In today's world text messaging is taking the place of face to face conversation, and regular phone calls. But if you look closely at a text message, what is it really saying? No, I don't mean: omg, R U going to the mall? lol. This my friends is not true human speech, we homosapiens have worked hard at forming languages, words, and books. Don't let the digital world take it away from us. I was looking in a bookstore yesterday and I saw a whole section of books that were completely written in text message code. As a Fiction Writing Major, I wanted to scream; these books are taking the poetry of my words and all writers' way of diction.
As each century rolls by words have been disappearing from our tongues. For instance the word "Zealot" which means a person who is fanatical in support of a cause (Oxford Dictionary). Also the word "Yowl" a loud wailing cry (Webster Dictionary). I especially used the word yowl in a sentence from one of my stories as a kid and no one in my class not even the teacher knew this word.Here bygynneth the Book of the tales of Caunterbury
Here begins the Book of the Tales of Canterbury
Here begins the Book of the Tales of Canterbury
1: Whan that aprill with his shoures soote 2: The droghte of march hath perced to the roote, 3: And bathed every veyne in swich licour 4: Of which vertu engendred is the flour; 5: Whan zephirus eek with his sweete breeth 6: Inspired hath in every holt and heeth7: Tendre croppes, and the yonge sonne8: Hath in the ram his halve cours yronne,9: And smale foweles maken melodye, 10: That slepen al the nyght with open ye11: (so priketh hem nature in hir corages); 12: Thanne longen folk to goon on pilgrimages,13: And palmeres for to seken straunge strondes, 14: To ferne halwes, kowthe in sondry londes;15: And specially from every shires ende16: Of engelond to caunterbury they wende,17: The hooly blisful martir for to seke, 18: That hem hath holpen whan that they were seeke.
When April with his showers sweet with fruit The drought of March has pierced unto the root And bathed each vein with liquor that has power To generate therein and sire the flower;When Zephyr also has, with his sweet breath,Quickened again, in every holt and heath,The tender shoots and buds, and the young sun. Into the Ram one half his course has run, And many little birds make melody That sleep through all the night with open eye (So Nature pricks them on to ramp and rage)-Then do folk long to go on pilgrimage, And palmers to go seeking out strange strands,To distant shrines well known in sundry lands. And specially from every shire's end Of England they to Canterbury wend,The holy blessed martyr there to seek.
This is the prologue of the famous Canterbury Tales written by poet/storyteller Geoffrey Chaucer in the late 1300's. It was written in Old English, then translated centuries later into modern day English. I was forced to memorize it in my high school British Literature Class. I didn't understand why my teacher made us recite it, until now. This was the foundation that created the way we use words, phrases, sentences in all forms of media today: Radio, Internet, Magazines, Television. Old English was chipped and remolded to make the English language easier to understand.
When April with his showers sweet with fruit The drought of March has pierced unto the root And bathed each vein with liquor that has power To generate therein and sire the flower;When Zephyr also has, with his sweet breath,Quickened again, in every holt and heath,The tender shoots and buds, and the young sun. Into the Ram one half his course has run, And many little birds make melody That sleep through all the night with open eye (So Nature pricks them on to ramp and rage)-Then do folk long to go on pilgrimage, And palmers to go seeking out strange strands,To distant shrines well known in sundry lands. And specially from every shire's end Of England they to Canterbury wend,The holy blessed martyr there to seek.
This is the prologue of the famous Canterbury Tales written by poet/storyteller Geoffrey Chaucer in the late 1300's. It was written in Old English, then translated centuries later into modern day English. I was forced to memorize it in my high school British Literature Class. I didn't understand why my teacher made us recite it, until now. This was the foundation that created the way we use words, phrases, sentences in all forms of media today: Radio, Internet, Magazines, Television. Old English was chipped and remolded to make the English language easier to understand.
As we rely more on the web, people want to be able to communicate with others from different states and countries. My concern is that instead of deep messages and comments; everyone will be abbreviating words and condensing the size of information presented. We won't be able to fully grasp or be drawn into a story or piece of news, if it's formed into one small paragraph, to quickly get to the point the writer is trying to display.
I know that things have to change, the world evolves. Yet, as a writer I now have to choose my word's carefully, because my readers might not know what certain words mean.
*Tips: There is a website that I found very interesting http://www.lingo2word.com/ which translates text messages into regular English, for people who truly don't understand the text message code.
Image of Lauren Myracle's book ttfn).
Important concerns. Stuff and practices are disappearing. You could make a much more potent case, however, had you linked your way to the multimodal support sites. Lots about Chaucer out there. Lots about texting. Lots about almost all of your concerns.
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