Trumpųjų žinučių rašybos bruožai

L. NeviNskaitė. spelling features of text messages 275 LAIMA NEVINSKAITĖ Lietuvių kalbos institutas SHORT MESSAGE Short text messages (sMs), intended as an additional service at the beginning of the emergence of mobile phones, have become no less popular than regular phone calls in recent years. this is determined by various reasons, such as price, the ability to communicate without disturbing another person, etc. According to the Lithuanian Statistics Department, the number of messages sent in 2006 slightly exceeded 9 billion and remains similar to this day, which is about 25 million text messages per day (Lithuanian Statistics Department 2010). Since messages are a means of verbal communication, they can be the object of linguistic analysis. However, the main reason for interest in the message language is not mere scientific curiosity, but the distinctive spelling of the messages and its possible influence on correct spelling. The public debate is dominated by concerns about the language of messages and its influence on language usage in general – this is relevant both in foreign countries and in Lithuania (see discussion review thurlow 2006; Lithuanian discussions: Rotautaitė 2007; (Jackson 2010). The aim of this article is to examine the features of Lithuanian spelling in text messages and discuss their functions. The aim is not only to determine how the spelling of Lithuanian messages (writing of words, capital letters, punctuation marks) differs from the usual, but also to try to determine (based on the research of foreign authors and the author’s insights) why such ways of writing messages and compiling text are chosen. This article deals only with spelling, and does not go into the lexicon and other language issues, nor does it analyze the use of textual emoticons (so-called smileys) in order to narrow the object of the study. The study collected text messages from 75 people of different ages and from various service providers – a total of 2060. This sample allows to make a fairly complete list of the features of the messages. the article refers to differently than the first scientific 276 kaLBOs kULTūRa | 83 should be considered as exploratory and used for further assumptions rather than for final conclusions. For this reason, ir kai kurie kiekybiniai polinkiai, įvardijant rašybos bruožų paplitimą surinktose žinutėse. kadangi imtis nėra reprezentatyvi, minimi polinkiai tudetailed quantitative analysis results are not provided. the study data1 are discussed in more detail in the second section of the article. 1. FEATURES OF THE Short Message Language: RESEARCH The short message service was introduced in the mid-1990s. It took some time for text messages to be recognized as an object of study by language researchers, but since the 2000s the number of studies has increased (thurlow, Poff 2010). not only the features of the language, but also pragmatic aspects: the sequence of dialogue, the beginning and the end, the change of codes, the purpose of communication. also examines the pragmatics of message length, text complexity, grammar and punctuation, spelling and use of textual emoticons. The message language of younger individuals is the most studied, although they are not the only (but the most diligent) message writers. There is also a comparison of the message language of men and women, while there is very little research on other demographic characteristics (thurlow, Poff 2010). articles dedicated to the message language, where only the observed peculiar features of the language were named, now also looking for statistical evidence of their prevalence; conducting research on mobile phone users to find out the motives of texters for writing in the language they are writing; the first studies on the effect of texting on literacy and the quality of writing in other texts appear (thurlow 2006). Of course, there are also a number of more general studies of message communication, which are also important in explaining the peculiarities of message language. This article mainly relies on the works of foreign authors. We could not find published researches in Lithuanian language messages, only information about final students' works. Messages in Lithuania have been studied in other respects, for example, “love messages” have been examined (skabeikytė-kazlauskienė 2007), the negative effect of messages on language learning is mentioned in article 1. Empirical data of Viktorija steponavičiūtė’s master’s thesis (supervised by L. Nevinskaitė) are used (steponavičiūtė 2010). L. NeviNskaitė. spelling features of text messages 277 (though without providing evidence based on research) (salienė 2007), the attitude of young people to the correctness of language in various areas of language use, including text messages (Grigonienė, spūdytė 2010). the peculiarities of electronic discourse were thoroughly studied, but at the time text messages were not yet included in it (Ryklienė 2000 et al.). The research of text messaging language has many difficulties in collecting material – text messages are a private means of communication, not published publicly, so it is difficult to collect large and representative data. However, there are already the