree with that idea, and they think that using text messaging leads
to the deterioration of English language. Users use simple abbreviated symbolism language without consideration
to the rules of grammar, syntax, morphology, semantic, punctuation or spelling.
1.3 Research Questions
1. What are the effects of text messaging on different English language aspects?
a. What is the effect of text messaging on syntax?
b. What is effect of text messaging on semantics?
c. What is effect of text messaging on morphology?
d. What is effect of text messaging on phonology?
e. What is effect of text messaging on spelling and punctuation?
2. What is the effect of text messaging on communication?

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International Journal of Language and Linguistics Vol. 3, No. 2; June 2016

1.4 Hypotheses of the study

1. There are effects of text messaging on different English language aspects: syntax, semantics, morphology,
phonology, spelling, and punctuation.
2. There is an effect of text messaging on communication.
1.5 Significance of the study
The study attempts to contribute to the development of the field of linguistics. It may have benefit for the people
who use text messaging: teachers, linguists, students, educators, learners, workers, teenagers, children,
housewives, men, women even business people.
1.6 Objectives of the study
The objectives of the study are:
1. To investigate the effects of text messaging on English language aspects.
2. To find out the effect of text messaging on communication among people.
1.7 Limits
This study is limited to the study of the effects of text messaging on English language aspects (syntax, semantics,
morphology, and phonology) and communication. The study was conducted in the period between 2012-2015 in
the Sudan.
1.8 Methodology
This study adopts the descriptive research method, and it uses qualitative data. The content analysis technique is
used. Moreover, the researchers used a special dictionary for text messaging.
2. Previous Study
This part concentrates on the studies that have been conducted previously on the topic under investigation.
The first study is “Text-message Practices and Links to General Spelling Skills: A Study of Australian
Children” by Catherine Bushiness, Nenagh Kemp and Frances Heritage Martin University of Tasmania in
2011.In this study, 10-12 years Australian children were investigated in the matters of text-messaging practices
with their relationship to traditional spelling ability. It has been found that 82% of 227 tested students reported
sending text-messages in an average of 5 messages per day. It was noticed that the use of predictive and multi-
press entry methods was approximately equal. The researchers found out that children produced a wide-range of
text-message abbreviations when asked to rewrite a list of 30 conventionally-spelt words as they would in a text-
message to find a friend. The study comes to the conclusion that the produced proportion of text sms was
significantly positively correlated with the general spelling ability, which suits the previous findings of positive
relationship between the use of children’s textisms and literacy. It was found that many teenagers and young
adults all over the world use mobile phones in their daily activities. They send daily messages. It was also found
that women send more text-messages than men do. Their messages are longer and more complicated. The
investigations proved mixed evidences as to the nature of the relationship between text-messaging the textese and
literacy skills. The study concludes that children's use of text sms is not associated with dealing with standard of
literacy but with better spelling skills. Parents and teachers can develop children's learning thorough supporting
their interests in both traditional and new forms of writing, and also in differences between formal spelling styles.
They can assist them in developing their writing skills as a means of communication, upgrading their skills in this
new form of writing.
The second study is“Corpus Linguistics Study of SMS Text Messaging” A thesis submitted to The University
of Birmingham for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, March 2009 by Caroline Tagg.
This thesis deals with using a corpus of text messages in English to discover linguistic features, which define
texting as a language variety. The study focuses on how the language of texting, is shaped by texters actively
fulfilling interpersonal goals. The thesis starts with an overview of the literature on texting. This necessitates the
need for full linguistic investigation of text based on a large dataset. It then presents texting within the tradition of
research into the speech-writing range, which highlights limitations of focusing on mode at the expense of other
user-variables. The thesis also discusses the need for inductive investigation together with the quantitative corpus-
based frameworks that dominate the domain.

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The researcher concludes that spelling constitutes a meaning-making source; spelling variants are retrieved using
word-frequency lists, categorized pursuant to form function. Creativity plays an important role in texting despite
physical constraints. he distinct order of the most repeated words in CorTextcan be explained with references to
the frequent phrases they occur therein. Further, application of a spoken grammar model discloses the similarities
and differences.
The third study is“A field Study of Use of Synchronous Chat on Online Courses” by David H. Spencer and
Starr Roxanne Hiltz . New Jersey Institute of Technology in 2003.The study proposes Media Mode as the
independent variable characterized by for nominal values derived from the mixture of asynchronous discussion
forum. The researchers collect data from 29 course sections. Students' perceptions of the use of chats are
investigated. They use university records to determine grade distributions. The study comes to the result that
when students use chat they find it "rewarding" and not "complex.” However, its use not significantly related to
predicted improvements in outcomes for courses. Students seem more satisfied with face-to-face courses that use
Asynchronous Learning Network (ALN) as alternative communication media than courses that are entirely ALN
based.
The fourth study is “The Impact of the Internet on English Language Teaching. A case study at a Thai
Rajabhat University” by Usa Noytim is submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of
Philosophy in July 2006.This study investigates the potential of the Internet to support students' English language
development, superficially reading development. This research was conducted in two stages: stage one is an
enthusiastic investigation of students' current Internet practice both in and outside university. The outcomes of
this stage confirm the development of an English language program that incorporates extensive use of the
Internet. Stage two implements and evaluates the research. The study reveals that the university students have low
overall levels of Internet use, law levels of computer and Internet skills. However, there are highly levels of
interest and enthusiasm. It believes that Internet can play a positive role in supporting English language learning.
It has been confirmed in stage two that Internet is potentially a powerful source for teaching English.
3. Methodology of Research
The method used in the research is the descriptive method .The research paradigm adopted in this study is anti-
positivism approach. A number of descriptive techniques have been adopted. These include content analysis,
discourse analysis, conversational analysis, and text analysis. For data collection, the sources utilized include text
dictionaries, similar previous studies, chat rooms, and reference materials. The data analysis is mainly linguistic
analysis. No numerals are used. All the data are qualitative in nature.
4.4 Data Analysis
English Form Textism Category Process Aspect
Accurate aQr8 Adjective Sound, number abbreviation Phonology
Beautiful Utiful Adjective Abbreviation, sound feature Phonology
Busy BZ Adjective Abbreviation ,shortening ,spoken feature Phonology
That TH@ Demonstrative spoken, symbol feature Phonology
Chocolate Chocl8 Noun Abbreviation, number, sound feature Phonology
Earlier RIER Adverb Spoken feature, shortening Phonology
Forty 4T Number Sound, number abbreviation Phonology
Why Y Question word Spoken feature Phonology
Receive reCv Verb Capitalization of stress sound Phonology
Tomorrow 2moro Adverb Number, sound abbreviation Phonology
Emergency MergNC Noun Stress ,number sound Phonology

