Language Use in Text Messages

Eva Nur Mazidah
120710209
English Department
Sociolinguistics
Observation Report



Cell phone used to be a luxurious stuff but it is now not anymore. To my opinion, almost 70% of people in my surrounding have cell phone; at least each house owns it. Talking about the function, major functions of cell phone are to call and to text (SMS—send message service-- feature). Many young people prefer to text their friends rather than to call. One of reasons is because it is cheaper than to call or they just want to spend their free SMS, especially nowadays there are many phone providers giving promotions of their products—free SMS. To linguistics study, this phenomenon can be observed in term of written text used in media via text message or SMS feature.
Basically, the nature of speaking is different from writing whereas I often notice that text messages function as another form of chatting. The implication of this communication is that trigger them to make writing as simple as speaking. Thus they sometimes make abbreviations, code-switching and code-mixing.
In this report, I would like to describe this phenomenon I have found for years, that is language use in text messages (msgs) via cell phone. The focuses are in language style, grammar, and vocabularies. The objects are text msgs from different people e.g. my university friends, my village or school friends, my families, and my lecturers.
Communication can be done in various ways, direct and indirect. Text msgs cann be regarded as indirect communication because there is a delay process from communicators to communicants. We find that communication can be form of exchanging information, chatting, and so on. I personally use my text msgs as a bridge to communicate with people in distance as if it helps me to make them right by my side. I find no distance with them because we can still talk with written texts via cell phone. It is also cheaper and fun. Therefore, this type of communication, in term of language, has created new styles of language use in our surroundings.

1. Language Style
Text msgs attempt to decode speaking into writing. The problem is when we type in cellphone it is like transcribing our speaking and indeed it takes time, energy, number of text pages in cell phone, and surely pulsa. To make it efficient, people shorten or abbreviate words. See examples below.
+ : tambah Almt : alamat W3 : wa’alaykum salam war. Wab. r : are
- : kurang Anw/ aw : anyway 4 : for Lum : belum
bs : bisa Btw : by the way 2 : to Pyn : sampean
Luv/loph: cinta/love Dah : sudah d@ : that Bro : brother
Ad/da : ada Otw :on the way @ : at K2k : kakak
n ; and/ dan U/Qm/km/qmuw : kamu Diz : this CBB/SBB : sorry/ coyi baru balas
Thx/tq : thanks Ak/aq/q/quw : aku y : ya u/ : untuk
Lt. : lantai Sy/ sya : saya t : ta Klo/lo : kalau
Krn : karena Gag/ gak/ g’/g : gak /tidak Jdwl : jadwal 7an : tujuan
Sbg : sebagai Askum/asslm: assalamu’alaykum Cz : because BG : background
Trz/truz :terus Wiv : with Dunno : don’t know Bt : buat/ but
Kn : kan Hafta : have to Pplz : people Bwt :membuat
Spt : seperti G2G :gotta go Tax : tanya X : kali, nya
Lum/lon/blum : belum Gud, g’ : Good Happy : Hppy C’mtee : committee

I find pattern in the abbreviations made by me and people in writing text msgs. In some words, they change with characters that sound alike e.g. for with 4, don’t know with dunno. They usually delete vowels or consonant if they are unnecessary to write. For instances:
Klmpk : kelompok Bgt : banget Cpek : capek Dtg : datang
Tgs :tugas Disini :dsn Dah : sudah Pulng/plang/plg : pulang

Everyone may have their own way of abbreviating words. Let’s say that this media emphasize on individual usage so that it is all on the owners’ authority. Some omit vowels in the first syllable or last syllable. Some omit all vowels and leave consonants, etc. To some words e.g. SELAMAT becomes met and BELUM becomes lum, users only take the last syllable. I used to feel difficult to erad a text msgs from my friend at the first time I owned my cell phone. As time goes on, I have been accustomed of reading such texts easily but still I have to think twice if I find new abbreviations. The way ones abbreviating can be copied and used in other texts, that is the way I develop my knowledge. Their conventions can make the style of language use developed and heterogeneous. But somehow it still depends to whom we send our text msgs. We still keep positive and negative face in sending texts like we do conversation.
