CHAPTER 2

LINGUISTIC PECULIARITIES OF E-MAIL COMMUNICATION AND

ONLINE CHAT
2.1 The Language and the Structure of E-Mail

Electronic mail, or email, as it has come to be known, is one of the most popular
applications of online digital technologies.
We can defy the linguistic identity of e-mail as a variety of language and in e-mail
conversations do not occur in "real time." You and your partner do not have to be sitting
at the computer at the same moment in order to talk. Unlike face-to-face encounters,
which are synchronous, e-mail discussions do not require you to respond on-the-spot to
what the other has said. You have time to think, evaluate, and compose your reply. A
person's ability to communicate effectively via e-mail depends highly on his or her
writing skills. Generally e-mail letters are divided into formal and informal styles.
Informal e-mail messages are more likened to the spoken variety of language, whereas
the formal ones to the written variety of language.(Brenda:2002).
Structural elements
An e-mail message can be dissected into seven components:
 the sender's name as indicated in your inbox,
 the subject line, as indicated in your inbox,
 the greeting that introduces the body of the message,
 the body of message, including quoted text,
 the sign-off line and name,
 the signature block. !).
E-mail consists of functional elements:
Headers
Format of the header contains four elements:
 The e-address to which the message is sent ( To).
 The e-address from which the message has been sent( From: ), insterted
automatically.
 A brief description of the topic of the message (Subject: ).
  The date and time at which the message is sent ( Date: ).
We give attention to the language of the subject, as it is the first thing that the receiver
receives along with the sender’s name. It is the element which helps to make a decision
whether open that message or not.
Greetings and farewells
Similar to writing letters or meeting someone on the street, the conversation
usually begins with a greeting of some sort. Different greetings set the mood for the rest
of the message, and sometimes may contradict the tone of the message. Adding the
person's name to the greeting - "Hi Pat," rather than simply "Hi" - always indicates a
deeper level of intimacy - or, at the very least, the fact that one made the small extra
effort to personalize the message (Dear Pat, Hello Pat, Hi Pat, Hey There, Greetings,
Hey Dude!/Yo!). !). It is important to take into account also the age, personalities,
professions, and social backgrounds. Most business e-mails usually open with: Dear Sir/
Madam, Dear Mr. Several types of writing have no greeting at all. Automatic junk-
greetings in many cases have included ‘Hi, Professor D’. E-mails can be used for the
sending out of information to all members of staff, so personalized greeting is
unnecessary. (Brenda,2002:5-10)
Farewells display fewer possibilities for variation, but the same points of principle
arise. Known farewells from traditional letter-writing are ‘Lots of love’, ‘Thanks for
everything’, ‘See you soon’ are used. Farewell acts as a boundary mark which means that
scrolling down is unnecessary as no further personalized text is following.

The body of the message

The body of a message should be entirely visible within a screenview, without
scrolling. Special attention is paid to the information which appears on the opening
screen. Many people do not read their messages before sending it. Misspellings are
natural features of the body message in an e-mail. They occur in any situation, where
there is fast typing.
Hav ei even mentiond it?
Some misspellings can make a reader pause.
Cab I pick you up at 6?
 It is possible for recipients to respond to an original message not by adding
reactions to selected parts of the original text, as illustrated above, but by editing the
original text so that only those parts which require reaction are left. The recipient can cut
one of the sentences of receiver and past it into the new message.( Angel:1994)
You know there are some problems concerning our meeting on Thursday. As we
have many plans and problems to discuss, we need much more time, so let’s change the
day of our meeting, let it be on Sunday. We can manage to discuss our plans.
Do you think on Sunday we can manage to discuss our plans?
The result is framing, which is consequence of the ease with which people can cut
and past from the original message.
In e-mails we can see the usual range of punctuation, which can be extended:
No!!! Or Why?!?
A series of dots - "trailers" - can be used creatively in a variety of ways. Usually
they mimic a pause in one's speaking. The addition of the "um" and "uh" helps simulate
the sense of hesitation and confusion in that faltering thought process. It mimics in-
person speech patterns: I must say that......um..... uh.... or Thanks.... and.... happy
birthday to you.....happy birthday to yooooouuuuu, my bestieeeeee!!
Smileys are also inseparable part of e-mail communication: Thanks for listening to
my rant. :-), Gotta go :-(. Like parenthetical actions, the accentuation expresses body
language - but body language that is always completely intentional and obvious: I'd
really love to hear about *your* opinion. I urge you to PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE keep
everything you have! In highly formal e-mail communications it is inadvisable to use
smileys or emoticons, but if there is a social relationship between participants, emoticons
can be perfectly appropriate. All these linguistic features are indicators of a more
informal, 'oral' style, breaking the traditional rules of standard written communication.
(Kadir:2012)