first attempts to collect messages systematically in foreign countries, the largest known project being the one called “Done your SMS to science” (Faites don de vos SMS à la science) in the French-speaking part of Belgium in 2004. A textbook of 30,000 messages was prepared, which included messages from the most diverse social groups. A toll-free number was set up to collect messages, and a small form was requested on the Internet, where people would enter basic sociodemographic information about themselves. in order to collect as much material as possible, the project was widely advertised through the media. in the text, the messages were edited (personal information deleted, etc.) and rewritten in common French, because otherwise some of the text would have been difficult to understand. thus creating an essentially bilingual message text (Fairon, Paumier 2006). Most researchers agree that the language of messages differs significantly from the usual language (of course, this depends on the language users – especially in this respect, the language of youth is distinguished). It has been suggested that this is an emerging independent language register (vosloo 2009). In English, this variant of the language has already a permanent name texting language, and individual elements of it are called textisms. In Lithuanian, this has been called “notification” (Miliūnaitė 2008), but so far this term is not widely used. 1.1 Message functions and their influence on the language of messages When examining the language of text messages, it is necessary to take into account the communication functions of the messages, as they determine the characteristics of the language used in the messages and can also explain the reasons for these characteristics. The literature indicates the following main functions of messages: affective (expression of feelings); fatic (keeping in touch), e.g. greetings, invitations, jokes, etc. ; social-coordination (e.g., to communicate what is happening, where is, what to buy, where to wait, etc.) (segerstad 2002; thurlow, Poff 2010). 278 kaLBOs kULTūRa | 83 Although messages can be used in some professional and subject-related contexts (mainly in advertising, but also in medicine, pedagogy, political communication, media, etc.), their predominant scope of use is informal personal interpersonal communication. Therefore, the message language is classified as an informal language register, particularly determining the nature of the language (segerstad 2002). The reasons for the emergence of a specific message language and its current use are also related to the functions of messages and the characteristics of their use. Four groups of causes can be distinguished. first of all, of course, it is a technology that forces a message to fit into a relatively small number of characters (160 characters). For a while this was a very restrictive factor, because on phones it was simply not possible to exceed this number – to send a longer text you had to send a separate other message. Although now many phones can continuously collect longer messages, but their price (for longer messages are paid accordingly more expensive) and perhaps still remaining habit limits. there is another technological factor: the normal phone keyboard typed text relatively slowly (to enter one character, you need to press the key from one to four times). This encourages the use of abbreviations and the search for other ways to compile text faster, such as choosing letters that are more readily available (segerstad 2002; Rivière 2002; Crystal 2008). The desire to write a message faster can sometimes explain the errors left behind – if it takes longer to type the right letter, a faster, albeit incorrect, version is left behind because it is assumed that the recipient will still understand the text (Rivière 2002). By the way, shortening is realized not only by spelling, but also by thought economy, telegraphic style, using shorter English words (ibid.). On the other hand, the shortness and other characteristics of messages are also determined by the communication functions of messages. Studies show that the authors of messages rarely use the allowed number of characters (for example, according to one study, the average message length was 65 characters), so brevity and the desire to quickly compile the text depend not only on the length of the message, but also on pragmatic reasons, in particular, the dialogic nature of communication, since the message often responds to the received message without repeating already known things (thurlow, Poff 2010). as mentioned, messages are mostly used for informal personal communication, which leads to an informal style of their speech, irregular spelling. the third reason for the differences between the message language and the usual language used in other contexts is the pleasure of playing with the language (Crystal 2008), breaking the rules. this is confirmed by the consumer survey – when L. NeviNskaitė. 