IS OUR language in jeopardy? It's a rare day that passes without a jeremiad from some eminent figure warning that digital messaging is leading to the demise of "proper English".
But those who focus on the shortcomings of texts or tweets overlook their advantages. Digital technologies have enabled a massive increase in writing, much of it for public consumption ? which, lest we forget, used to be the domain of professionals, from medieval scribes to Victorian novelists to science journalists.
This democratisation of writing has stimulated rapid evolution of the English language. Many more recent linguistic innovations are deceptively complex: even smilies and acronyms like "LOL" have hidden depths (see (see "OMG ? it's the textual revolution for language"). Far from wallowing in degenerate txtspk, we may be living in the most literate age in history ;)
This article appeared in print under the headline "Txtspk isn't the end of English"
If you would like to reuse any content from New Scientist, either in print or online, please contact the syndication department first for permission. New Scientist does not own rights to photos, but there are a variety of licensing options available for use of articles and graphics we own the copyright to.
Have your say
Only subscribers may leave comments on this article. Please log in.
Only personal subscribers may leave comments on this article
Subscribe now to comment.
All comments should respect the New Scientist House Rules. If you think a particular comment breaks these rules then please use the "Report" link in that comment to report it to us.
If you are having a technical problem posting a comment, please contact technical support.
jackie robinson Ron Jeremy Rudy Gay Jim Nabors The Americans bank of america online banking Adairsville Ga
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.