2.2 The language of chatgroups

People can take part in multi-party conversation online with the help of Internet.
They can engage in conversations either synchronously, in real time, or asynchronously,
in postponed time. This situations in which such interactions take place, have been
referred to in various ways: chatgroups, newsgroups, discussion lists, chatrooms, mailing
lists. Online chat can refer to any kind of communication over the Internet, but is
primarily meant to refer to direct one-on-one chat or text-based group chat (formally also
known a synchronous conferencing), using tools such as instant messengers, Internet
Relay Chat, talkers. ( Sanel H. 2007:7).
Chat is real-time, interactive communication on the web that takes place on a
dedicated discussion channel. The language of synchronous chat is characterised by the
following phenomena: frequent usage of initialisms, rebus-like abbreviations, elisions
and emoticons; spelling and typing errors, lack of punctuation, sentences and proper
names beginning with lower case letters, writing entire sentences in capitals in order to
put emphasis on the message and draw attention to it (Crystal,2001: 55-67). Chatgroups
involve several people, with message-exchanges often anonymous dealing with a wide
and unpredictable range of issues. In a synchronous setting, a user enters a chat and joins
an ongoing conversation in real time. Named contributions are sent to a central computer
address and are inserted into a permanently refreshing screen along with the contributions
from other participants. In an asynchronous setting, the interactions also go to a central
address, but they are then stored in some format, and made available to members of the
group only upon demand, so that people can catch up with the discussion, or add to it, at
any time. (Baron, 2006: 11).

There is a difference between e-mail and chat situations. Both e-mail and chatgroup
writers look for responses, but e-mail writer is surprised when no response arrives,
chatgroup writer is not disturbed when no response come, chatgroup messages are
considered to be support to an ongoing discussion, and it has some aims: to express
agreement, to remind that you exist. Sometimes people at the beginning of their messages
begin with the personality’s name, and the personalities greet their interlocutor by name.
But most writers do not use greetings and they pass to the body of the messages. In some
chatroom situations they may not greet, but all messages contain farewell of some kind-
or a simple name and often such expression as ‘Cheers’ or ‘Take care’. The name of the
sender is clear from the header. The body of a chatgroup message has an introduction, a
contentful message body and a close.
E-mail letters are divided into formal and informal. Chat end e-mail have differences
and similarities. They carry messages from one device to another. Chat is like having a
conversation, when you expect a reply in a couple of second, but in the case of e-mail,
when you write something and send, you expect a reply from a few hours to a few days.
Features of chat are typical of informal e-mail messages. In informal e-mail messages
the participants use shortenings, compoundings, word-letter and word-digit replacement,
emoticons and smileys, word combinations. Formal language is used mainly in academic
writing and business communications, whereas Informal is casual . E-mail conversation
appears private. Conversation in e-mails can not be interrupted. Chat is able to
convey voice and audio while e-mail cannot. The language of formal e-mail writing has
some features. It includes a formal tone, use of third-person rather than first-person
perspective, a clear focus on the research problem, and precise word choice, writing
words in full forms, for example, instead of writing 'don't' or 'isn't' it is accepted to write
'do not' and 'is not'. Avoid using colloquial words and slang terms. Passive voice is used
in academic writing, as it is considered more impersonal and more objective.
After this we understand that e-mail and online chat messages have their structural
elements and common features. Informal messages are more interesting and colorful due
to the features. The structure of messages have their characteristics such as greetings,
farewells, the features which are used in the body of the message.