279 who claim that it is interesting to create ambiguities, to play with the language, and such a game is understood not only in terms of content, but also in terms of expression. Students may find it interesting to break the rules more or less consciously. It is emphasized that it is a pleasure not only to create such messages, but also to read them (decipher them) (Rivière 2002). Finally, the differences in the language of messages also relate to the expression of identity (this motif is most associated with the language of messages of young people), because short and specific writing methods, in addition to the general language, require the knowledge of some internal information or code, and are incomprehensible to others (segerstad 2002). J. K. Androutsopoulos (2000) states that “non-standard writing can be a great and at the same time playful means for text creators (especially young people) to express their social identity by deviating from conventional norms; in this way they distinguish themselves from others (e.g., adults) and create a relationship with each other” (quoted from thurlow, Poff 2010: 9). and other researchers acknowledge that the messages actually use a kind of secret youth code, which is partly international (supported by English) and partly local (Mante-Meijer, Pires 2002). a separate message language can also be created by two people, for them such a language becomes an expression of their community (Rivière 2002). The expression of individuality must also be added here – messages allow individual creativity to be expressed (Crystal 2008), so it is sometimes difficult to tell which spelling examples are systematic and which are isolated. The message language is considered as a variant of the broader language of the electronic medium, having many common features with the language of other variations of this medium (blogs, instant messaging, chat rooms, forums and other forms of online communication). but even these varieties differ from each other – formality and other aspects. the language of the electronic media has both written and spoken features. Closer to written language are some web texts (portals, advertisements, etc.) that differ little or not at all from ordinary written language. However, there are also writing situations where the language, although written, has more of a spoken character (instant messaging, personal e-mails, etc.). time is a very important factor in these cases, as a quick response is usually expected; These messages are temporary, as they can be deleted or pushed away immediately (like in an instant message window). the language is urgent and energetic, reminiscent of a direct face-to-face conversation (Crystal 2008). 280 kaLBOs kULTūRa | 83 Dažnai cituojamame straipsnyje (thurlow 2003) skiriami trys žinučių kalbos sociolingvistiniai principai, kurie paaiškina žinutėse vartojamos kalbass features: brevity and speed; paraverbal restitution, i.e. compensation for the means of nonverbal expression lacking in written communication through text messages; phonological approximation, i.e. approximate spelling. These principles are manifested in certain specific features of non-standard message writing – most of them are characteristic of other means of electronic communication, but unequally widespread (thurlow 2003; Crystal 2008; tagg, Baron, Rayson 2010). 1) abbreviations of various kinds: a few middle or last letters are omitted, the last letter is not written; 2) acronyms and initials; 3) alphabetic homophones (e.g., u = you), homophones composed of letters and numbers (e.g., 2night = tonight); 4) “wrong” (intentional) spelling and proofreading errors; 5) unconventional spelling (e.g., cuz = because); 6) accent stylization, dialect and spoken language spelling; 7) joined words (e.g., thankyou, ohdear); 8) writing without capital letters; (9) means of typographical distinction (e.g. writing individual words in capital letters only, using an asterisk to emphasise a word); 10) use of multiple punctuation marks to express emotions (e.g. multiple exclamation marks). Messages written in different languages have similar spelling features, although some languages use some tools more than others, because language characteristics make some tools more suitable for some languages and less suitable for others (see reviews in Crystal 2008: 123–148; thurlow, Poff 2010: 5). as mentioned above, there is a growing number of empirical studies that quantitatively investigate the prevalence of such spelling features in messages and provide more support for a view of prevailing stereotypes. Many researchers note that the statistically examined messages contain not bruožų, kaip galėtų atrodyti skaitant baimę keliančius straipsnius populiariojoje žiniasklaidoje. Be to, žinutėse naudojami trumpiniai ne tokie ir „egso many abbreviations and other non-standard spelling errors." therefore, the message language is not an exclusive language: in the messages studied very few abbreviations or other forms of writing are new or incomprehensible without the context in which they were written, even to an outside observer (segerstad L. NeviNskaitė. spelling characteristics of text messages 281 2002; thurlow 2003). Most of these messages could be written on a piece of paper sticked on the door of the fridge or left on the table – where the same rule of brevity applies. Therefore, it is concluded that the claims of the popular media and some linguistic researchers about the incomprehensibility and uniqueness of the message language are greatly exaggerated because they do not take into account the discursive significance of the use of language in specific situations (thurlow, Poff 2010). 