Written Language Online

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Written Language Online

• Matt Garley
• University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
• LING 270 Language, Technology, and Society
• 23 April 2008

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Outline of this talk

• Languages in use on the Internet
• Language change on the Internet
• Crystal's Language and the Internet
• Thinking in terms of genre

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Languages in use on the Internet

• Obviously, English is not the only language on
  the Internet
• ButEnglish use is disproportionate to number of
  native speakers online
• Do people generally use their native language
  online?

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The Hardy Boys and the Case of the Missing
Language

• http//www.glreach.com/globstats/index.php3
• Example Hindi is by some counts the 3rd most
  commonly spoken language in the world, but
• Hindi does not appear anywhere on Global Reach's
  list of top 24 Internet Languages

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The Hardy Boys and the Case of the Missing
Language

• So, how to account for this discrepancy?
• Possibility 1 Relatively few internet
  connections among speakers of Hindi.
• Well, let's figure this one out with some
  back-of-the-napkin math.

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The Hardy Boys and the Case of the Missing
Language

• CIA World Factbook reports 60 million internet
  users in India (not the only place that Hindi is
  spoken, but we'll have to work with it)
• CIA World Factbook also reports that 30 of
  India's population speaks Hindi as a 'primary
  language'
• So, we'll guesstimate about 18 million
  Hindi-dominant Internet usersin India alone.

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The Hardy Boys and the Case of the Missing
Language

• So, Hindi estimated 18 million native speakers
  on the Internet (probably a gross
  undercalculation)
• Listed on Global Reach's top internet languages
  Catalan (2.9m online), Czech (4.2m online),
  Finnish, (2.8m online)?
• No Hindi!

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The Hardy Boys and the Case of the Missing
Language

• OK, so maybe Global Reach just overlooked all the
  people who must be using Hindi online
• Let's try another informal measure of language
  participation online How many articles in the
  Hindi Wikipedia?
• http//meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/List_of_Wikipedias
  There are fewer Wikipedia articles in Hindi than
  there are in Latin, Breton, and Azeri.

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The Hardy Boys and the Case of the Missing
Language

• Clearly, Hindi is grossly underrepresented
  online, but why?
• Encoding Well, maybe in the early days, but
  with Unicode, this shouldn't be a problem
• Perception of English as modern or desirable to
  use on the Internet now we're on to something!

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Social factors and language participation online

• India's relatively high rate of literacy in
  English as well as Hindi may have something to do
  with the lack of Hindi online
• If the most-commonly-used language on the
  Internet is English, and you speak English along
  with your native language, you might choose to
  use English online
• This can lead to a self-reinforcing systema
  'snowball effect'.

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Other factors and language participation online

• So what if, instead of Hindi, you speak a very
  small minority language, perhaps even one with no
  written form or a very obscure written form with
  no encoding?
• You're out of luck as far as using your native
  language on most of the Internetbut you can
  still Skype, Youtube, and other audio-based
  applications in your native language

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Language participation online Summary

• Using Hindi as an example, we looked at reasons
  why native languages, even very widely spoken
  languages, might not be used online
• Social factors preference of English as modern,
  fashionable, or at least already in use online
  this leads to 'snowball effect'
• 'Structural' factors no technological interface
  exists for some native languages.

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Onward to another aspect

• Another issue involving language and the Internet
  is language change onlinedoes the Internet
  change language?
• YOUTUBE BREAK!
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?v6gmP4nk0EOE

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Video The web is us/ing us

• This video was really just about the Web (rather
  than the multitude of services referred to as the
  Internet), but it touched on a few issues
  involving language change
• Are we teaching the Machine, or is it teaching
  us? All quasi-Orwellian nonsense aside, there
  remains the following issue
• Do certain technical restrictions (e.g. buffer
  size) play a role in the way people use language
  (Hint IDK!)?

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Acronyms

• One of the most commonly commented-on features of
  'internet language' is the frequent use of
  acronyms (IDK, LOL, WTF, IMHO, etc.)?
• This is a major indicator of a kind of code which
  David Crystal, in his book Language and the
  Internet, calls 'Netspeak'

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Language and the Internet Netspeak

• There is a widely held intuition that some sort
  of Netspeak exists--a type of language displaying
  features that are unique to the Internet, and
  encountered in all the above situations, arising
  out of its character as a medium which is
  electronic, global, and interactive. (Crystal,
  18)?
• On the next page, he goes on to claim that this
  'Netspeak' is working its way into everyday
  conversations.
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?v4nIUcRJX9-o

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Netspeak in everyday speech?