2.3 Lingo-Stylistic Analysis of Online Chat and E-Mail Communication

Lingo-Stylistic Analysis of Online Chat

One of the most distinctive features of language found in Internet Relay Chat is
the way in which language is abbreviated and shortened. If we observe a chat room for a
matter of seconds, we can find a number of unique linguistic features. (Baron,2006:12-
16).
Shortening is the process of word formation. All shortened words function as
ordinary words do. The modern media demands information as quickly as possible,
saving the space written. Shortening is connected with the development of technology.
 Contraction is a shortened form of written and spoken forms of words.
Contractions are used in speech and in colloquial language.
Ann: What can u say abt that song, gd or bed?
Jack: I’m sorry, I havent listened to it yet, bt I promise i’ll do it 2day.
In this conversation we can find contractions ‘abt’- which is used in place of
about, ‘gd’ for ‘good’, ‘didn’t’ for did not’, ‘bt’ for but and ‘nx’ for ‘next’. These were
used to make conversation shorter and friendly.
Clipping is the process of forming a new word by dropping one or more syllables.
It is regarded to be colloquial and informal. This word-formation process does not create
new meanings, it provides stylistic value.
Here is an example of clliping.
Samantha: Gud evening, I hav a question, if I hav already learned abt Paul Verlaine,
shud I write essay abt him?
Thibault Levrev: Hi, no just find info abt that writer on Net, learn it and abt the celeb,
which your professor told u.
Samantha: Okay, thank u.
In this dialogue we see clippings, such as ‘hav’, which stands for ‘have’, ‘Net’ for
‘Internet’, ‘info’ for ‘information’, ‘celeb’ for ‘celebrity’.
Initialisms are a cluster of letters, usually ranging from three to eight letters in
length, which represent an expression or saying. For example the initialism ‘BRB’ stands
for ‘be right back’. It is important to state the difference between an acronym and
initialism. An acronym is a series of letters, which join to form a pronounceable word,
for example NASA or RADAR. An initialism however does not stand as a pronounceable
word on its own, it represents a series of pronounceable words.
Tom: Tigran SFLR, I’m so tired and C-P.
Jane: IMO u r tired because of your work and education.
Tom: IDK, TGIF and I’m home tomorrow.
Jane: LOL, Okay sis CYT.
In this dialogue are used initialisms; ‘SFLR’ stands for ‘Sorry for late relpy’, ‘C-P’ for
‘sleepy’, ‘IMO’ for ‘in my opinion’, ‘IDK’ for ‘I do not know’, ‘TGIF’ for ‘Thanks God,
it’s Friday’, ‘LOL’ for ‘Lough out loud’, 'CYT' stands for 'See you tomorrow'.
 Compounding is a process of word formation, combining two words to create a
new word. Compounding is a word, which is made up of two immediate constituents.
Compounds are written sometimes as one word, sometimes two words.
Mike: Dav there is a problem with my notebook.
David: Problems again with webcam?
Mike: No, I downladed a video, now I want to upload it on my page, but I can’t.
David: If there is need to write an e-mail, use my hotmail, if there will be any
question call me.
Mike: Okay bro, thanks.
In this dialogue two friends used compounding, for example: ‘notebook’ which
consists of ‘not’ and ‘book’, ‘webcam’ = web and camera, ‘download’= ‘down’ and
‘load’, ‘upload’= ‘up’ and ‘load’, ‘hotmail’= ‘hot’ and ‘mail’.
Unconventional spelling is one of the features of e-discourse, they are not
standard spelling for the target word.
Jack: Bro sory for disturbing u, can u help me?plz
Peter: Yes br, sure.
Jack: oh gud, thanx bro.
As we see some words with unconventional speaking are used: ‘sory’ stands for sorry’,
‘plz’ for ‘please’, ‘sum’ for ‘some’, ‘gud’ for ‘good’, ‘thanx’ for ‘thanks’.
Word-letter replacement is the process of replacing word by single letter. It is
one of the most important features of e-discourse.
Nadia: Where r u ??
Thibault Levrev: I’ll b there soon.
Nadia: y u r so late?
Thibault Levrev: sory plz.
Nadia: K.
Word-letter replacements are used in this dialogue: ‘r’ stands for ‘are’, ‘u; stands
for personal pronoun ‘you’, ‘y’ for ‘why’, ‘k’ for ‘okay’.
Word-Digit Replacement is used in netspeak, in this way the participants make
their conversation shorter.
Jack: Du u h8 me?
Caroline: No, y do u think so?
 Jack: U havn’t written me 4 1 week.
