Lietuviškos raidės elektroniniuose laiškuose

GINTARĖ ŽALKAUSKAITĖ Vilnius University LITHUANIAN LETTERS IN EMAILS When reading Lithuanian emails, one is struck by the habit of many internet users to write text without Lithuanian letters. This way of writing is chosen for various reasons and becomes a habit that can influence typing outside the internet as well; moreover, it fosters a casual attitude toward spelling rules. To encourage internet users to write using Lithuanian letters, it is first necessary to understand the particularities of online communication, to know society’s attitude toward texts without Lithuanian letters, and to understand the reasons for writing this way. To achieve these aims, a questionnaire about the use of Lithuanian letters in emails was posted online, and 219 respondents were surveyed. In answering the questionnaire, internet users explained why they do or do not write emails using Lithuanian letters and how they view writing without Lithuanian letters. THE INTERNET AND WRITTEN LANGUAGE STANDARDS Before discussing the survey data, it should be noted that the language of online communication differs from conventional written language and is closer to spoken language. Although the text is written down, internet users do not regard its language as written. Researchers studying internet language likewise point out that it is a distinct variety of language, differing from both written and spoken language (Shorts 2001; Ryklienė 2001; Crystal 2006); therefore, the characteristics of internet language cannot be assessed solely on the basis of standard written-language norms. In many internet genres, some norms customary in written language are not observed; for example, English texts are characterized by abbreviations and phonetic spelling that distances them from standard written English. According to Tim Shortis, texts are abbreviated because people want to type them faster—when writing, words in sentences and letters in words are omitted G. ŽALKAUSKAITĖ. Lietuviškos raidės elektroniniuose laiškuose 275 arba atskiros frazės keičiamos raidžių junginiais (Shorts 2001: 18). Lietuviškame internete tokių trumpinimų daug mažiau, tačiau teksto rinkimas paspartinamas savaip – kaip bus matyti iš šiame straipsnyje aptariamos apklausos rezultatų, teksto rinkimo sparta yra viena iš rašymo be lietuviškų raidžių priežasčių. Ir vienu, ir kitu atveju, kurdami tekstą, interneto naudotojai nejaučia poreikio laikytis bendrinės rašytinės kalbos normų. Standard language norms are not observed only in personal texts, but also in business texts, where previously only standard language was used. Quite a few personal and business emails alike are written as a stream of spoken-language thought, without Lithuanian letters or punctuation. For some people, this way of writing becomes the only customary option. As one survey respondent put it: “where, then, are we supposed to write with Lithuanian letters at all? There are quite a few jobs where you don’t need to write anything except emails. And after work, we don’t write much besides emails either...” Writing without Lithuanian letters is probably the feature of internet language that most extends beyond private communication and violates standard language norms. For example, website addresses may be considered part of standard language, but only a few are written with Lithuanian letters—even the address of Vilnius University’s online academic journal devoted to the Lithuanian language lacks Lithuanian letters (www.lietuviukalba.lt). It is clear that the use of Lithuanian letters on the internet is a relevant issue and that existing attitudes are often contradictory. RESEARCH DESIGN Opinions about the use of Lithuanian letters on the internet can be found in the press, in publications devoted to the Lithuanian language, and online. Most often, these are personal opinions about the use of Lithuanian online—people urge others to write with Lithuanian letters and condemn those who do not. However, until now there had been no research into society’s attitudes toward writing without Lithuanian letters, nor any attempts to find out how many internet users write with Lithuanian letters and how many do not, and to understand the reasons for this choice. An attempt was made to answer these questions through a questionnaire survey. The reasons for not using Lithuanian letters may vary across different internet genres, so the genre chosen for study was the one most widely used by the public and encompassing both personal and business communication: email. 