One of language style is the use of code switching (CS) and code mixing (CM). The use of CS and CM happen in the plurality of language variations. I, my self, use three languages in my daily life communication and so do people around me. They at least master two languages. It gives impacts to the way we write text msgs. In real conversation, people use CS and CM because of motivations. It also happens to text msgs. The motivations are mostly to make efficient characters in text msgs or probably to ease their communication. Usually we code-switch common terms e.g THANK YOU with thx or tq or thanks.
Ema: “Coyi…Q g bs dtg k humz u cz q mw prgi ma k2kq. Ne q otw k Grsk. Thx.”
(aku gak bisa datang k house u [rumah kamu] because [karena] pergi sama kakakku. Ini aku on the way ke Gresik. Thanks.)
There are five English words used in indonesian text msgs. I call it as SM because basically I substitute several words: Coyi (sorry/maaf), humz (home/rumah), u (you/kamu), cz (‘cause/karena), otw (on the way/ di jalan) and thx (thanks/terima kasih).
See another example below.
Rita : “I dunno wht 2 do wiv d assgmnt. Can u help me pliz? Kmrn aq g msuk lho..thx”
Ema: “CBB,duh muuph,q lg gag d kos.mudik iki nang deso.ono mantenan.u mending tax yg laen ja yakz.mang gag ad lg yg bntu u nich?ojok mbolos t wingi…hahai..=)”
Rita: “yupz.gp2 kuk. Met lburan yakz.. dont 4get oleh2x..gud nite!”
Tree texts above shows mixed styles. First text uses CS English to Indonesia with abbreviations in the language use. See the translated text below.
Rita : “I don’t know what to do with the assignment. Can you help me please? Kemarin aku gak masuk lho.. thanks”
Ema : “Coyi baru bales,aduh maaf,aku lagi gak di kos.mudik iki nang deso (mudik ke desa).ono mantenan (ada pernikahan). You (kamu) mending tanya yang lain saja ya. Emang gak ada lagi yang bantu you (kamu) ini? Ojok mbolos ta wingi (jangan mboloslah kemarin)…haha..=)”
Rita: “ya, gak apa-apa kok. Selamat liburan ya. Don’t forget oleh-olehnya. Good night!”
It is a fact that abbreviation and some CS and CM save characters in text msgs. Second text also uses CS and CM. Several partial broken words used are gag (gak), nich (ini), hahai (haha), coyi (sorry), yuyui (ya). Second text is also quit various in language style. It shifts from Indonesian to English and Javanese to Indonesia.
Such texts above become the style of youngsters. They like to change words exist with changing consonants or even add with new syllable. This kind of style may be difficult to find in old people text messages. In short, the style of old and youngsters are possibly different.
In my introduction, I mentioned several objects e.g. my university friends, my village or school friends, my families, and my lecturers. Now, I want to explain them one by one.
• University friends
Some of my university friends are from Surabaya and others are from outside of Surabaya. We usually communicate with Indonesian and indeed our text msgs are also in the form of Indonesian or English CM or CS since we are also students of English department. See one of my senior text below.
Hardy Kembar: “Aq blm cgratulate kalian ya. Bttr late thn never. Slmat ya dah dpt 3rd place UMM =) u guys xceded evrybody’s xpectation  gud job 
(Aku belum congratulate kalian ya. Batter late than necver. Selamat ya sudah dapat third place di UMM =) you guys exceeded everybody’s expectation  good job )
He sent me this text last year and I did not understand a word of them xcded (exceeded). I had to think several times that I had to open my dictionary. He used abbreviated word in English and he code-mixed Indonesian to English in the first sentence and code-switch to English. This type of text is often sent to me. If I am not lazy, I reply with English or code-switch Indonesian to English. But if I am lazy to type, I reply it in Indonesia. Sometimes I use abbreviation in English and some do not understand e.g. d@, diz, pplz, g2g, c’mtee, BG, LB, THBT, THW. THS, etc. only several people understand these terms.
