LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 12 : 6 June 2012
ISSN 1930-2940

Managing Editor: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.
Editors: B. Mallikarjun, Ph.D.
         Sam Mohanlal, Ph.D.
         B. A. Sharada, Ph.D.
         A. R. Fatihi, Ph.D.
         Lakhan Gusain, Ph.D.
         Jennifer Marie Bayer, Ph.D.
         S. M. Ravichandran, Ph.D.
         G. Baskaran, Ph.D.
         L. Ramamoorthy, Ph.D.
Assistant Managing Editor: Swarna Thirumalai, M.A.

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A Linguistic Study of Abbreviations in SMS

Naveen Kumar HC, M.A., M.Phil., Ph.D.

Abstract

Of late, whenever one sees a short form of a word in written communication, the common utterance is, “Oh! SMS Language!?” Abbreviations have become such inseparable parts of SMS lingo. Concerns are expressed about language deterioration due to the excessive use of abbreviations. Parents are bothered about their children getting addicted to ‘txtng’ (texting), i.e., lacking spelling skills. The teachers are getting the answer scripts with SMS abbreviations and are puzzled if they can accept those abbreviations as they too have begun to comprehend and use abbreviations like ‘u’. Linguists have been inquisitively observing the biggest ever language revolution happening due to the electronic medium. This article is an attempt to study the abbreviations used in SMS, their formation and variety. Through that, an attempt is made to analyse the techniques used in the process of abbreviation.

Introduction

According to the International Telecommunication Survey 2008, there are 4 billion mobile/cellular phone users in the world and the number of new users is increasing every year. Though internet is also around, individuals are preferring mobile phones for the portability and simplicity of usage. With the latest developments in the field of technology both computers and mobile phones have become one and the same as the facilities of one being available in the other. According to www.Cellular-News.com on the New Year eve of 2008, around 43 billion text messages were sent all over the world. The SMS is more popular than the voice messages. Whether it is English, regional script or regional languages with the script of English, people are choosing to convey things silently at the place of noisy calls. With the increasing need to be fast and brief in our communication, SMS (Short Message Service) has gained a great popularity.

This is only the beginning part of the article. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.

Naveen Kumar HC, M.A., M.Phil., Ph.D.
Lecturer in English
Government Pre-University College
Dandinashivara
Turuvekere (T)
Tumkur-572215
Karnataka
India
naveenhalemane@gmail.com
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