Caroline: Sorry, I traveled to Europe, I have a gift 4 u: a nice sk8.
Jack: Really? C u soon.
Word-digit replacement is used in this conversation: ‘h8’ stands for ‘hate’, ‘4’ for ‘for’,
‘1’ for ‘one’, sk8’ for ‘skate’.
Word combination. Crystal (2008) refers to word combination as accent
stylizations in which the internet users write the words in accord with informal local
language.
Laura: I wanna see u.
Lily: What has happened?
Laura: Lemme tell u the whole truth that u dunno know.
Lily: When r u gonna tell me?
Laura: C u soon.
Word combinations used in this dialogue are: ‘wanna’ stands for ‘want to’,
‘lemme’ stands for ‘let me’, ‘gonna’ stands for ‘going to’.
Smileys and emoticons
A smiley is a sequence of signs on the computer keyboard, which frequently
follows after the punctuations. A smiley can tell one what a person really means when he
or she does an instant comment. Here is an example with smiles.
George: Y r u so annoyed? :(
Luke: It concerns to my studies :/
George: So what ? :(
Luke: I didn’t pass my exam: :’(
George: Take it easy :) everything will be k.
Smiles and emoticons are used to add emotional coloring to this dialogue, to
express feelings more obviously. The emoticon :( shows sadness, :'( expresses crying and
:) expresses happiness.
Stylistic devices make the speech or writing more interesting, lively and colorful.
For that reason e-mail and chat users often use stylistic devices. Among the frequently
used stylistic devices in e-mail and chatroom interactions are the following 1) irony, 2)
epithet, 3) metaphor, 4) simile, 5) hyperbole, 6) metonymy, 7)inversion, 8) repetition, 9)
enumeration, 10) ellipsis, 11) climax
Irony
Irony is a stylistic device, which is used to convey a negative meaning. Therefore
only positive concepts may be used in their logical dictionary meanings. The contextual
meaning always conveys the negation of the positive concepts embodied in the dictionary
meaning.
Amy: Do u wanna live at Jack’s house?
Mary: oh, indeed I want.
Amy: Y?
Mary: That house was almost as clean as the dump.
Amy: And what do u think abt her?
Mary: Imo she is not neat.
This dialogue shows irony. One of the participants expresses her dislike towards
Jack. For it she uses the expression ‘as clean as dump’.
In this conversation, the first participant in her first sentence used a word
combination: “wanna” which stands for “want to”. In the sentences the participants used
word-letter replacement: “Y” stands for “why”, “u” for “you”, contraction: “abt” which
stands for “about”, “Imo” stands for “in my opinion”.
Epithet
Epithet is a stylistic device which makes the speech more colorful, vivid and
interesting. It is an attributive word, phrase or even sentence used to characterize an
object and pointing out to the reader some of the properties or features of the object.
Jennifer: u know I wanna 2 ask u about the latest book u have read. Was it interesting?
Diana: I tell u that it was almost with a cruel joy that I read the latter part of the book.
Or for example
Dean: hav u ever seen such kind of dog?
Liam: So loyal, it is man’s best friend.
Epithet shows emotional attitude of the participant towards the object spoken of.
It expresses a characteristic of an object, both existing and imaginary. In the second
example the phrase ‘man’s best friend’ is understood as ‘dog’. Dogs have been such
important and loyal companions to the human beings, that they have earned the epithet
‘man’s best friend’.
 In first conversation, the participant in her sentence used a word combination:
“wanna” which stands for “want to”, a word-letter replacement: “u” for “you”. In second
example a clipping is used: “hav” stands for “have”.
Metaphor
One of the most frequently used stylistic device is metaphor. It makes a
comparison between two things that are dissimilar.
Sose: What do u think of this?
Nata: And the skirts! What a sight were those skirts!!!. They were nothing bt vast
decorated pyramids.
Sose: u r right btw on the summit of each was stuck the upper half of a princess.
Or for example
Ashley: Do u know her?
Arthur: Yes of course, she is a sunny girl but at the same time she is a fox and her eyes
are glistening jewels.
Ashley: Y?
Arthur: In many situations she acted very carefully taking into account everything.