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International Journal of Language and Linguistics Vol. 3, No. 2; June 2016

Table No 4.1: Analysis of phonology

English Textism Category Process Branch
Form
Ninth 9th Number number ,sound feature deletion of vowel Phonology
Seprate sepr8 Verb abbreviation ,number, sound feature Phonology
Standard St & rd Verb Abbreviation, number, sound and symbol feature Phonology
Form FRM Noun Vowel deletion Phonology
The DA Article Spoken feature Phonology
Because B/C,CUZ,COZ,BCOZ Adverb Shortening, syllabus abbreviation, spoken feature Phonology
Very VRI Intensifier Spoken feature Phonology
I Wonder I1DR noun phrase Spoken feature Phonology
Are R helping verb Abbreviation, sound feature Phonology
You U Pronoun Spoken feature Phonology
Table No (4.2) Analysis of phonology
As is shown in the two tables 4-1and 4 -2, concerning phonology, here are some examples such as accurate ‘aQr8’
there is deletion of consonant( c’t) and vowel ‘u,a,’ also the use of number and sound feature. In beautiful
‘bUtiful’ there is deletion of vowel and sound feature, also there is a capital letter U which refers to the sound
you. In the word Busy ‘BZ’ there is deletion of three letters u and s and y, it is spoken feature. In the word That
‘TH@’, there is deletion ‘a ‘t’, also there is using of symbol@, the word chocolate ‘chocl8’ there is deletion of
vowels ‘o’, and the number 8 instead of ‘ate’ as sound feature. In Earlier ‘RIER’, there is capitalization and
deletion of vowels ’e, a’ and consonant ‘r’ this besides adding the consonant ‘r’ as sound feature. But in forty
4T,there is deletion of letters ‘f,o,r,y’ and using the number 4 instead. In Why ‘y’ there is deletion of letters ‘w,
h’, and using the letter ‘y’ as spoken feature. In word ReCeive ‘re Cv’, there is deletion of vowels ‘e,i,e’ and there
is capitalization, also there is capitalization of stress syllabus.
In the word Tomorrow ‘2moro’, there is a deletion of the letters ‘T,o, and r, and the use of the number instead of
To. In emergency’ Merg NC’ there is deletion of ‘e,e,y’. In addition, there is capitalization of letters like M, N, C.
In the word Ninth ‘9th’there is deletion of letters ‘n,i,n’ ,and using number 9 as sound feature. In Sepratejuxta
position ‘sepr8’ there is deletion of letters juxtaposition ‘a,t,e’ and using number 8 instead. In standard ‘St & rd’
there is deletion of letters ’a,n,d’ and using the symbol & instead, this beside the deletion of vowel ‘a’ it’s sound
feature. In the word Form ‘FRM’, there is deletion of vowel ‘o’ .In the word The ‘DA’ there is deletion of
letters‘t, h, a’ and using of DA instead as sound feature. In Because ,there are four ways of writing in textism
‘B/C’ here there is abbreviation of the two syllabus by two letters, but in ‘CUZ’ syllabus ‘Be’ and deletion of
‘a,u,s,e’ in the second syllabus and used letter ‘z’ its sound feature. In ‘COZ’ there is deletion of the first syllabus
‘Be’ and deletion of ‘a,u,s,e’ and using the letters ‘o,z’ instead. In ‘BCOZ’, there is deletion of ‘e,a,us,e’ and
using of ‘o,z’ instead. It’s sound feature.
In the word ’Very ‘VRI’ there is deletion of ‘e’ and capitalization of the letters ’VRI’. In the noun phrase I
Wonder ‘I1DR’, there is deletion of ‘w,o,n,e’ and using number 1 instead of ‘w,o,n’ and capitalize the DR. In Are
’R’, here there is deletion of ‘a,e’ and using the letter R as spoken feature. In You ‘U’, there is deletion of ‘y,o’
and here it’s spoken feature.
As the tables above indicate the effect of text messaging on phonology, there is abbreviation and shortening and
vowel deletion which lead to the damage of phoneme. In addition, there is a drop down of vowel in final word.
The user concentrates on spoken language in texting, but it damages pronunciation.
English Form Textism Category Process Branch
Oh my god ,gosh OMG Sentence Acronym Morphology
See ya CYA Verb phrase Acronym Morphology
ta-ta for now TTFN Noun phrase Acronym Morphology
Boy friend BF Compound word Acronym Morphology
You U Pronoun Blending Morphology
Your You’re Possessive pronoun Blending Morphology
2 to or too or two Number Blending Morphology
Bi Bye Prefix Blending Morphology
good morning GM Compound word Lexical Deviation Morphology
Good night GN Compound word Lexical Deviation Morphology
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Table 4.3: Analysis of morphology