• Consider the commercial we just saw it's funny
  partially because it's absolutely absurdthis
  isn't the way people talk.
• Now, on to Chapter 2 Here, Crystal makes a very
  important insight
• A set of characters on a keyboard determines
  productive linguistic capacity (the type of
  information that can be sent) and the size and
  configuration of the screen determines receptive
  linguistic capacity (the type of information that
  can be seen) (24)?

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Limitations of online media

• So we have one factor affecting languagethe
  'hard' limitations of the technology. A keyboard
  can only type certain characters (excepting
  keymapping and so forth) and a screen can only
  display a certain amount of text at once.
• This will come in handy later, when we talk about
  facets, but I want to talk more about Crystal's
  book first.

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Distinctions between speech and writing

• An important distinction for Crystal is that
  between traditional speech and writing.
• For our talk about genres and facets later, I
  want to pull the following concepts out of his
  discussion State (Transient/Permanent), Time
  (Synchronous/Asynchronous), Context
  (extralinguistic content), Formality, Primary
  functions, Errors, Unique features of the medium.

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Netspeak Speech or Writing?

• So, where does this 'Netspeak' fit in with regard
  to speech and writing?
• Table 2.3, Language and the Internet (41-42)?
• Crystal talks about Netspeak as a third medium
  or novel medium combining spoken, written, and
  electronic properties (48)?

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Summary up to this point

• Language on the Internet, or Netspeak is
  different from other forms of language.
• Language on the Internet is able to be
  categorized as a whole
• Netspeak is a sort of hybrid code which has
  features of both spoken and written language and
  features from the electronic medium
• This is a new thing (novel, 48)?

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Well, maybe not...

• The Internet isn't the first communication medium
  which combines spoken and written properties, as
  well as factors like limited space.
• What are some others?
• Notes (written between friends in class)?
• Telegrams
• License Plates

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Chapter 3 Finding an Identity

• Talking about prescriptive and descriptive
  language use norms on the Internet, Crystal finds
  that style guides disagree! (surprising?)?
• And then, Crystal decides that it's time for him
  to talk about hackers.
• Recap This guy

is going to talk about hackers.
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Hackers (1995)?
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Anyway...

• Crystal talks about specific language hackers
  use, like 'suit' to refer to a business executive
  (specifically, a non-hacker) (p. 69)?
• But-- the Oxford English dictionary notes usage
  of this sense of 'suit' from 1979and mentions it
  as business lingo, not hacker lingo...
• Well, what about the other features of Netspeak,
  like all the acronyms?

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Acronyms

• Table 3.2, p. 85-86. I'm no hacker or anything,
  but I have been online for about 13 years now.
  Let's see if there are any I don't recognize in
  this big long list.
• atw, awhfy, bbfn, bfd, bg, cfc, cfv, cm, cul, dk,
  dur?, eod, f?, fotcl, fwiw, fya, g, gal, gdr,
  gmta, gsoh, hhok, hth, icwum, imi, imnsho, iow,
  jam, j4f, kc, khuf, mtfbwu, na, nc, nwo, obtw,
  o4u, pmji, ptmm, rotf, sc, smote, sohf, sol, t,
  ta4n, tafn, tia, tot, tttt, t2ul, ttytt, tuvm,
  wadr, w4u, wtfigo, wu, wuwh, X!, Y! (Id be
  surprised if these have any real currency
  anywhere), yiu, 2bctnd, 2d4, 2g4u, 2l8, 4e, 4yeo.
• I'm not saying these aren't ever used, but I
  doubt all of them are as common as Crystal seems
  to think.

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Acronyms, cont'd.

• Additionally, there are a few interesting
  inclusions in his acronym list, so I looked a few
  of these up in the OED to see when they are first
  attested.
• wrt 'With respect/regard to', 1956
• fyi 'For your information', 1941
• rip 'Rest in Peace', 1816
• iou 'I owe you', 1618 (!!)?
• Again, I'm no hacker, but I don't think the
  Internet was around in 1618.

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Acronyms, cont'd

• Well, so what?
• Basically, the fact that these sorts of acronyms
  were in use pre-Internet weakens the argument
  that the Internet has changed language
  dramatically. However, Crystals entire
  argument should not be lostthese features are
  used more often and more dramatically than
  elsewhere, theyre just not necessarily new.

