Ccaps Blog

Seasons come and go, and textspeak (or textese) never goes out of fashion. This was the theme recently printed in Megazine, of Brazilian newspaper O Globo on July 21.

Even I, a somewhat linguistic purist, have caught myself writing “u”, “luv”, and other abbreviations. It’s no use: if in some way we are Internet users, especially MSN, Facebook, Twitter and such, we end up in the same boat. It’s a question of economy, informality, and for some, identity.

Let us think about the speed of our online conversations and the number of online contacts we have. It is only natural that traditional spelling becomes more casual, basic, and therefore new genres and textual types appear, redefining the ideas of right and wrong, as well as rebuking the naive illusion that writing is a solemn act. Highly sophisticated forms, for example, may seem pedantic and inconvenient—you might appear to be from another planet or demonstrate superiority in the virtual realm.

In this sense, it is also interesting to think that language is an instrument literally at the hand of the user. Up to now, everything I have said is old, repeated. What’s new is precisely the possibility, with the alphabet at our disposal on the keyboard, to reCreate and customize the language. Those who think that graphic abbreviations are reductions in form are still out of context. It is these abbreviations that speak and amplify our new “selves” and ways of being. “Unowatimn” could appear bizarre, but through this and other variations we see the world through the lens of communities hr and thr, unowatimn?

You already know my reasoning: I don’t believe that x = y. They are different variables! I mean, textese exists and is doing very well, thank you. It transgresses English; it’s a parallel code, relatively autonomous. The etymology confirms that translation is transformation. Every linguistic form suggests some meaning. If we change the code, the narrator changes. The story is never the same if new storytellers project their own speech and amplify the interaction. Relax! This is not the Tower of Babel nor the Apocalypse; it’s democracy. =)

Therefore, there’s no such thing as “wknd” being equal to “weekend”. Fun begins Saturday, not Sunday!

C u around!

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1. TXTSPK (V2)

Posted in 09/07/2009 at 5.56 pm.
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