Metaphonology in text messages

Abstract

The proliferation of mobile phones has introduced a phenomenon known as text messaging, which has prompted the dynamic and rapid growth of a new quality of the English language. One of the characteristics of text messages is the extensive use of metaphonological phenomena, like in the following instances: ROTFL (rolling on the floor laughing), 2nite (tonight) B4 (before) and coz (because). The paper is organized in the following way: first, an introduction to the phenomenon of text messages is presented. Then, metaphonological phenomena such as acronyms, blendings, the ABC language and simplified orthography are illustrated and discussed. The paper concludes that text messages creatively exploit the existing metaphonological phenomena due the medium’s specific properties which are a 148-160 characters protocol and the numeric phone keypad rather than as a form of puns or word play.