• High school friends
I am from Gresik, exactly from a village named Bungah. Most of my friends are around the village. So, our tendency to speak in Javanese is high enough. To communicate with my friends, I usually use Javanese rather than Indonesian. To my text msgs, 80% uses Indonesian and 2.0% uses Javanese or I code-switch or code-mix them. Some of my friends prefer use Javanese and I meanly reply them with Indonesian or code-switch with Javanese. If they are not university students, they usually use many Javanese words and if they are students of university or working in cities, they use Indonesian as the dominant language. For me, I seldom use Javanese because Javanese is difficult to abbreviate and spend many characters. The next example is a text from my friend. He stays in Bungah and works there.
Hadi: “He, kabarmu ke’epo? Gak ono reuni ta arek2?
(He, kabarmu bagaimana? Teman-teman gak ada reoni?)
Ema: “Waduh, q gak ngerti. Dah lama q g smsn ma ank2..hehe..mending pyn tax Menick ja..”
(Waduh, aku gak tau. Sudah lama aku gak SMSan sama anak-anak..hehe)
Hadi: “Oke..suwon2..”
(Oke..terima kasih..)
Below is the text from my friend in Veterinary Faculty.
Kamal: “Wa’alykmslm.. hehew msh zman y da pnja2h.. skg dah merdeka bro.. btw knp u g’ ktmu dy pe’ hr raya..? Q ge liat bola.. u?
(Wa’alaykumsalam.. hehe masih zaman ya ada penjajah.. sekarang sudah merdeka brother.. by the way kenapa you gak katemu dia sampai hari raya..? aku lagi lihat bola.. you?
He code-mixed from Indonesia to English and Javanese. He also uses many abbreviations. Again, it does not guarantee that my village friends uses Javanese all the times. Sometimes people are influenced by their environment.
• My families
If I talk about old people or elder people, they tend to use Javanese and least abbreviations especially those who seldom send text msgs for instance my mother and my uncles. They tend to use Javanese and I dislike it anyway. I can not abbreviate words so I am busy in typing words. So, when I dela with them, I usually use Javanese rather than Indonesian because at home I use Javanese. If I talk about my cousins or my sister, they are not different from me. We often use abbreviations, CM and CS in our text msgs either Indonesian, Javanese, or English.
See these two text messages from my uncle and my sister below.
Cak Thofa : “Ema. Nek sampean jalan2 nang gramedia, sampean golekno buku jdl Membongkar Gerakan Wahabi kry Nur Kholik pnbt Tana Air. Sama Tanya Jawab Akida Aswaja kry Al Habib Zainal Abidn pnbt KALISTA”
My uncle mainly used Javanese and fewer abbreviations. He mostly typed all words. See my Kakak’s text below.
Kakak “Tny hti kcil pyn ja. Tu jwbn yg lbih baik”
She used many abbreviation and a CM in reference (pyn= pean).
If I have to reply a text from my uncle, it will be my respond, “Nggeh, cak. Insyaallah nek ema jalan2 ke gramed.”. To my Kakak, I will say, “Thx kak bt saranx.. lg dilema nich.. tp kykx c q ykin ma yg ne.. doain ja yakz..” I still see whom I communicate with.
• My Lecturers and my boss
Lecturers mostly use formal language in writing text msgs. They also seldom use abbreviation like teenagers or students in popular. It also influences how we, students, write or reply texts for them.
Ema: “Pak Juri, dimana sya bsa mengambil proposal sya? Terima kasih.”
I have to use formal language when I send text. I have to respect them even in my text msgs. Sometimes I have to think the language I use for thousand times before I type whereas I actually want to ask “Pak, prososal sy dmn?thx.”
This situation happens because I perceive text msgs as a real conversation. I have to keep my negative face to respected people like lecturers. This problem in fact happens to most of my friends when they have to deal with elder lecturers. If I have to send to Pak Endhie a text, I may use informal language, abbreviations, CM or SC but I still put reference “Pak” in my sentences.