English Form Textism Category Process Branch
go to go G2G verb phrase Lexical Deviation Morphology
Fanatic Fan Noun Idiosyncratic clipping Morphology
Facsimile Fax Noun Idiosyncratic clipping Morphology
Take to you later TTYL verb phrase Clipping Morphology
Be right back BRB Verb phrase Clipping Morphology
Enough said NUFF adverbial phrase Clipping Morphology
Hit Me Up Hmu Verb phrase Acronym Morphology
Ok KK Noun Acronym Morphology
Inference to or Hallow again RE Prefix Clipping Morphology
Hallo again or Re: Hi REHI Prefix Clipping Morphology
See You any time, any place ,any CUA3 Verb phrase Lexical Deviation Morphology
where
Table (4-4) Analysis of morphology
In these two tables 4-3, 4-4, the researcher would like to concentrate on morphology, in the first sentence Oh my
god, gosh ‘OMG’, here is abbreviation or acronym, the first letter of each word. In See ya ’CYA’, here there is
capitalization and using of capital C instead of See, and in the noun phrase at for now ‘TTFN’, here the first letter
of each word is written instead of the word, also there is capitalization.
In the Boy Friend ‘BF’, there is abbreviation for the first letter for each word, which is written in capital. But in
You ‘u’ there is blending, the last letter of the word is written in textism……..In 2 ‘to’, or ‘too’, or ‘two’ here
there are 4 ways of writing 2 ,’to’ as proposition, ’too’ as addition word, and ‘two’ as number .In prefix Bi ‘bye’
here in textism it written in different way. The compound word good morning ‘GM’ there is lexical deviation.
The first letter of each word is written instead. In the compound word Good night ‘GN’ also it is lexical deviation,
the first letter of each word is written but in capital like ‘G’ for ‘Good’ and ‘N’ for ‘morning’. In the verb phrase
go to go ‘G2G’ there is lexical deviation, the first letter of the word go ‘G’ and the number ‘2’ is used instead of
‘to’, also he first letter of the verb go ‘G’ ,which is written in capital. In the word, fanatic ‘fan’ there is
idiosyncratic clipping, the first three letters of the word ‘fan’. In the verb phrase talk to you later ’TTYL’ the first
letter of each word is written in capital in textismit is clipping. The same thing in the verb phrase Be right back
‘BRB’ the first letter of each word is written in capital. But in Enough said ‘NUFF’ here there is capitalization of
four letters ‘N,U,F,F’ and there is double F stress on the second syllabus, also there deletion of letters ’e, o, g,
h’.In the verb phrase Hit Me Up ‘hmu’ there is acronym and abbreviation by taking the first letter of each word.
In the OK ‘KK’ there is deletion of letter O and double of the letter K to mention the stress syllabus. Inference to
or Hallow again ‘RE’ in this prefix.
In See You any time, any place, anywhere ‘CUA3’, see is written C as sound feature and the same for You U,and
capital A for any and using the number 3 to refer to any time, any place and anywhere. The above discussion in
these tables indicates the effect of text messaging on morphology (the internal structure of word) there are many
processes structure of word. There is clipping and lexical deviation and acronym by using Abbreviation in
different ways.

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English Form Textism Category Process Branch

Hello to Bill HEYYYYYYY Noun Someone expressing a lot of emotion Semantics
BILLLLL in saying hello to Bill
Smile .. Verb using facial expression Semantics
Sad  Adjective Using facial expression Semantics
Crying &-(… Noun Symbol ,sound feature Semantics
Cookies @@@ Noun Symbol Semantics
Wink *w* Verb Symbol, letter Semantics
Big grin or :-D… Verb Symbol, letter Semantics
laugh
Lots of smile :-)))))))))…. Noun phrase Symbol Semantics
Dreaming 1-)… Noun Symbol ,number Semantics
Wears glasses 8-)….. Verb phrase Number, symbol Semantics
Keeping mouth :-x… Noun phrase Symbol Semantics
shut
Have an idea !:-).. Verb phrase Symbol Semantics
Table No (4-5) Analysis of Semantics
English Form Textism Category Process Branch
a cup of tea \-/? Noun phrase Symbol Semantics
Bored or no opinion :-1… Noun phrase Symbol Semantics
Talking or surprised :-o… Noun phrase Symbol Semantics
Glass with a drink .(usually booze) \~/ Noun phrase Symbol Semantics
Hugs and kisses Xoxo Noun phrase Letters Semantics
What’s up? ?^ Question Symbol Semantics
a rose @--/-- Noun Symbol Semantics
Cute :~)… Adjective Symbol Semantics
Shouting, or shocked :-O… Noun Symbol and letter Semantics
Person with a mustache ;-{)… Noun phrase Symbol Semantics
Table No (4-6) Analysis of Semantics
In the above two tables 5-4,6-4 the researcher would like to shed light on semantic as one of important aspect of
language. In Hello to Bill ‘HEYYYYYY BILLLLL’ there is capitalization and a repetition of letters to express a
lot of emotions. In smile the using of smile face and in sad the using of sad face. In crying ‘&-(…’ here the using
of symbols’ &,-(… .In cookies “@@@=’, the using of symbols @ and = although there is no relevance between
word cookies and the symbols. In Wink *w*, there is using of symbol * and the first letter of the word w. In Big
grin of laugh ‘:-D… Here the using of symbol:-,… beside the letter D. So, there is no relevance between the word
and letter and symbols. In lots of smile ‘:-)))))))))))…, here there is a use of symbols. In dreaming ‘1-)… here
also the use of number and symbol. In wears glasses 8-)….. , here the using of number and symbols. In keeping
mouth shut ‘:-x…’ ,the using of symbols and letter x. In having an idea ’ !:-).. ‘The using of exclamation mark
and symbols. The symbol \_/? , means a cup of tea, because the symbol look like a cup, beside question mark .In
symbol :-l…,means bored or no opinion .the form’ :-o…’means talking or surprised .it consists of symbols ‘:-,…’
and the letter o. In the symbols \~/,means glass with a drink (usually booze).In the symbol ‘oxox ‘which means
hugs and kisses the using of letters o and x to indicates this twice. In’ ?^’ which means what’s up ?here there is
question .In‘@--/--‘ which means rose here the using of symbols@ which it looks like flower and the symbols ‘--
/--‘.In ‘:~)…’ this symbol means cute. In ‘:-O…’ which is means shouting or shocked .In ‘;-{0…’,that means
person with a mustache.
According to the above tables, there is a clear effect of semantic on the text messaging. The using of emotion and
facial symbols and sound features, also the using of pictures and different shapes and using of metaphor by some
sentences.