276 KALBOS KULTŪRA | 82 In March 2009, a fourteen-question survey was published on the website www.publika.lt. The questions and answers were formulated to avoid any kind of judgment, offer as wide a variety of possible answers as possible, and allow respondents to express their opinions in their own words. The survey was completed by 219 respondents of various ages. The largest group of respondents was aged 19–30 (59 percent); 17 percent were aged 31–40, and 11 percent were aged 41–50. The survey was also completed by eight respondents under the age of 19 and 20 respondents over the age of 50. Most respondents (79 percent) have a higher education; 12 percent described their education as incomplete higher education, while only a few percent had secondary or post-secondary education. The survey was completed by 86 men and 133 women. It may be asserted that the survey data reflect the attitudes and behavior of men and women of various ages with higher or incomplete higher education. First of all, the study sought to determine whether internet users still encounter technical difficulties when sending or receiving emails written with Lithuanian letters. Respondents were therefore asked: “Have you ever received a distorted email that had been typed using Lithuanian letters?” Those who selected “yes” were asked to indicate when they had encountered the problem—more or less than a year ago. Respondents’ attitudes toward writing without Lithuanian letters were explored with the questions: “Does it take you longer to understand what is written when the text is typed without Lithuanian letters?”, “Do you think typing text without Lithuanian letters is faster than typing it with Lithuanian letters?”, and “Do you think it is bad that many emails are written without Lithuanian letters?” Habits of using Lithuanian letters were examined with the following questions: “Do you use Lithuanian letters in the text of an email?”, “Why do you never or sometimes omit Lithuanian letters in emails?”, “Do you use letter combinations in emails in place of Lithuanian letters, for example, sh instead of š, and similar combinations?”, and “When do you use Lithuanian letters in emails?” Interestingly, respondents were willing to answer all the questions: where they could choose several answers, many selected more than one, and they wrote quite a few comments in their own words. This suggests that the survey questions and answers were appropriately designed, that the study interested respondents, and that it encouraged them to reflect on their writing habits. G. ŽALKAUSKAITĖ. Lietuviškos raidės elektroniniuose laiškuose 277 RESEARCH RESULTS Public attitudes One of the aims of the survey was to investigate public attitudes toward texts written without Lithuanian letters. Responses to the question “Do you think it is bad that many emails are written without Lithuanian letters?” show that this issue concerns the public—only three people did not know how to answer. Almost 20 percent of respondents considered writing without Lithuanian letters “nothing bad”; more than 30 percent thought it was neither bad nor good, while the largest group (48 percent) regarded it as a bad practice (see Fig. 1). 1. – is bad because... – 48.40 percent 2. – neither good nor bad – 30.59 percent 3. – nothing bad – 19.63 percent 4. – no opinion – 1.37 percent FIG. 1. Distribution of responses to the question “Do you think it is bad that many emails are written without Lithuanian letters?” The responses show that writing without Lithuanian letters is viewed in various ways: although most respondents evaluated it negatively, a relatively large percentage maintain that it is not bad. Those who evaluated writing without Lithuanian letters negatively also commented on their answers in their own words. These comments were made by respondents in all age groups and with varying levels of education. The largest number of respondents (44) said that the literacy of people who write without Lithuanian letters is declining, for example: “writing skills are deteriorating, especially among people who already have a poorer grasp of Lithuanian grammar,” “people get used to writing incorrectly,” “once you get used to writing without Lithuanian letters, when writing with them you make more mistakes because of the habit you have formed. In some texts people begin to write* * The spelling and punctuation of the quoted comments have been corrected. 278 KALBOS KULTŪRA | 82 in Lithuanian letters, while, once immersed in the text, one writes without them.” Thirty respondents indicated that writing without Lithuanian letters harms the language: “impoverishes the native language,” “distorts the Lithuanian language,” “destroys the language.” Thirteen respondents described writing without Lithuanian letters as unpleasant, inconvenient to read, and lacking in professionalism, suggesting carelessness on the part of the writer, for example: “it is unpleasant to read such emails and inconvenient to quote them,” “it is a certain degree of carelessness.” Only eight respondents said that writing without Lithuanian letters shows disrespect for the language or the addressee: “sometimes it is disrespectful (depending on whom you are writing to),” “we must respect our language and the people for whom the email is intended.” Five respondents noted that writing without Lithuanian letters harms culture and national identity, for example: “a person’s level of culture declines,” “a part of one’s national identity is lost.” Two respondents answered that this harms the text: “The text loses many possibilities of expression and nuances,” “impoverishes the text.” It can be concluded that part of society understands quite well the threat posed by incorrect spelling on the internet, but this does not always encourage people to write using Lithuanian letters: the authors of half of the comments explaining why it is wrong to write emails without Lithuanian letters sometimes write without them themselves. The responses to other questionnaire questions reveal the reasons for this behavior. Another important question related to public attitudes is whether text typed without Lithuanian letters is harder to understand. In response to the questionnaire question, “Does it take you longer to understand what is written when the text is typed without Lithuanian letters?” 