1.3. Impact of messages on literacy As already mentioned, the proliferation of messages is often assessed negatively. There is concern that their writing is depleting language and that the literacy skills of young people are deteriorating. The main concern is that the message writing habits can spread to other texts where correct writing is required: “complaints have flowed from all over the world that message spelling features are entering the formal school writing register” (vosloo 2009). Empirical research in this field is relatively limited – so far, mainly features of message writing or message functions have been examined, but only the first studies where message writing is linked to literacy are being carried out. In addition, the results of the studies are mixed. In reviewing studies on the impact of texting on English spelling, researchers (thurlow, Poff 2010) state that only a few researchers have identified a negative impact of texting, while many other empirical studies show that texting does not pose a threat to general English teaching and learning. According to the results of a survey of Japanese students, most of the students surveyed said that texting does not negatively affect their writing skills; nevertheless, 64% admitted that some features of informal writing occasionally occur in their school writing (Lenhart 2008). However, the research method (how reliable is the students’ own opinion about their abilities?) should be considered critically. In this regard, a group of English researchers is most often cited, whose studies provide more positive evidence of the influence of messages. One of their studies revealed that texting and spelling marks were not related (cited from vosloo 2009), while another study confirmed that texting even positively affects reading skills and phonological awareness. Its authors examined the direction of communication (i.e. which factor determines which) and stated that texting promotes better reading skills, rather than vice versa. (Plester, Wood, Bell 2008). 282 kaLBOs kULtūRa | 83 The positive effect of text messages is explained by the fact that writing and understanding abbreviations requires phonetic awareness, which promotes both writing and reading skills. Frequently writing and reading messages can help children learn to write and read, as the limited length of a message requires writing in a concise, creative and playful way – which is a good practice. in general, children spend more time typing, experimenting and learning when sending text messages (Crystal 2008). In addition, Crystal argues that text messages influence the writing of other texts only in isolated cases: he relies on the comments of representatives of educational institutions in Scotland and England that the texts of student exams contain abbreviations characteristic of text messages, but only in a “very small” part of the texts. Moreover, the deterioration of young people’s writing (here he quotes the same complaints from the 1920s) is influenced not only by text messages, but also by other factors – television, spending time at the computer, decreased reading of books, i.e. reasons that existed even before the spread of text messages. so, although there are instances where the style of writing messages appears in other contexts, message writers generally acknowledge that the use of language depends on the specific text. In the aforementioned study of Japanese teenagers, a large proportion of respondents did not consider texting as “writing” at all. There is sporadic evidence that the authors of the messages are well aware of the contexts of language use – according to their own statements, they do not use abbreviations when writing to parents or on television (Crystal 2008). This is also indirectly confirmed by the data of a survey carried out in Lithuania on the attitude of young people to correct language: 91 per cent of students said that it was important for them to write messages correctly (6 per cent – g a n a s va r b u ), but only 9 per cent of students thought it was very important to write messages correctly (41 per cent – quite s va r b u ) (Grigonienė, spūdytė 2010). Therefore, the spelling of messages could be considered as a code change – when writing messages, switching to a different spelling and returning to the usual spelling when necessary. D. Crystal argues that writing training should be directed not only at spelling correctness, but also at the ability to recognize different contexts of language use – when which writing style is appropriate (Crystal 2008). It is important to note that this review only covers studies in English-speaking countries. No studies on the subject published in English were found in other countries. there are no similar studies in Lithuania. therefore, the results of such research can only be partially applied to Lithuanian. on the one hand, and for Lithuanian language users texting could have a positive impact, encouraging L. NeviNskaitė. 