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English Form Textism Category Process Branch

Be Seeing You BCNU Verb phrase abbreviation Syntax
Don’t care DC Verb phrase abbreviation Syntax
Don’t Believe Everything you Read DBEYR Verb phrase abbreviation Syntax
Be Right Back BRB Verb phrase abbreviation Syntax
Bye For Now B4N Noun phrase abbreviation Syntax
Good to Go GTG Adjectival phrase abbreviation Syntax
Go to go GTG Verb phrase abbreviation Syntax
Oh, I see OIC Exclamation sentence abbreviation Syntax
Thank You very much TYVM Verb phrase abbreviation Syntax
Wish You Were Here WWHY Verb phrase abbreviation Syntax
Table (4-7) Analysis of Syntax
English Form Textism Category Process Branch
Talk To You Later TTYL verb phrase abbreviation Syntax
Off Topic OT Prepositional phrase abbreviation Syntax
In Real Life IRL Prepositional phrase abbreviation Syntax
Off the Top of My Head OTOMH Prepositional phrase abbreviation Syntax
On The Other Hand OTOH Prepositional phrase abbreviation Syntax
Usually USU Adverb abbreviation Syntax
With W Preposition abbreviation Syntax
Keyboard KBD compound word abbreviation Syntax
As far as I’m concerned AFAIC noun phrase abbreviation Syntax
Smiling From Ear To Ear SFETE Sentence Abbreviation ,first Syntax
letter of every word
Table (4-8) Analysis of Syntax
In the tables 4-7, 4-8, the researcher would like to concentrate on syntax, for example in Be Seeing You ‘BCNU’
there is abbreviation by taking the first letter of each word. In the verb phrase doesn’t care ‘DC’ also there is
abbreviation by using the first letter of each word, but written in capital. In Don’t Believe Everything you Read
‘DBEYR’, the same thing of using the capital for the first letter of the word. In Be Right Back ‘BRB’, there is
abbreviation for the first letter of the word in capital. In Bye For Now ‘B4N’, we notice the abbreviation for Bye
and capital B for Bye, using capital N for now but using the number4 to indicate for. In Good to Go ‘GTG’, the
first letter of each word but in capital letter. The same abbreviation ‘GTG’ can be used for Go to go which makes
confusion. In Thank You very much ‘TYVM’, the first letter of each word written in capital. In Wish, You Were
Here ‘WW------In Talk To You Later ‘TTYL’, there is abbreviation for the first letter of each word. In Off Topic
‘OT’ there is abbreviation by using the first letter of each word. The sentences In Real Life ’IRL’ there is
abbreviation for the first letter of each word. In the sentence Off the Top of My Head ‘OTOMH’, ……In On The
Other Hand ,’OTOH’, here the abbreviation is the first letter of each word. In Usually ‘USU’, the …… In the
word with ’w’ the abbreviation for the word with by the letter w. In the word, Keyboard ‘KBD’ the abbreviation
by using only three letters KBD as spoken feature. In As far as, I’m concerned ‘AFAIC’ there is abbreviation of
each word by writing the first letter in capital. In Smiling From Ear To Ear ‘SFETE’.
It is agreeable that there is great effect on the syntax. There is abbreviation and the texter neglects the rules of
English language in texting. In text messaging, there are some words, which are related to chat speech especially
that are concerning the computer and key board.

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English Form Textism Category Process Branch

Parents Are Watching PRW Noun Phrase acronym Chatting speech
Back on Topic BOT Verb Phrase acronym Chatting speech
Failure Between Keyboard and seat FBKS Noun Phrase acronym Chatting speech
Back At Keyboard (I’m back) BAK Verb Phrase acronym Chatting speech
See You On Line CUOL Verb Phrase acronym Chatting speech
Open Mouth ,Insert key board OMIK Verb Phrase acronym Chatting speech
Parents Over Shoulder POS Noun Phrase acronym Chatting speech
Alt Control Delete ACD Words acronym Chatting speech
Table (4-9) Analysis of chatting speech
English Form Textism Category Process Branch
Fill In The Blanks FITB Verb phrase Acronym Chatting speech
Falling Off Chair –Laughing FOCL Noun phrase Acronym Chatting speech
Down loading –or Down load it D/L,DL Noun Acronym Chatting speech
,d/l, dl
Keep In Touch KIT Verb phrase Acronym Chatting speech
Pardon Me For Jumping In PMFJI Verb phrase Acronym Chatting speech
My parents are in the room P911 Noun phrase Acronym Chatting speech
Hit Me Up Hmu Verb phrase Acronym, means text Chatting speech
me, phone me
First In Still Here (someone who FISH Sentence Acronym Chatting speech
is on line Too much
All The Web or Around The ATW Noun phrase Acronym Chatting speech
Web or At The Weekend
Text To Speech TTS Noun phrase Acronym Chatting speech
Table (4-10) Analysis of chatting speech
In the above two tables 4-9, 4 -10, there are some speech concerning chatlike Parents Are Watching ‘ PRW ‘ in
this acronym this means take care. In Back on Topic ‘BOT’, means return back to topic. There is abbreviation by
using the first letter. In Failure between Keyboard and seat ‘FBKS’ which may mean there is no chatting. In Back
at Keyboard ’BAK’ which means ‘I’m back’, here the abbreviation is three letters ‘BAK’.
In See You on Line ‘CUOL’ which means see you on the chat. In Open Mouth, insert key board ‘OMIK’ here
there is abbreviation by using the first letter of each word which means be on line and let’s chat. In Parents Over
Shoulder ‘POS’, also here the abbreviation for every word is the first letter, which means take care. In Alt
Control, Delete ‘ACD’ the abbreviation of the first letter of the word. In Fill in the Blanks ‘FITB’ there is
abbreviation for the first letter of the word. In Falling off Chair laughing ‘FOCL’, this acronym means very
happy, the first letter of each word. In Down loading or Down load it ‘D/L. DL, d/ l, dl’ here there are four ways
of writing this by using the first letter of each word which is written in capitals and small. In Keep in Touch
‘KIT’, this acronym means be in contact. In Pardon Me for Jumping In ‘PMFJI’, this acronym means apologizing.
In My parents are in the room’P911’, here this means be careful, the abbreviation of parents by using the capital
preside the numbers 911.In Hit Me Up ‘hmu’ which means contact me, the abbreviation by using the first letters
of the words. In First in Still Here, ‘FISH’ the abbreviation for the first letter of the word. In All the Web or
Around the Web or At The Weekend ‘ATW’ this abbreviation means three meanings which make ambiguity. In
Text To Speech ‘TTS’ the first letter of the word which is written in capital.
Text messaging plays immense role in punctuation as well as in spelling. Punctuations make the discourse
intelligible in written texts. The absence of punctuation creates ambiguity and affects communication process,
thus lack of it causes information gap and misunderstanding among users.The effect of text messaging on spelling
is represented in the following pivots: the user will not be able to write correct spelling, hence effects on writing
formal messages, essays, and theses. Not only this point, but also the creative writing will suffer allot.
Another dimension of the effect of text messaging on punctuation is seen in losing the sense of language and its
beauty, neatness and stricter.