In metaphors the image is always present and the transference of meaning is
actually felt. It creates stronger image in the reader’s head.
In first conversation, there is used a word-letter replacement: “u” of the personal
pronoun “you”, “r”, which is for “are”, a contraction “btw” which is for “between”, “bt”
for “but”.
We can see word latter replacements in second conversation too: “u” for the
personal pronoun “you” and “y” which is for “why”.
Simile
When we want to compare two things we use simile, which is a figure of speech.
The properties of an object may be viewed from different angles, for example, its state
may be based on adjective-attributes, adverb-modifiers, etc. Similes have formal
elements in their structure: connective words such as: like, as, such as, as if, seem.
Rose: Did u like his performance??
Melanie: I wanted to leave the opera ASAP.
Rose: Y?
Melanie: I mean listening to him was really unpleasant. His voice was like the lion’s
roar.
Rose: R u goin’ nx week to his opera
Melanie: Oh PLS, of course no.
In this dialogue the action is likened to lion’s roar, which is not pleasant. It shows
that speaker uses simile to express his/her feelings. Simile helps to express the
inexpressible. In other words, this example is the action that is described by means of
simile. In this conversation, there are used word-letter replacements: “u” of the personal
pronoun “you”, “r”, which is for “are”, “y” which is for “why”, we can see two clippings
“goin” which stands for “going”, “PLS” used for “please”, and an acronyms “ASAP”
whish is used for “as soon as possible”.
Hyperbole
Hyperbole is aimed at exaggerating quantity or quality. It can be defined as a
deliberate exaggeration of a feature essential to the object or phenomena. In hyperbole
there is a transference of meaning as there is discrepancy with objective reality. The
words are used in their direct sense.
David: Did u see how he rode his car?
Bob: His car goes faster than the speed of light..
Or for example
Dominique: U r dressed 2 kill me honey!!!
Melanie: Ohhhh darlin’ I have never loved anyone in the world but u.
In these examples the participant uses exaggeration to show his thought not on the
direct meaning, but on the great emotional influence. The speakers emphasize the
features of light and the look of a girl. In the first sentence the word-replacements are
used: ''u'' is used for the pronoun ''you'', ''r'' stands for auxiliary verb ''are''. ''Darlin' '' as
clipping stands for ''darling'', we can see the extended range of punctuation ''honey!!!''.
Metonymy
A metonymy is a device, in which one term stands in for something else.
Metonymy is based not on identification, but on some kind of association connecting the
two concepts which these meanings represent.
Jane: Did u hear abt the decisions the president had made? Now there r many rules
accepted for the safety of our country.
Miriam: I hav heard that the United States will deliver new products for u.
Jane: New products? I think the White House will announce about the decisions around
noon today.
Or for example
Miley: What was your first sentence when you went on the stage?
Selena: At first I greeted everyone and said ‘Ladies and gentlemen, please lend me your
ears'.
In the first example the participants in their conversation used the expressions the
United States and the White House, which are used to mean the ministers or members of
parliament, who make decisions. In this example we have word-latter replacements: ''u''
stands for ''you'', ''r'' stands for ''are'', clipping: the verb 'hav' which stands for 'have',
contraction: preposition 'abt' which stands for 'about’.
In the second example the participant used the word ‘ears’ to say that people
present there listen to her attentively. It is a metonymy because the word ‘ears’ replaces
the concept of attention.
Inversion
The stylistic inversion aims at attaching logical stress or additional emotional
colouring to the surface meaning of the utterance. It gives logical stress and emotional
coloring to the surface meaning of the utterance.
Justin: Talent Anush has, her elder sister Ann has not.
Bruno: Let go us on our topic.
Or for example
Justin: Speech she made, was better than yours.
Bruno: Yes, u r right.
In the first example the object is placed at the beginning of the sentence to