283 stimulate the linguistic creativity of young people by creating more opportunities to write. However, the Lithuanian language should be influenced by other (not relevant to English) spelling features – writing letters without diacritics, which can make it harder to distinguish short and long vowels, forgetting spelling rules. In order to answer the question about the influence of messages on Lithuanian language, it is necessary to carry out their research. 2. STUDY OF LITHUANIAN SHORT MESSAGE WRITING In order to determine the spelling characteristics of Lithuanian text messages, a study of Lithuanian text messages was carried out. The material was collected using personal social networks, and one school was also asked for help. The authors of the messages are native speakers of Lithuanian, some of them speak dialect. the material collected, according to the age and gender of the respondents, summarized in Table 1. The study also included advertising messages sent by various companies and mobile service providers. unless otherwise stated, the text below analyses messages written by individuals. 1 lentille. Message test sample Gender Age in total 9–10 years 16–19 years 20–30 years 31–40 years 41–74 years women 34 82 1003 39 314 1472 men 27 0 518 50 550 total 61 82 1521 44 314 2022 promotional messages 38 total 2060 difficulties have been encountered in compiling the text message database. Not all age groups use text messages equally, so it was difficult to get more messages from people in certain age groups. Technological disruptions were also not avoided, and it was not always possible to transfer messages to the computer. of messages collected for the study is not representative and mainly reveals the message writing habits of 20-30-year-olds. 290 kaLBOs kULTūRa | 83 Fuck you! up to 50% off payments in CiLi litas until 31 January in CiLi network in Vilnius, Kaunas, Klaipeda, Palanga, Druskininkai. More draugukortele.lt inform that we can provide you with 1700.00 Lt. amount of consumer credit by bank transfer. For more information - UaB “General financing” departments PC “Akropolis”, PC “BIG” and PC “PARKAS” or tel. 870033123. credit 123 - transparent financial services. Capital letters at the beginning of the sentence. Capitalization is also avoided at the beginning of a sentence when you leave no space after punctuation – your phone automatically turns on capitalization only after punctuation and space. The absence of a space does not change the typing mode, and message writers usually do not try to highlight the beginning of a sentence. The reasons for avoiding capital letters are probably the same as those mentioned for other text typing characteristics: the technologically limited speed of typing the message, because to switch the capital letters function in the middle of the sentence, you need to press additional keys. It is only noticeable that, although most of the messages are written in non-capital letters, some of the message writers may pay attention to it. One example was found (a lot of messages written by one person), where the pronoun you is written from the capital letter, apparently to emphasize the respectful attitude to the addressee (but even in the same message the name is written from the lower case): aišku su Tavim:) mokykloj jau? - Is that where you are? :) 2.5. Hyphenation The written text is usually divided by punctuation – such text is easier for the reader to read and understand. SMS senders also have the possibility to break their text into separate elements, to separate one sentence from another with the punctuation usual for written language. However, the hyphenation of text messages shows different usage tendencies and new ways of splitting the text. Separation of the elements of a sentence. In most messages, the elements of the sentence are separated by punctuation, but there are also those in which the written flow of speech is not divided by punctuation: to rasiau mail bet nesukonkretino pasiule atwykt i banka.i seb nueisiu pirmadieni prie darbo i swed nuwaz gal i akra L. NeviNskaitė. spelling features of text messages 291 ways of ending (not) marking. Very often, no punctuation is used at the end of a sentence, although Sakinio pabaigos skyryba. skiriant ne to paties sakinio dėmenis, bet atskirus sakinius, trumpųjų žinučių tekste išryškėjo keli skirtingi sakinių in ordinary written language it would always be a period or a colon: ai,medaus pawalgiau,tai nakti nekosejau / aha,gerai,keites tik mail,wisa kita tas pats The punctuation is not used at the end of both direct and interrogative sentences: Of course, there are such messages, although relatively fewer, in which sentences are separated by the usual way: period, exclamation mark, question mark, colon. There are also cases of inconsistent punctuation – if the text of the message consists of several sentences, the first ones may be separated by punctuation (probably to make the text easier to read), and the last one ends without any punctuation. For example: as gerai!be masinos sian / Well, seriously. Well, although sometimes a completely unique, but very common way of writing messages has to work – when sentences are finished with textual emoticons expressing emotions. so textual emoticons perform not only the role of emotions, but also