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Concerning SMS text messaging, there are a lot of effects on spelling. As mentioned in the table below, some
people write the wrong spelling and other write the textism. Here are some examples of words which are written
in misspelling and textism.
Correct spelling Misspelling Textism
Deviate Deviate DV8
Excess Exess XS
Melody Melody mLOD
Weird Weird wErd
Element Elament LMNt
Embarrassed Embarrassed MbRSd
Excellent Excellent XLNt
Extreme Extreame XtrEm
Genius Genious Gnys
Jealousy Jealousy jLSE
Juicy Juicey juC
Lottery Lottery lotRE
Marvellous Marvillous mRvLS
Relived Releaved rLEvd
Table (4-11) Analysis of spelling
In all these words, there isn’t clear rule for capitalization, also the omission of letters and abbreviation. Some
people make confusion between misspelling and textism and because there is no specific rule for textism, this
makes problem and difficulties in reading and writing text messaging. That one word can be written in many ways
however, people who know this language can communicate easily.
There are several possible explanations for the positive relationship between the use of textims and spelling
ability. The fun of text –messaging one’s friend, and relative freedom of spelling allowed in text messages may
increase children’s overall enjoyment of reading and writing as mentioned in the below table.
There is no clear convention for how words should be abbreviated, and like teenagers a young adults (kemp,2010,
Dejonge & Kemp,2010,Varnhagen et al,2009) here there are variety of textims. The most consistency was shown
for words that could be written as letter/number homophones (eg,r for are) but other words were written in a range
of ways, some dropping letters (e.g.Tthks for thanks),some changing spelling to represent sounds(e.g. Thanx)and
others doing both(e.g.tnx).Words which appear frequently in text- messages did not appear to have undergone
some conventionalized process of abbreviation, for example, the word “because” was re- written in 17 ways and
the word “tomorrow” in 29 ways.
Percentage of each typed of spelling produced for target words, from most to least consistent (spelling of>2%are
combined)
Word Spelling Spelling 2 Spelling 3 and beyond No of
1 spelling
Please plz Please Pls,plese,plse,ples,pleaz,plez,pease,pez,pleas 11
Everyone every1 evry1 Everyone,evone,ev1,ever1,eveone,everyone 8
Because because Cause Because ,coz, cos, becoz ,bcos, cuz, cuse, couse, couse, cas, becus, 17
becous, becau, becose, b1
Someone someone Some1 Sum1,som1,someone,sumone,smone,sme1 8
Thanks thanks Thx Thanx,thnx,thnks, tanks, thks, tnx, thax, thanks, tnks, tnx,ty,thxs, 17
Tks,tare,thanks
Tonight Tonight Tonight 2tnite,tnight,tonite,2nit 6
Birthday B’day Bday Birthday,b-day, B.day, BD, birthday, bifday, birfdi, birth, birthday 12
Tomorrow Tomorro Tomorrow 2moz,tomoz,2moro,2morow,2morro,tomrow,tomorrow,Tommoz,t 29
w mozx,2mo,2mororrow,2moru,2moz,2omoro,2one2tomozzo,morro
w,tmorrow,tmozz,tmrrw,tom,tomo,tomomoTomoro,tomoroz,tomos
,tomox
Table (4-12) Analysis of spelling