26 percent of respondents answered “yes,” 44 percent “no,” and 30 percent said that it is harder to understand only when unusual abbreviations or letter combinations are used (see Fig. 2). 1. – no – 44 percent 2. – harder to understand only when unusual abbreviations or letter combinations are used – 30 percent 3. – yes – 26 percent FIG. 2. Distribution of responses to the question “Does it take you longer to understand what is written when the text is typed without Lithuanian letters?” G. ŽALKAUSKAITĖ. Lietuviškos raidės elektroniniuose laiškuose 279 Thus, 74 percent of respondents read text written without Lithuanian letters and without any unusual characters or letter combinations just as easily as text written with Lithuanian letters. The responses show that internet users regard writing without Lithuanian letters as not impeding the primary goal—communication—and therefore such texts do not elicit greater hostility from readers. This is one reason why practices for using Lithuanian letters in emails vary widely. In response to the question “Do you use Lithuanian letters in the text of an email?” almost 19 percent of respondents answered “I always do,” while 11 percent said they never do (see Fig. 3). 1. – sometimes I do, sometimes I don’t – 35.16 percent 2. – I always do – 18.72 percent 3. – I more often don’t – 18.26 percent 4. – I more often do – 16.44 percent 5. – I don’t – 11.42 percent FIG. 3. Distribution of responses to the question “Do you use Lithuanian letters in the text of an email?” A range of possible responses was provided to this question to bring respondents’ writing habits into sharper focus. It is clear that practices vary considerably; the most common response was “sometimes I do, sometimes I don’t.” It can be concluded that the practice of writing emails with or without Lithuanian letters is not yet fully established in society and can be changed. Although the negative consequences of writing without Lithuanian letters are understood, society’s attitude toward this practice is essentially not hostile—it is argued that text without Lithuanian letters is just as easy to understand as text written with Lithuanian letters. The varied responses concerning the use of Lithuanian letters in emails suggest that there is more than one reason for choosing one option or the other. 280 KALBOS KULTŪRA | 82 Reasons for writing and not writing Lithuanian letters The main aim of the survey was to find out from the respondents themselves why and when they choose to write without Lithuanian letters or with Lithuanian letters. Respondents who do not always write using Lithuanian letters were asked when they write letters using Lithuanian letters. They could select more than one of the suggested options (see Table 1). Those who chose “other” explained their answer, for example: “when the letter is longer, contains more information, and is not just one sentence,” “when a particular word takes on a different meaning without Lithuanian letters,” and “when I do not want to encourage my addressee (e.g., my young nephew) not to use Lithuanian characters.” TABLE 1. Distribution of responses to the question “When do you use Lithuanian letters in emails?” Response options Option selected Percent 1. When the letter is business-related 127 40,97 2. If the person I am writing to uses Lithuanian letters 74 23,87 3. When I think the letter will arrive undistorted 65 20,97 4. When I have more time 25 8,06 5. Other 19 6,13 Total 310 100,00 As might be expected, Lithuanian letters are used most often in business correspondence, since it is customary to follow spelling rules when writing formal texts. The second most important factor is the addressee’s writing habits: if the addressee uses Lithuanian letters, people tend to write to them the same way. Thus, it can be said that people learn to write using Lithuanian letters from those around them—if more people wrote this way online, societal attitudes would change. A considerable proportion of respondents (21 percent), when choosing which letters to use, take technical factors into account—whether the letter will be garbled. Time is also an important factor: subsequent responses will confirm that some respondents need more time to type text using Lithuanian letters. Distortion of emails and typing speed were identified by respondents as the main reasons for writing emails without Lithuanian letters. In response to the question “Why do you never or sometimes not use Lithuanian letters G. ŽALKAUSKAITĖ. Lietuviškos raidės elektroniniuose laiškuose 281 in email?” it was also possible to select several options or provide a comment of one’s own (see Table 2). TABLE 2. Distribution of answers to the question “Why do you never or sometimes omit Lithuanian letters in email?” Answer options Option selected Percent 1. Some recipients receive emails written with Lithuanian letters in garbled form 97 22,45 2. Having the Lithuanian-letter