inform the recipient about the division of the statement into sections: Good; -) but the only untruth was that I did not invite to the wedding:-D Hi.how are you? Did you go where yesterday? :-) I listen to his theory and laugh; -):-D about teenagers and how they get sick:-D:-D 2.6. Spacing between words and punctuation Another immediately eye-catching feature of the spelling of text messages – in many of them no space is left after the punctuation mark: Hi.tw.what do you do?how do you live?when do you go to Siauliai? aha,okay,changes just mail,wisa kita the same 292 kaLBOs kULTūRa | 83 There are also examples of inconsistent spelling, i.e., when space is left in one place and not in another (usually space is left when separating sentences, but not when separating sentence elements): to save characters. on the other tvarkiausi namuose,db irgi ziuriu tv. ka nuveikei snd?:) skyrybos ženklų nevartojimą ir rinkimą be tarpų derėtų aiškinti noru hand, there are many short messages where, even leaving a space, the message would still fit into the number of characters of one message. Apparently, in this case, the habit of writing a message works – the mobile phone user, accustomed to writing text in this way, writes it in this way all the time, regardless of the length of the message. It is noteworthy that this type of text collection is used not only in personal messages, but also in forwarded messages-wishes: let us learn to forgive, let us learn to love, let us rise to heaven on an angel's wing. Let's light the Christmas fire in our hearts, let it light up the way next time.. with holidays! Another feature of text entry is that no spaces are left and words are merged. Although in foreign literature this is presented as one of the characteristic features of the writing of the messages, in Lithuanian material there were few of them. The only instances of merged words in the investigated messages were companies or other names: to cia i cilikaima? :-* / I wrote a lot of articles in CVbank,and they are difficult:-* A more common case of compiling unusual text is when no space is left between the number and the word that follows it or precedes it, – apparently because the text is still easy to read (easier than if two words written only with letters were combined), but even such examples have been found only a few: Do not compare 10-year-old driver and half time:-* / I made you a 300-year-old / why is he 4 years old. Didn't he sing? / so I'm going home about half 12:-) so I'm going to review the most common differences in the spelling and typing of messages and ordinary texts. The analyzed messages also contained more of the characteristics discussed in the literature, but only isolated cases. There were only a couple of cases of exclusion (text highlighting) in personal messages – since there are so few of them, it is difficult to generalize whether they are just random or are used more often (in advertising messages such a way of exclusion is quite common). Tomorrow, L. NeviNskaitė. 293 A couple of examples were found, which can be called stylization of pronunciation, when writing means are used to try to imitate intonation: Okay:-* / yes:-* in general, from the collected messages it is clear that there are data to examine the change of codes (examples are found when English and Russian words are inserted), the use of lexicon (oral lexicon, dialects), but this is not the purpose of this article. t y June 18th, I'm going to be +1 year old.. Bük draugè&nepalik wienos siam reikale.. According to Palmira: the best time to rest-from 7.. so I'll wait!! ; -) iŠvaDOs It is now generally agreed that the language of text messages (especially the spelling) has distinctive features that differ from the language used in other contexts, and sometimes it is considered as a separate language register. The characteristics of the message language are mainly determined by its functions (used for informal, fast communication) and specific specific reasons for the use of the message language: technological-economic (limited message length and difficulty of compilation), pleasure of playing with the language, expression of social identity and individuality. The influence of the spread of message language on the ability to write in other contexts is of great concern. so far scarce studies in English-speaking countries provide more examples of the positive impact of messages. Their spelling tends to be regarded as an alternative spelling, which, as in the case of code change, is used in a specific text but is distinguished from other contexts of language use. In order to draw conclusions about the influence of messages on the Lithuanian language (especially on the use of diacritics), research is necessary. The analysis of the spelling of Lithuanian messages revealed that, although they use a number of peculiar spelling, punctuation and text compilation methods – which makes them visually significantly different from the usual written text – there were almost no messages that were difficult to understand, and many of these features can be explained by technological reasons, i.e. the desire to shorten and compile the text faster. On the other hand, it can be said that some features that came into the