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In the table 13-4 there is example of some words and its category and its use in context to show how texters
exercise it.
Category Example Examples in context
Insider word Hottie MAKE OUT WITH HOTTIE
Insider word Fugly Is that like a fugly slut?
Abbreviation Feein how r u feelin?
Abbreviation Prolly you could prolly look them up on the net
Word combination Wanna I wanna sign up for the yhl
Word combination Gonna I am gonna be gone sat and Sunday
Acronym Bf SHE HAS A BF
Acronym Omg omg that is terrible
Alphabet/letter U What do u wanna talk about?
Alphabet letter 2day Did u go to skool 2day?
Phonetic Yer You get yer stuff done tonight?
Phonetic Wat Wat u doin?
Lower case I I almost cried
Lower case Elyssa R u talking to elyssa?????
Contraction Im Im so exited
Contraction That’s that’s not cool
Emotion word Hahahahaha Hahahhahahaokey
Emotion word Sooooooo Wow imsooooooo glad
Emotion acronym Lol Lolim not talking to you
Emotion acronym Omg Omg for social we have to do this
Upper case THAT Not THAT nervous though.
Upper case WASH U might have to actually WASH that sweater
Emotion punctuation ………….. So I was thinking…………….
Emotion punctuation :) :) doo it haha
Typographical error Crazy im too crazy
Typographical error Frwnch Just finished studying 4 frwnch
Misspelling Embarrassing how embarrassing….
Misspelling Progect It’s for like a psychology progect
Table (4-13) Analysis of context
In the above table (13-4), there is a category of some text messages word use providing examples for each
category. Text language use categorized broadly into short cut, representing modification of the spelling of
specific words and phrases, and pragmatic device, representation changes that reflect pragmatic aspects of the
message. It further classified into short cuts into eight smaller categories and pragmatic devices into smaller
categories. According to Netlingo (http://www.netlingo.com) and Urban Dictionary
(http;//www.urbandictionary.com), this appears to help to identify text language use and etymology. In addition,
there are typographical errors and misspellings.
With the short cuts category, there is classification of slang words which are commonly found on the Web as
insider word (e.g. Ahottie is a very attractive and desirable person; fugly something or someone that is extremely
ugly).Some words are commonly shortened by removing one or more phonemes or morphemes as
abbreviation(e.g. According to Netlingo.com, prolly is a shortened form of probably)and contractions of multiple
words into a single, phonetically spelled word (e.g. Wanna for want to) as word combination. Common acronyms
classified (lol for laughing out loud or bf for boyfriend) as a cronym. This beside substitution of a word or part of
a word with an alphabetic name (e.g. u for you) or a number (e.g. 2morrow for tomorrow)as alphabetic /number
words. Common phonetic spellings like (e.g. Wat for what) as phonetic new language words. In addition, there is
the use of lower case where letters should be capitalized (e.g. as in the first letter of a proper noun) as lower case.
There is also omission of apostrophe (e.g. that for that’s) as contraction. Within the pragmatic devices category,
some words express emotion such as representing laughter (e.g. hahaha)or repeating vowels to mirror pragmatic
lengthening(e.g. what at to represent a drawn out expression of surprise)as emotion words .
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Moreover, the use of upper case to represent emotion (e.g. WHAT to represent surprise) as upper case and
extraneous use of punctuation for emphasis (e,g.!!!!!!)or as emotions(e.g.,8-) as emotion punctuation. Also, the
common letter typing errors (e.g. know for now) as typographical error and apparently misspelled words (e.g.
hungary for hungry)as misspelling.
Some words received more than one classification; for example, from the table above, the insider word, h ottie,
was in all uppercase letters and so was scored both an insider word and as upper case. Other examples of multiple
classifications include im, classified as lowercase and a contraction error, and lol, classified both as a short cut
acronym and as a pragmatic device emotion acronym. Concerning SMS text messaging, there are a lot of effects
on spelling, as mentioned in the table below. Some people use misspelling, other use word as it in textism.
Correct spelling Misspelling Textism
Deviate Deveate DV8
Excess Exess XS
Melody Mellody mLOD
Weird Weird wErd
Element Elament LMNt
Embarrassed Embarassed MbRSd
Excellent Exellent XLNt
Extreme Extreame XtrEm
Genius Genious Gnys
Jealousy Jealosy jLSE
Juicy Juicey juC
Lottery Lotery lotRE
Marvelous Marvillous mRvLS
Relived Releaved rLEvd
Table (4-14) Analysis of misspelling and textism
In all these words there isn’t clear rule for capitalization, also there is omission of letters and abbreviation .Some
people make confusion between misspelling and textism, and because there is no specific rule for textism,this
leads to problem and difficulties in reading and writing text messaging. That one word can be written in many
ways. However, people who know this language can communicate easily.
Textism Word
& And
@ At
2 To
A ninglish An English
Abbrevi8 Abbreviate
Aftr After
ast*r*sks Asterisks
B Be
b4 Before
Capitls Capitals
Conversatns Conversations
Dictnry Dictionary
Em Them
Emergncy Emergency
Equllay Equally
ex!mants Exclamation
face2face face-to-face
Fone Phone
Hart Heart
hi-ly Highly
Instead Instead
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Langwij Language
LOL laughing out loud
Luv Love
Mobil Mobile
Msg Message
NE Any
Neibrs Neighbour’s
Neva Never
Nt Not
Othr Other
Ova Over
Parence Parents
Prepard Prepared
R Are
Recv Receive
Rite Write
Sed Said
Shud Should
Sumi Someone
Theyr they’re
Thiev Thieve
Tspoon Lteaspoons
tXt,txt Text
U You
Ur Your
Xept Except
Yung Young
SWDYT So what do you think
BTDT Been there, done that
YYSSWW Yeah ,yeah, sure, whatever
Table (4-15) Analysis of language notes
Text speak is characterized by its distinctive graphology. Its chief feature is rebus abbreviation. Words are formed
in which letters represent syllables, as seen in ‘b’, ‘b4’,‘NE’,‘r’,‘Tspoon’,‘u’,‘ur’,‘xcept’. The use is made of
logograms, such as numerals and symbols as seen in ‘&’,‘@’,‘2’, ‘abbrevi 8’, ‘b4’, ‘face 2 face’ and ‘sumi’.
Punctuation marks and letters are the ‘:-D’ aft title Laugh Out Loud.
Such forms are by no means restricted to Text spoken; they turn up in other electronic domains, such as emails,
chat groups, and blogs. Indeed, rebuses have a much longer linguistic history. The Victorians played games with
them, and children’s Christmas annuals have long contained puzzles using them. The only traditional type of
rebus that does not appear in Text speak is the use of pictures- such as a bee representing the word ‘be’. However,
in Text speak something more radical has taken place.
The nature of telephony, plus the on-screen limitation to 60 characters, has motivated a much more wide- ranging
and innovative set of conventions. Text speak has its own range of direct-address items, such as ‘F2t’ (‘free to
talk?’),’PCM’(‘please call me’), ’mmyt’(‘Mail me your thought’)and ‘RUOK’(‘are you OK?’).Multi –word
sentences and response sequences can be used, to reduce a sequence of initial letters. ‘LOL’ is used in the poem.
Other examples are ‘SWDYT’ (‘So what do you think?’), ‘BTDT’ (‘Been there, done that’?), and ’YYSSWW’
(‘Yeah, yeah, sure, sure, whatever’).Even more ingenious coded abbreviations have been devised, especially
among those for whom argot is a desirable safeguard against unwelcome surveillance. Texters seem to be aware
of high information value of consonants as opposed to vowels. It is fairly unusual to lose unless the words are
likely to be easily recognized as in case of ‘hi-ly’ and ‘rite’.

