Nevertheless, 35.3 billion texts were sent in Canada last year. That is certainly enough to swing pop culture in a certain direction, and increase of a staggering 70% from the previous year. This quick change in culture has also had a relatively quick impact on our language vocabulary.
Erin McKeon, CEO of Wordnik, an online dictionary that tracks real-time language shifts, says:
"We know that language changes all the time, but it's usually like the movement of tectonic plates — slow and not necessarily affecting our day to day lives...Then something erupts and it's like, 'WOW!'
McKeon goes on to say that althought there is a massive input of new words being used in association with texting, most of it will be phased out as texting becomes a normal thing, and not a novelty. However, this article has sparked some extra questions in my mind that maybe we can discuss in class. Are new forms of communication affecting our language skills/vocabulary? Is it always negative?
McKeon goes on to say that althought there is a massive input of new words being used in association with texting, most of it will be phased out as texting becomes a normal thing, and not a novelty. However, this article has sparked some extra questions in my mind that maybe we can discuss in class. Are new forms of communication affecting our language skills/vocabulary? Is it always negative?
References:
http://www.montrealgazette.com/technology/Hugely+popular+text+messaging+spawns+language+change/2930387/story.html
I really like this topic! It seems as though older people do not adopt new words and phrases, but the younger generations quickly start using popular language. As our generation gets older, will this language continue or is it just a phase? For example, the word "hella." Will this become a normal word that we use for years to come? (I hope not, but I'm also from Southern California). And will certain phrases come to mean different things? For example, "that's sick" or "that's what she said." Will these newly popular phrases change our original definitions of these words?
ReplyDeleteThis issue has lately sparked a lot of discussion back in my home country, Turkey. As younger generations stop using phrases in Turkish and replace them with "cooler" English ones, older generations get exasperated and lament the fact that young people are losing their ties to their native language and culture. There was even a community that met regularly and tried to come up with Turkish translations of English words that the Turkish people use, such as DJ - or, disk jockey. The translations were actually very funny and unconventional, so nothing changed. I even think that it had a negative impact; young Turkish people are still abandoning the words in their own language to use English ones regardless of their level of proficiency in English.
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