messaging language due to the limited text length, at least for some mobile messaging users remained as a habit, since most messages do not reach the allowed number of characters. It is possible that other motives mentioned in the literature are also active – the language game, the desire to stand out and break the rules, etc. The following main characteristics of spelling were identified in the analysed Lithuanian messages: most often written without diacritics, 294 kaLBOs kULtūRa | 83 coronal (v=w, i=j, ks=x) and irregular spelling, partly unusual abbreviations (construction and punctuation of some abbreviations differ, as well as which words are abbreviated), capital letters are not written, sentence elements and sentences are not distinguished, the requirements of normal text compilation are not observed (spaces are not left after punctuation marks). Therefore, fewer, but also different spelling peculiarities were found in Lithuanian material than in English-speaking literature, which is probably related to different language characteristics. J. K. 2000: Non-standard spellings in media texts: the case of German fanzines. – Journal of Sociolinguistics 4 (4), 514–533. C r y s t a l D. 2008: Txtng. The Gr8 Db8, Oxford: Oxford University Press. F a i ro n C., Pa u m i e r s. 2006: a translated corpus of 30,000 French sMs. – Proceedings of LREC 2006, Genova. Access via the Internet: http://pages.cs. brandeis.edu/~marc/misc/proceedings/lrec-2006/pdf/270_pdf.pdf G r i g o n i e n ė G., s p ū d y t ė i. 2010: Aspects of mother tongue literacy as a communicative ability of Kaunas College first year students. International Scientific-Practical Conference Competencies of the Modern Specialist: The Harmony of Theory and Practice. Accessed via Internet: https://ojs.kauko.lt/index.php/ssktpd/article/viewFile/59/53 internet & american Life Project, 2008. Website: http://www. pewinternet.org J a c k ev i č i u s M. 2010 02 04: In the writing of young people texts become texts, February becomes a wasari. Access via Internet: http://www.delfi.lt/news/daily/education/ jaunimo-rasysenoje-tekstai-tampa-textais-vasaris--wasariu.d?id=28580401 L e n h a r t a. et al. 2008: Writing, Technology and Teenagers. a report published by the Pew. Statistical Department of Lithuania, 2010: Database of indicators. Transport and communications. M7080307: number of messages sent. M a n t e - M e i j e r e., P i r e s D. 2002: sMs use by young people in the Netherlands. – Journal of Youth Studies 57, 47–58. M i l i ū n a i t ė R. 2008: The place of blog language in the current Lithuanian language usage scheme. – Lithuanian language 2. Website: http://www. "Lietuviukalba.lt/index.php?id=98" (in Lithuanian). lietuviukalba.lt. 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Access via Internet: http://vosloo.net/wp-content/uploads/pubs/texting_and_literacy_apr09_sv.pdf Received 23 November 2010 296 kaLBOs kULTūRa | 83 ORtHOGRaPHY OF sMs Summary the aim of the article is to describe orthographical features and functional properties of Lithuanian short messages. the data was derived from a corpus of 2060 messages written by 75 different senders of different age groups and various service providers. the material allows to get a full view of sMs orthography yet the sample is not representative thus the quantitative data is to be treated as preliminary. earlier research in some other languages has shown that peculiarities of sMs language are mainly determined by their functions, i. e. sMs messaging is primarily used for informal immediate communication and for certain specific reasons related to technological and economic factors (limited sMs length, ease of text typing), entertainment as well as social identity and self-expression. the analysis of orthography of Lithuanian sMs has shown that although the authors have used many original ways of spelling, punctuation and typing, hardly any message was difficult to understand while many of the specific features could be explained by the authors’ attempts at brevity and speed of typing, e. g. replacing w with v and other nonstandard spelling. On the other hand, certain features which evidently appeared due to the limited message size, for example, avoidance of space after punctuation marks, have clearly become customary to some of the senders because the majority of the messages do not reach the maximum size limit. the following specific features of orthography have been established: Lithuanian diacritics are seldom used; nonstandard spelling (v replaced with w, i with j, ks with x, other incorrect spelling); use of abbreviations (both traditional and new abbreviations, ommittance of parts of words, leaving out vowels, replacing parts of words with numerals); absence of capital letters; unpunctuated clauses and sentences; nonstandard typing (no spaces after punctuation marks). the Lithuanian sMs orthography is characterized by fewer specific features than the orthography of some other languages. For example, no acronyms and initialisms and homophones have been found in this material which may be explained by the different features of different languages. LaiMa NeviNskaitė Lietuvių kalbos institutas P. vileišio g. 5, Lt-10308 Vilnius laima.nevinskaitė@kf.vu.lt