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But there are lots of instances where dropped (‘aftr’.‘capitls’,‘cn’, ‘emergncy’, ‘hart’, ‘instead’ ,‘mobil’, ‘nt’,
‘other’ ,‘prepared’,‘theyr’,‘thiev’,‘txt,‘yung’),or two (‘conversants’),or three (‘dictnry’),or four (‘recv’).’Neibrs’
is an interesting example, losing two consonants and two vowels(only one in American English, of course).'Msg’
loses three vowels and one consonant. ‘Equllay’ different-making a word look strange for its own sake (the
standard spelling contains the same letters, ’equally’). ‘A ninglish’ is also different. By moving the position of the
word-break, the spelling suggests a non – standard pronunciation- though in fact running the ‘n’ into the ‘e’ of
English is a perfectly standard practice.
Texters also seem to be well aware of the low information value of punctuation marks. There is no sentence
punctuation at all the poems with the exception of the double exclamation mark in the sixth commandment, and
apostrophes are dropped in ‘neibrs’ and ’theyr’. On the other hand, certain punctuation marks are given new
functions being used ludically in ‘ast*r*sks’ and there is a contrastive use of space (in the second commandment),
type- size (in the fifth and seventh), and colour (‘hat in the first and ‘XEPTIN DIRE EMERGNCY+’ in the ninth
are printed in red).
Hyphens are sometimes respected (three uses in the ’langwj’ poem).Capital letters are conspicuous by their
absence at the beginning of sentences, but are often used for effect- in the ninth commandment, for example, and
also in some of the acronyms(such as ‘LOL’). Why do they abbreviate? There is ergonomic value in abbreviation,
given that the number of key- strokes saved bears a direct relationship to time and energy and formerly
(depending on your service- provider) even the eventual size of your telephone bill. In a creation such as
‘ru2cnmel8r’ (Are you two seeing me later?’), the full form uses over twice as many key-strokes.
In 2004 David Crystal published “A Glossary of Text speak and Net Speak”, and ignoring the difference between
upper-case and lower- case usage, he collected about 500 Text speak abbreviations. However, only a small
number of these actually turn out to be in regular use. The vast majority are there just to be ‘clever’, illustrating
the possibilities of language play. ’ROTFL’ (‘rolling on the floor laughing’) may have had some use at the outset,
but its later developments (such as ‘ROTFLMAO’ and ‘ROTFLMAOWTIME’- ‘rolling on the floor laughing my
ass off…..with tears in my eyes’) illustrate idiosyncratic communicative one- up man ship rather than genuine
community usage .And some texters use such creation as ‘LSHMBB’ (‘laughing so had my belly is bouncing’).
Leaving out letters always runs the risk of ambiguity. From the receiver’s point of view, A single sequence can
have more than one meaning : ‘BN’- ‘been’ or ‘being’, ‘CID’- ‘consider it done’ or ‘crying in disgrace’, ‘cya’-
‘see you’ or ‘cover your ass’, ‘N’- ‘and’ or ‘no’, ‘y’- ‘why’ or ‘yes’. If message of transmitted love gets the reply
‘LOL’, it is up to you to decide whether it means ‘laughing out loud’ or lots of love’. It could make a big
difference to an emerging relationship .And you have to know your recipient before you decode ‘GBH’, which
can be either a ‘great big hug’ or ‘grievous bodily harm’ . There are similar ambiguities in the Text speak of other
languages.
From the sender’s point of view, there are also choices that can be made such as: ‘Good to see you’ can be
‘GTCY’, ‘GTSY’, ‘G2CY’, or ‘G2SY’; ‘I love you’ can be ‘ILU’, ‘ILUVY’, ‘ILY’. ‘Thanks’ can be
‘THNX’,‘THX’, ‘TX’, ‘TNX’ .Also, there is remarkable eight variants for ‘talk to you later’: ‘TTUL’,
‘TTUL8R’,’TTYL’, ‘TTYL8R’, ‘T2UL’, ‘T2UL8R’, ‘T2YL’,and‘T2YL8R’, and there is others like ‘what’s up?’
depending on how many U’s you bother to send: ‘WASSUP?’, ‘SUP?’, ‘WU?’, ‘WSU?’,‘WSUU?’, ‘WSUUU?’.
So, doubtless text- messaging dialects are already evolving.
No texter is entirely consistent use identical conventions. While a few abbreviation are widely (possibly
universally used, such as ‘txt’ and ‘msg’, others are not. Texters write ‘shl’ or ‘shll’ for shall, but Silver doesn’t.
Some would write ‘consult’ as ‘cnslt’. The seventh commandment is only partly respected, in these poems: ‘em’,
‘fone’, ‘langwij’, ‘luv’, ‘parence’, ‘sed’, and ‘shud’ are indeed ions of the way these quasi- phonetic
representation the way these words are pronounced, presumably in Silver’s accent.(That the spelling reflects a
particular accent is clear from such words as ‘neva’ and ‘ova’, where there is no ‘r’.
A West-Country speaker would presumably not want to leave the ‘r’ out- nor, for that matter, would most
Americans.) But other words are not given a phonetic from. The full standard English spelling given to
‘infectious’, ‘children’, ‘vulnerable’, ‘symptoms’, ‘serious’, and so on indicates that we are dealing here with a
literary genre, not a real text situation at all. To my mind, this is one of the most interesting things about the way
texting has evolved. It is a new genre. It began to be used in poetry very early on, in The Guardian’s text-
messaging poetry competitions.

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It was only a matter of time before a texting poet arrived on the scene, and a website where doubtless the genre
will be fully exploited and explored as time goes by. Text –message stories- even novels- are also already being
circulated. The Silver Poems illustrate the strengths of texting, and also its limitations. The more unusual the
word, the more it needs to be spelt out in full. There must be a serious limit to the amount of information which
can be conveyed using abbreviation and a real risk of ambiguity as soon as people try to go beyond a stock set of
social phrases. The set of possible messages is really very small, and only there are few abbreviations such as
‘C’(‘see’), ‘B’ (be’), ‘2’(to, too, two’), ‘4’(‘for’, ‘fore’, ‘fore’) and ‘U’(‘you’)can be in lots of sentences.
Will Text speak have an effect on the language as a whole? This is unlikely. The whole point of the style is to suit
a particular technology where space is at a premium and when that constraint is dropped, abbreviated language no
longer has any purpose. Its ‘cool’ associations amongst young (or at least, young minded) people will allow some
of its idiosyncrasy to achieve a use elsewhere, and there are occasional reports of Text speak creeping into other
forms of writing, such as essays. However, these are minor trends, only part of the novelty of the medium.
They can be controlled as part of the task of developing in children a sense of linguistic appropriateness in UK,
one of the basic principles behind the National Curriculum in English there. The genre could gain strength from
its literary applications, but it is too soon to say whether these have a long-term future.
Some people object to Text speaks. Some are amused by it. David Crystal said that ’’I am fascinated by it, for it is
the latest manifestation of human ability and young human ability, at that to be linguistically creative and to adapt
language to suit the demands of diverse settings, In Text speak, we are seeing _in a small way_ language in
evolution.
3

There are several possible explanations for the positive relationship between the use of textims and spelling
ability, the fun of text- messaging one’s friend, and relative freedom of spelling allowed in text message may
increase children’s overall enjoyment of reading and writing as mentioned in the table below.
There is no clear convention for how words should be abbreviated, and like teenagers and young adults (kemp,
2010, De jonge & Kemp, 2010,Varnhagen et al, 2009) there are variety of textims. The most consistency was
shown for words that could be written as letter/number homophones (e.g. r for are), but other words were written
in a range of ways; some dropping letters (e.g. thks for thanks),some changing spellings to represent sounds (e.g.
thanx) and others doing both (e.g.tnx).Words which appear frequently in text- message did not appear to have
undergone some conventionalized process of abbreviation: the word because was re- written in 17 ways and the
word tomorrow in 29 ways.

