Is text messaging a new language (or a new variant/dialect of an old language) ?

Question

I honestly can't understand much of it! :(

But I find it interesting how new slang and vocab has devoloped around it

Answer 1

Linguists in general believe that written language is external to language, in the sense that it's usually just a written form of something that people would say. It doesn't usually change as fast as spoken language and is not subject to some of the same principles. So we wouldn't usually consider text messaging to be something separate from spoken language, more like a new orthography and register created for a new genre.

Answer 2

This is a jargon, as you have to respect the basic rules of the language and, thus, is not a new language, variant or dialect.

However, by this way the English is going to change, to become a language without specific references to the USA milieu, including concepts from all over the world, as the Latin did before disappearing, at least as lingua franca.

Answer 3

I think just a new twist on the old language. It's not as easy to type on a cell phone, so new abbreviations arise, as do new spellings of words and so forth. Teachers aren't very fond of this, as it shows through on students work, but what can you do? It's a new age, and new things are going to come into play that didn't even 10 years ago.

Answer 4

its just a variant of english modified to fit a smaller screen or type faster with less keys. some are in other languages, but its always a variant of an existing language that has been shortened.

Answer 5

Well, a lot of it has to do with l33t speak and how it developed on the old AOL/CompuServe.

So its a new variant of an old language.

Answer 6

I think it's based on "huked on fonix" the shorter the word the more you can fit in the msg. L8R

Answer 7

It was created by people who never learned to spell.