keys enabled makes it difficult to type “!”, “@”, and other symbols 82 18,98 3. Because it is faster to type without Lithuanian letters 79 18,29 4. Out of habit, because Lithuanian letters could not previously be typed in some programs 73 16,9 5. Because I have become accustomed to typing without Lithuanian letters when sending text messages by phone or communicating via “Skype” or similar chat programs 61 14,12 6. Because my friends write that way 19 4,4 7. Other 15 3,47 8. Because I want to write without regard for the rules 3 0,69 9. Because it is more interesting that way—you can write differently from the usual 3 0,69 Total 432 100,00 Most respondents cited text corruption as the main reason for omitting Lithuanian letters. The website “Lithuanian Language in Information Technologies” (www.likit.lt) states that “there are essentially no technical obstacles to using the letters of the Lithuanian alphabet in email. If someone using email encounters a problem, this indicates that they have chosen an unsuitable email program or webmail service, or are using it without sufficient skill.” The same ideas are expressed on the website of the Lithuanian Computer Society (www.liks.lt). However, in response to the questionnaire asking whether respondents had received garbled emails because of Lithuanian letters, only 10 percent said they had never received garbled emails, while 57 percent indicated that they had received a garbled email less than a year earlier. Thus, email users encounter technical obstacles 282 KALBOS KULTŪRA | 82 still encounter them. Not everyone has the necessary knowledge to configure their email program so that messages are sent using the appropriate encodings; it is not always possible to choose the email program, especially when communicating in online forums, where messages pass through several programs; moreover, information on this issue is lacking. On the other hand, it is clear that public attitudes toward corrupted texts are negative—simply for fear that a message will arrive corrupted, people may give up using Lithuanian letters altogether. Therefore, Lithuanian-language websites and publications should acknowledge that technical problems still exist, indicate when they may be expected and in which areas they have already been resolved. The second reason for not writing Lithuanian letters is the layout of the keys used to type them. Although there are key combinations that make it possible to enter the required characters without switching the keyboard language, it seems that many respondents do not know about them. The combinations work when the “Lithuanian – Lithuanian” keyboard driver is selected, but not when the “Lithuanian – Lithuanian (Baltic)” driver is selected. Holding down the right “Alt” key makes it possible to type the digits in the top row without changing the keyboard language. Holding down both the “Alt” and “Shift” keys makes it possible to type “!”, “@” and other symbols. Websites intended to promote Lithuanian online provide little information about these keyboard combinations. The third reason respondents gave for not writing Lithuanian letters is the pace of communication. This is one of the differences between written and spoken language: speech is much faster than writing. Many of the distinctive features of online writing arose from efforts to make typing speed as close as possible to the speed of speech, and those skilled at typing without Lithuanian letters say that they can type faster. Efforts to use spoken language when writing messages explain why spelling rules are ignored altogether. Since it was anticipated when the questionnaire was prepared that typing speed was one reason for not writing Lithuanian letters, respondents were asked: “Do you think it is faster to type without Lithuanian letters than with Lithuanian letters?” 55 percent of respondents answered that it depends on habit, 30 percent that it is faster, and 15 percent that it is not faster. The answers confirm that some internet users are convinced they can type faster without Lithuanian letters. Based on the number of selections, the fourth reason for not writing Lithuanian letters is a habit formed earlier, when it was indeed impossible to write in Lithuanian on the internet, and this was associated in people’s minds with new- G. ŽALKAUSKAITĖ. Lietuviškos raidės elektroniniuose laiškuose 283 er technologies and modernity. Respondents ranked fifth the habit of writing without Lithuanian letters, which is currently shaped by text messages and communication through online chat programs. Habits formed in the past and those forming today reinforce one another and foster internet users’ tolerant attitude toward texts without Lithuanian letters. Respondents who selected the answer “other” were free to comment on it, for example: “Lithuanian letters being enabled makes it difficult to type numbers”; “I often make mistakes when writing; when I write without Lithuanian letters, the text is informal, and if you make mistakes, nobody notices them. I don’t look illiterate”; “because my keyboard does not indicate which key corresponds to which Lithuanian letter”; “I correspond intensively in Lithuanian and English. I save time, so I don’t switch the language button.” These answers show