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Word Spelling1 Spelling2 Spelling 3 and beyond No of

spelling
Please Plz please Pls,plese,plse,ples,pleaz,plez,pease,pez,pleas 11
everyone every1 every1 Everyone,evone,ev1,ever1,eveone,evereyone 8
Because because Cause Because ,coz, cos, becoz, bcos, cuz, cuse, 17
couse,couse,casBecus,becous,becau,becose,b1
Someone someone Some1 Sum1,som1,someone,sumone,smone,sme1 8
Thanks thanks Thx Thanx,thnx,thnks, tanks, thks, tnx, thax, thanks, tnks,tnx, ty, 17
thxs, Tks,tare,thanks
Tonight 2night Tonight 2tnite,tnight,tonite,2nit 6
Birthday B’day Bday Birthday,b-day, B.day, BD, birthday, 12
bifday,birfdi,birth,birthday
Tomorrow 2morrow Tomorrow 2moz,tomoz,2moro,2morow,2morro,tomrow,tomorrow, 29
Tommoz,tmozx,2mo,2mororrow,2moru,2moz,2omoro,2one
2tomozzo,morrow,tmorrow,tmozz,tmrrw,tom,tomo,tomomo
Tomoro,tomoroz,tomos,tomox
Are R are u,ya, frnd, bf, bff ,f, frind, friend, frd, fwend, being ,bng,
friend friend frend being,ben,beein,been,b’inwold,wuld,wld,wod,woud,
being being bein sic,sck,(ick,ill,si,stick-I 4
would would wood xsited,exited,xcitd,xsited,cited,ecited,happy– 10
sick sick sik sebac,bck,bk,brb, 9
exited excited xcited btwen,btw,tween,b- 7
for 4 for tween,b/w,be2,betwem,betwn,b/w,o,be2,betwem, 9
see c see betwn,b’tweenabot,ab,aboute,abowt,abut,b, 10
back back bak ppl,peple,pple,peaps,peep,peephole,people,pepl,peoples 2
between between betwen whn,whee,time,message,mesge,mess,mssge,messge,msge,t 3
xt,mesag,ms,sms.(picture of envelope) 7
Dnt,d’nt,do not, 12
about about bout Scool,schl,scol,skewl,skl,shol,scul,chool,school,sckool,skw
people people peeps l, cnt,cn’t,cannot,cos,can, tex,tt,tx,(picture of envelope), 9
when when wen wot,wht,wha,wa,huh,waz, lat,lte,l8t,8te,8, 11
message message msg 4gi,fvorgiv,forgve,firge,fgive,for+(picture of present),soz 5

don’t don’t dont 15

school school skool 5
can’t can’t cant 13
text txt txt 7
what wat what 6
late late l8 9
forgive forgive 4give 7
9
Table (4-16) Analysis of multi-spelling
5.3 Findings
1. In text messaging as syntax is concerned, there is no fixed word order like in ordinary English syntactic
structure. In addition, there is replacement of pronouns. The texter usually doesn’t care of about English
grammatical rules (see you at four = cu@4).
2. In morphology, the internal structure of word, there is complete damage of words by many processes such as
blending (you = u) and acronym (oh my god= OMG).
3. In semantics, there is complete volition of punctuation, the use of symbols, signs, pictures and digits and this
sometimes makes confusion.
4. In the area of phonology, there is an omission of vowel letters which affects pronunciation (Great= GR8). In
addition, there is an omission of final vowel letter (accurate= aQr8).
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5. The use of abbreviations leads to differences in understanding of single words, because there are no agreed-
upon rules for abbreviating words. This resulted in ambiguity and the reader may not be able to guess the intended
meaning. So, the intended meaning will depend on the texter’s intention, unless there is an agreement between the
sender and receiver about the intended meaning.
6. Abbreviations used in text messaging are linguistically incorrect, but communicatively acceptable.
7. Using text messaging in poetry spreads the language of text messaging. Knowing of text messaging can help to
improve the language by adding a new channel of communication.
8. The using of colors, bold letters, capitalization, and repetition of letters in one word indicates stress or
importance of words. In addition, there is an overuse of numbers and symbols in text messaging as means of
abbreviation.
9. People miss-spell words and textism, which may have a negative effect on the correct spelling of English word
linguistically.
10. Women use longer and wider text messaging than men; on the other hand men use shorter and specific text
messaging.
11. Text messaging increases confidence and interaction in shy and lonely people.
12. Text messaging increases cheating among users by nicknames, because some people lie and don’t tell the
truth. Moreover, text-messaging wastes valuable resources like time and money, also it creates thumb pain, sleep
problem and finally, radiation is harmful for the user.
13. Some people think text messaging saves time, by using short words instead of writing complete words that is
why it becomes widespread in all sectors of the society.
14. The style of writing text messaging is informal; however, it spreads in the formal situations in universities,
schools, and companies.
15. Some people misuse text messaging by sending sexy and enticing words and pictures, which creates problems
for younger people. Moreover, texting during driving is dangerous and it results in accidents.
16. Text messaging leads to displacement of authentic, standard and direct communication.

References

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Baron,N. (2000),alphabet to Email: How Written English Evolved and where it’s Heading. London, Routledge.
Herring, S. C. (ed.) (1996). Computer-mediated communication: Linguistic, volume 9, article 5, “social, and cross
cultural perspectives” John Benjamins, Amsterdam.
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