highlight and emphasize a certain word to fix the attention of the reader or listener. The
inversion is a stylistic device that is always sense-motivated, and it depends on the
context.
In the second example the participant used the object at the beginning of the
sentence for giving emotional coloring and logical stress. Two word-latter replacements
are used: ''u'' stands for ''you'', ''r'' stands for ''are''.
Repetition
Repetition is an expressive means of language used when the speaker is under the
stress of strong emotion. It shows the state of mind of the speaker. Repetition as a
stylistic device has different functions. It does not aim at making a direct emotional
impact, on the contrary, it aims at fixing the attention of the reader on the utterance.
Zac: I’m exactly the man 2 be placed in a superior position in such a case as that. I’m
above the rest of the mankind, in such a case as that, I cn act with philosophy in such
case as that.
Vanessa: From whence comes this confidence.
Or for example
Angelina: She couldn’t behave well during the ceremony.
Lia: What did she do ?
Angelina: Cn u imagine, she fall on the stage during the ceremony, she couldn’t act well
during the ceremony.
In these examples we have the type of repetition called epiphora when the repeated
unit is placed at the end of the connective sentences, clauses, or phrases.
In the first example we meet dome lexical features such as word-digit replacement: ''2''
stands for ''to'', a contraction: ''cn'' stands for ''can''.
Enumeration
Enumeration is a stylistic device by which separate things, objects, properties or
actions are named one by one so that they produce a chain, the links of which, being
syntactically in the same position ( homogeneous parts of speech), are forced to display
some kind of semantic homogeneity. Enumeration is repetition of the same part of speech
in succession.
Brian: Bad women as they r turned, may have in them sorrow, repentance, pity, sacrifice.
Marcus: i think she has got a capital appetite, goes long walks, and pays no attention at
all 2 her lessons.
Or for example
Theodore: My little brother asked me about the Thrinity.
Jasmine: What did u say him?
Theodore: I said that the Thrinity is the union of three divine figures: the Father, Son and
Holy Spirit.
 Analyzing these dialogues we can see chains of enumerations. It gives more
objective value of the participant’s conversation. It gives variety of thoughts and
feelings.
We can see word-letter and word-digit replacements in the first example: ''r'' stands
for ''are'', ''2'' stands for ''to''. In second example there is ''u'' word-letter'' replacement
which stands for ''you''.
Ellipsis
Ellipsis used as a stylistic device, always imitate the common feature of colloquial
language, where the situation predominates not the omission of certain members of the
sentence, but their absence. Ellipsis is the omission of a word or series of words.
Ann: How does he feel himself?
Olivia: He said everything was good. Yesterday he went to the hospital…and then came
home.
Ann: It’s gud.
Ellipsis adds a certain charm to the conversation. There is a series of dots, which
can be used creatively, they mimic a pause in speaking. ''It's'' is a contraction which
stands for ''it is''.
Antithesis
Antithesis is based on relative opposition which arises out of objectively
contrasting pairs. Two opposite ideas are put together in a sentence to achieve a
contrasting effect.
Noah: The true mystery of the world is the visible, not the invisible.
Logan: I agree that it is true; but my question was. It is normal?
Or for example
Emma: She is speaking all the time, it’s unbearable.
Sophia: Somebody shud say her that speech is silver, but silence is gold.
Emma: I’ll tell her.
In the first example we can see the semantic contrast, which is formed with the
help of objectively contrasting pairs ‘visible’ ‘invisible’. In the second example we see
contrasting pairs ‘silver’ and ‘gold’. These are used by the participant to add interest too
writing and for emphasizing the importance of being taciturn.
 One of the linguistic peculiarities used in second example is ''shud'' which is an
unconventional speaking standing for ''should'', ''I'll'' is a contraction which stands for ''I
will'', and the same is with ''it's'' which stands for ''it is''.

