What is the relationship between our spoken language and the language we use when we text?

Texting is a compact form of communication which is normally used to send brief messages to one another in the most efficient form. Texting and our spoken language have greatly influenced each over. Our spoken language today has been greatly molded  by text communication and vice-versa. The relationship between spoken language and text communication is very close for which will be the focus of this essay.

The first impact of text communication on spoken language is the use of acronyms, commonly used in texting. An acronym is an abbreviation, made up of the initials of a common phrase such as Lol (Laugh out loud) or Tbh (To be honest). The main purpose of using acronyms are to shorten speech in order for it to be written quicker, which is arguably the purpose of text communication, to write in an efficient way so that you can get your message across. Acronyms have slowly impacted the way people speak in everyday situations with the meanings, in some cases slightly changed. One such example of this is the use of the acronym Lol in spoken language which is usually used to signify that a joke is not funny and the use of Lol emphasises this point. This use of Lol is completely the opposite of what it was meant for but over time its become so that it does not correlate its actual meaning any more but it is is now known to be more of a way to acknowledge that something was funny but the person is not actually laughing. This use of Lol is used in both spoken language and text communication which shows that the relationship between both of them is very close.

The next factor is the use of emojis in text communications. Emojis are small digital icons which represent an emotion or idea in electronic communication. They have incorporated facial expressions into to electronic communication which allows words to have many different meanings,depending on the emoji which is being used. They have also allowed text communication to become much more like real life as facial expressions are a big part in how we perceive what someone is saying. For example, a message such as “shut up” would be perceived as fully serious, whereas that same message with a winking face at the end would give it a sense of sarcasm. The emojis have therefore allowed texting to convey a sense of emotion in the user which brings the relationship between text communication and spoken language closer.

My third factor is the use of omissions in communication and writing. An commission is the reduction of a commonly known word such as what becoming “wot”. An omission is used in texting to shorten a word in order for it to become more efficient when writing it. It also replicates the way we say common words as we often do not pronounce the actual word but a variation of it. Omissions are also influenced by slang used in the area where the text users are from. Words like “dat” and “wot” are used daily in many urban areas around the country. This has translated into a wide range of people using it in their text language, mainly for efficiency. That shows how slang has become a daily part of peoples life when texting which therefore shows how spoken language has impacted on texting which means the relationship between both of them has grown closer throughout the years.

One feature of both text communication and spoken language are idioms. An idiom is a common word or phrase which is only understood in a certain group or culture. One example of an idiom which is commonly heard in an about LNS is when people refer to nautical studies as “docks”. An outsider to the school would not understand this phrase as its meaning, although loosely related, the word “docks” would be not be understood as going to a nautical studies lesson by an outsider to the school. This is closely related to text communication as idioms are commonly used when texting, most likely due to the fact the most text conversations are between friends and acquaintances, so they will be more likely to understand the meaning of it. Idioms are also used as they normally shorten the understood meaning, which relates to texting as texting is meant to be a very concise and efficient form of  communication, which could explain their common use. This has shown that idioms are used to be understood in a certain group and be concice which shows the two forms of communication have impacted on eachover.