that some respondents do not even try to write using Lithuanian letters. It should be noted that only a few respondents selected the answers offered in the questionnaire that indicated a desire to play with language or to avoid writing Lithuanian letters purely in defiance of the rules. Relatively few respondents also said that they use letter combinations in place of Lithuanian letters, such as “sh” instead of “š”. Only 22 percent of survey participants use these letter combinations, so it is clear that many respondents tend not to use Lithuanian letters, but do not replace them with other combinations. CONCLUSIONS The survey on the use or non-use of Lithuanian letters in email revealed the current situation, as well as the attitudes on this issue and the reasons for not using Lithuanian letters among people with higher education and incomplete higher education. The responses show that opinions among respondents about using Lithuanian letters online are divided. Almost half of the respondents viewed writing without Lithuanian letters negatively and identified the harm it causes to literacy and language, yet some of them themselves sometimes write emails without Lithuanian letters. Many respondents said that texts written without Lithuanian letters are difficult to understand. 19 percent of respondents always write Lithuanian letters in emails, 11 percent never do, and 70 percent do not always use them. It is clear that Lithu- 284 KALBOS KULTŪRA | 82 The habits of writing electronic letters have not yet fully formed in society, and they can be changed. Lithuanian letters are used more often in business emails and when the recipient writes using Lithuanian letters. The main reasons for not using Lithuanian letters are: 1) text distortion still occurs, and society has a negative attitude toward emails distorted by mail systems; 2) a lack of information about the possibility of writing using Lithuanian letters; 3) many internet users believe that text can be typed faster without Lithuanian letters and that it is closer to spoken language; 4) established writing habits. The survey data show that the main reasons for not using Lithuanian letters are still related to technical obstacles and insufficient public information about the capabilities of computers and the internet; therefore, institutions concerned with language could give these issues more attention. The survey conducted is the first study of the use of Lithuanian letters in emails. It aimed to identify general public attitudes, objectively examine the reasons for writing without Lithuanian letters, and determine which of these can be addressed easily. The sample was small, and the study did not cover all relevant questions; for example, it did not investigate differences in the use of Lithuanian letters by respondents’ age and education. To obtain more accurate data and compare the use of Lithuanian letters across different groups in society, more respondents selected for this purpose should be surveyed. In the author’s opinion, it would be important to study the writing habits and attitudes of school-age children separately, since their written-language skills are shaped as they write texts online. LITERATŪRA Crystal D. 2006: Language and the internet, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Miliūnaitė R. 2008a: Tinklaraščių kalbos vieta dabartinės lietuvių kalbos vartosenos schemoje. – Lietuvių kalba [internetinis mokslo žurnalas]. Prieiga per internetą: http://www.lietuviukalba.lt Miliūnaitė R. 2008b: Pirmas žvilgsnis į tinklaraščių kalbą. – Kalbos kultūra 81, 20–49. G. ŽALKAUSKAITĖ. Lietuviškos raidės elektroniniuose laiškuose 285 Ryklienė A. 2000: Bendravimas internetu: kalbėjimas rašant. – Darbai ir dienos 24, 99–107. Ryklienė A. 2001: Elektroninis diskursas: kalbos ypatybės ir stilius. [Daktaro disertacija, VU]. Shorts T. 2001: The language of ICT, London: Routledge. Gauta 2009 09 29 LITHUANIAN CHARACTERS IN ELECTRONIC MAIL Summary The paper introduces the results of a survey on using Lithuanian characters in electronic mail. They have helped define the existing situation, attitudes of educated people (who have completed higher education studies or their major part) towards (not) writing Lithuanian characters in electronic mail. Habits of writing Lithuanian characters vary. As can be seen from the survey results, for most people (not) writing Lithuanian characters in their electronic mail depends on the nature of the letter, the addressee and computer programmes. The main reasons for not writing Lithuanian characters so far have been still concerned with technical problems and insufficient information provided to the society on computers and the internet. Thus responsible institutions ought to give more attention to this issue. The respondents have also expressed rather contradictory attitudes towards using Lithuanian characters on the internet. Most adhere to the opinion that writing without Lithuanian characters does not cause difficulties in text comprehension; however, many respondents have expressed rather negative attitudes to such writing and pointed out its negative impact on literacy and language. GINTARĖ ŽALKAUSKAITĖ Vilniaus universitetas Universiteto g. 5, LT-01513 Vilnius [email protected] 286 KALBOS KULTŪRA | 82