Climax
Climax is an arrangement of sentences which secures a gradual increase in
significance, importance, or emotional tension in the utterances, as in:
Lucas: I love u, love u as I have never loved any living thing. From the moment I met u I
loved u, loved you blindly, adoringly, madly!
Mia: I love u love u too.
Here we have emotional climax as it is based in the relative emotional tension
produced by words with emotive meaning. In many places of this conversation, we see
the word-letter replacement ''u'' which stands for the personal pronoun ''you''.
Having analyzed some samples of online chat, we have come to the conclusion
that online communication is colorful, real time communication, which looks like face-
to-face communication, as many lingo-stylistic devices, common for oral speech, are
used. Linguistic features, such as shortenings, compoundings, unconventional spelling,
emoticons, etc, make writing more natural, friendly and real. Stylistic devices make
writing more emotional and colorful.

Lingo-Stylistic Analysis of formal and informal e-mail

1----- Forwarded message -----

From: Ani Sargsyann <[email protected]
Date: Thu, 09 March 2017, 21:54 GMT +04:00
To: Barbara Colson < [email protected]>
Subject: Business request.
Dear Barbara Colson.
We are delighted to receive an email from your company. And this is a letter that
proposes to outline the partnership you and I discussed on 01.02.2018. I do not
consider the terms and conditions stated in this letter as I am open to negotiation.
 We have agreed that we will enter into partnership for the purposes of starting a
catering service. My main responsibility will be food preparation and purchasing,
and your responsibility will be accounts and marketing. We will pay ourselves and
our employees a suitable salary and split any profits after salaries 50-50. We are still
negotiating the amount of salaries. I propose we meet in two weeks on 03.10.2018 at
my lawyer’s office to confirm the salaries and sign a contract of partnership. But we
can meet at a time of your convenience to discuss the points on which we have not yet
agreed before we meet the lawyer.
Kind regards,
Ani Sargsyan
This message is a formal sample where the owner of the company writes a letter
to another owner of the company, which requested to work together. The e-mail
begins with ‘Dear Barbara Colson’, which is a formal beginning for the traditional
letter. This letter begins with the sentence showing respect and polite attitude. The e-
mail a small introduction about the outline of the partnership. At the end of the
message there is a polite farewell, which is used in formal letters.

2 ----- Forwarded message -----

From: Jennifer Anderson <[email protected]>
Date: Thu, 09 March 2017, 21:54 GMT +04:00
To: Jane Beckett < [email protected]>
Subject: Studies
Dear Mrs. Beckett,
Hope you are doing well. I have already read that story but I have not done the
analyses of stylistic devices. I have some questions to you.
I have been facing some difficulties. Please can you send me the whole
information about the usage of all stylistic devices.
My second question is: can I give you the analyses in two weeks??
Thank you in advance, I am looking forward to your answer.
This message is a formal sample where the student turn to the lecturer for asking
some questions. The e-mail begins with ‘Dear Mrs. Beckett’, which is a formal
beginning for the traditional letter. This letter begins with the sentence showing
 respect and polite attitude. The e-mail gives introduction about the student’s
questions and problems concerning to the task. At the end of the message there is a
polite farewell, which is used in formal letters.