2. Grammar
People or my friends sometimes really ignore the grammar use in writing text (but for lecturers they may still keep their grammar even when they do CM or CS. We indeed use informal language when we send texts with our peers. We sometimes exaggerate the function of punctuations like “gag tau nich…...” But personally, I will keep my question mark use. Sometimes I am confused by my friend use of question mark e.g. “ne lh ujan deres bgt,,, q malez kluar,,,,jd, hr ne qt gag jd ja yaks kluarx?.” The problem comes to me as the replier. The last sentence there means a question or a sentence. He used a question mark and full stop at the same time. I hate this situation especially when I have limited pulsa. Users really ignore it sometimes.
Besides punctuations, when they make CS or CM, there are patterns how they do it. In CM, they mostly use Indonesian as Matrix Language (ML) because most of them introduce it in Indonesia. Embedded Language (EL) is usually in Javanese or English. In code-switching, it depends on who send text msgs. If they know English grammar, they can switch appropriately and following the rule of language they use e.g. Indonesian grammar, English grammar, or Javanese grammar.
Farah: “Dluar hujan deres lo. Ati2 yaa.. Thx&good luck anw. Am proud’f you ”
There are violated grammar and punctuations anyway. She missed a space in Dluar (Di Luar), deres (deras), Ati2 yaa.. (Hati-hati ya.), thx&good luck anw. (thank you and good luck anyway), Am proud ‘f you (I am proud of you). She understands the grammar of English and Indonesian but she may reluctantly type several words e.g. I.
Wita: “Tmn2, ad prbhan rescrh qstion LFM, what is the pattern of communication within selling and buying? (ni dah konsul) Qt ngmpul bsk senin ya, jm 9 bwt nylesain.”
She uses CM e.g. rescrh qstion. She mainly uses Indonesian as the matrix language. She unfortunately ignores punctuation in a sentence “what is the pattern of communication within selling and buying?” It is quit ambiguous if the reader does not have the same background knowledge whether it is a question to the recipient or it is a research question of LFM they talked about.
Let me compare to a text given by a lecturer.
Pak Juri :”Eva, Fahmi, hari ini twd tdak ada kuliah. Tolong diinfokan ke teman2. Thanks.”
Pak Juri somehow uses grammar even in a text message. This leads me to a reply text
Ema: “Iya, Pak. Terima kasih.”
I urge me to reply with appropriate answer. I consider my text not like “ya pak.. trima ksh..” I have to use the right punctuations in my text.
So, the grammar within the text msgs really depends on person typing text msgs.
3. Vocabularies
Youngsters sometimes make experiment with words they use in text msgs. They sometimes exaggerate such words either by changing them; replace the vowels or consonants, etc. They really make those words a bit far from the genuine ones. To my opinion, they are really motivated in doing so. I call the type of changing as partially broken either by sound-alike replacement or sound exaggerating replacement. See a table below.
Ne/Nich : ini Gag : gak Humz ;home Buzuk/busyuk : busuk
Mu’uph/maaph : maaf Aq/quw: aku Qta/qt : kita Sich: si
ZMZ/Ms : SMS Qm/qmuw : kamu Bgtzu/bgtyu : begitu Yakz/yuyui/oyi/yupz : ya
Otre/Oks : ok Ngapz/ngup : ngapain ny : x/y ; z : s Abiz/biz : habis
As I mentioned in former paragraphs, usually vocabularies writing systems are changed to make efficient. Bust in some case, they can make it even longer as the table above. We can not judge this kind of changing in systems. Media have help them to change everything innocently.
In conclusion, we see that media, cell phone, make people become more individual. They give a wide sphere to express them and transgress the system e.g. language style, grammar, and vocabularies. It gives confusions, indeed. That is why people vary in using language in text msgs. Some still preserve the grammar and style as if they write a formal writing; some do CS and CM to ease and make efficient characters. It all again comes to motivation and personal choice. So, we see that language use in media e.g. cell phone is potentially different from other media e.g. newspaper, etc and it may also have slight different from chatting language use.