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Recap 2, Language and the Internet

• Language on the Internet, or Netspeak is
  different from other forms of language.
• Language on the Internet is able to be
  categorized as a whole
• Netspeak is a sort of hybrid code which has
  features of both spoken and written language and
  features from the electronic medium
• This is a new thing (novel)?
• Netspeak is a new variety, and it will change the
  way we think about language, beginning a
  linguistic revolution
• (Ch. 8, p. 238)?

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Other Perspectives

• Christa Dürscheid, a German researcher, refers to
  this way of thinking about online language as
  Mythos Netzsprache, or the Netspeak Myth.
  Jannis Androutsopoulos, citing Dürscheid,
  characterizes this concept of Netspeak as a
  common way of talking about language online in
  the 1990s, and considers it a sort of first
  wave of studies.
• This line of research, which is what Crystal
  draws upon in his book, primarily relies on the
  synchronous/asynchronous distinction, and the
  unique features of online communication
  emoticons and acronyms.

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Toward Genre

• What about the particular restrictions of the
  Internet medium? Isnt there an argument to be
  made there with regard to similarities in
  Internet language?
• It depends on whether were even talking about
  one medium. Crystal divides the Internet in four
  (while acknowledging that other modalities do
  exist)
• E-mail, chat, virtual worlds, and the Web.
  What else is there, really?
• Well, one good question is whether we can count
  the Web as a single category Try comparing
  Wikipedia, a political blog, Nike.com, a fansite
  about Hannah Montana, and a Microsoft help site

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Problems with broad strokes

• Wikipedia, as a subcategory, is reasonably
  consistent, but this is in part because of the
  restrictions and guidelines imposed by the
  community. If you take blogs as a subgenre of
  CMC, you might not find much in common between
  the writing of news blogs, photo blogs, and
  personal journals.

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Problems with broad strokes, cont'd.

• This is the problem with the concept of
  Netspeak The Internet is way too varied a
  place to characterize as one medium, or even
  four. Take the distinction between chatrooms and
  instant messaging both are (near-) synchronous,
  and look pretty similar, but IM almost always
  involves only two users, while chatrooms are
  multi-party discussions. IM is generally
  conducted between friends, whereas chatrooms
  often contain groups of complete strangers.
  Consider the differences, also, within the
  category of chatrooms the discourse in a
  chatroom for an online course in library science
  will be quite different from that of a
  romance-themed chatroom for people in their 50s.

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Toward Genre

• So, given these problems, how do we study
  language online in a reasonable way?
• Answer Susan Herring (at Indiana University) and
  her system of 'facets'
• To simplify a bit, it's important to talk about
  the Internet in terms of genres. A genre can be
  summarized as something like 'personal
  journal-type blogs' or 'wiki-style pages', but we
  need a more reliable classification.

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Genres

• A nice way to think about genres
• Each genre has certain conventions. You're likely
  to find a 'signature', like
• Mike Dude, Ph. D.
• Assistant Professor, Department of Linguistics
• University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
• ...
• at the end of an e-mail or maybe a forum post,
  but probably not at the end of
• an instant message or blog post.

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Going back to limitations on the medium

• So, although it's not necessarily novel, and
  certain genres have a lot in common with, say,
  personal/want ads, license plates, etc.
• Take the example of text messagingthere's a
  limited buffer size, so there's pressure on the
  user to make his/her messages shorter. One way
  of doing this is through acronyms (IDK, my
  BFF...)?
• Thus, the form of the genre influences language

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Social factors Paolillo (2001)?

• Paolillo (2001) looks at the IRC chat room india
• Most of the chat was in English, but occasional
  switch to Hindi or Punjabiwhen?
• Greetings
• Jokes
• Situations of 'belonging' or 'cred'
• Also, 'Leetspeak' at one point (now it's mainly
  used for comedic effect) marked belonging to an
  'in-group'.
• The things people want to accomplish with
  language affect the use of language

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A faceted scheme for classification

• Take a genre of CMC, and look at two things
• 1) What influence does the medium have?
  synchronicity
• buffer size
• other limitations due to the system
• 2) What social factors are there?
• norms of communication
• topic of chat
• And so forth Herring calls these 'medium
  factors' and 'situation factors'
• http//www.languageatinternet.de/articles/2007/761
  /index_html/

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Benefits of the Faceted Scheme

• Able to compare two genres of language online
  with greater precisionavoid painting things too
  broadly
• Gets the researcher thinking about what specific
  factors might influence various features of
  language online

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Questions?