3 ----Original Message----
From: “Jdavis12” <[email protected]>
Date: Tue, 07March 2017, 16:40 GMT + 04:00
To: “maryadamssd” <[email protected]>
Subject: Hi, Mary
Man, idk wo to say it, bcoz it sounds like such a cliche, but I have to: can we still b
friends? Omg, it sounds stupid, but give me a chance to be at last ur friend.
Please call me and let me know if this would work for u. Ur a valuable part of my
life, and I’d still like 2 have u in it. I hope to hear from u very soon.
BB4N
John Davis.
Cell: 578-844-3332
P.S. Think I AM In Love with ur sis...!
The purpose of this e-mail letter is to ask the oldest cliché question in the world. The
author has chosen e-mail to ask his ex-girlfriend about remaining friends after their split.
This is an informal type of e-mail. So the greeting is in most informal, slightly more
casual, friendlier greeting than “Hello”. It is probably not appropriate for the first e-mail
exchange with a stranger that is why it shows “closer than official’’ relationship.
But the author has written the greeting in the subject line of the message. It is
peculiar for e-mails sometimes to write the beginning of the letter in the subject line and
continue in the body of the message.
The message is rather close to face-to-face communication style.
There are several acronyms and abbreviations used in this e-mail, which suits the
general casual style of the message.
The acronym “idk” which is used in the first part of the e-mail letter (Man, idk how to
say it) is an acronym of the phrase “I don’t know”. It is an acronym which is used in
online chat, IM, e-mail, blogs, or newsgroup posting.
 The abbreviation “bcoz” (bcoz it sounds like such a cliché ) is an online jargon, also
known as text message shortand, used primarily in texting, online chat, instant
messaging, email, blogs, and newsgroup postings. The abbreviation “bcoz” is also met in
other forms “cuz”(“cause”) and b/c (“because”).
“Can we still b friends?” In this phrase the abbreviation b stands for the verb “be”.
There is also abbreviation “u” of the personal pronoun “you” in the phrase “if it will work
for u”. In this e-mail we also meet the form “ur” (“give me a chance to be at last ur
friend”) which is for “your”. “Ur” is used for “you are” as well (“Ur a valuable part of
my life”).
The “omg” is the abbreviation of the phrase “Oh My God”. There is another
abbreviation for “God”, which is “gawd”.
“I’d still like 2 have u in it”. In this sentence the sender uses the numeric 2 for he
preposition “to”. It is also usually used for the word “too”.
The farewell of the message includes both the preclosing formula and the
identification of the sender (“John Davis”). The preclosing formula is “BB4N” which
means “Bye Bye for Now”. This is an unofficial farewell.
And “P.S” used at the end of the e-mail is the common “Post Script”, which is written
after the main body of a letter. Post Script means “written after”. Though e-mail does
not need he Post Script text, because it is usual for the receivers not to look beyond the
sign off of the e-mail.

E-mail letters can be formal and informal. Formal letters are used for professional
(business and official) communication, but informal letters for personal
communication. A formal letter (sometimes called as a business letter) follows a
strict structure while an informal letter does not. Formal, professional language is
used in formal letters, but in informal letters informal language is used with slang,
colloquial terms, many features are used, which make letter more personal and
colorful (shortenings, unconventional spelling, emoticons, compoundings, word
combinations, etc).
Analysing e-mail messages, we can see that formal and informal messages differ
from each other. Linguistic features are not used in formal messages, full words
without contractions, acronyms and other features are used. It is not a personal writing
style. But informal e-mail is more personal and conversation-like due to the lingo-
stylistic devices. The linguistic analysis has revealed that informal e-mail and chat
messages have similarities: they both belong to real time communication, include
lingo-stylistic features, the language of chat rooms and e-mails shares both
characteristics of the written and spoken varieties of language. From the analysis we
believe it is the case that the language is a new variety of language, which is a hybrid
form of both written and spoken languages.