Languages evolve to keep pace with changing times

Dubai: If there is e-government, e-commerce, e-banking, the inevitable must happen: e-language.

Yes, we have already seen the evolution of the English language from Elizabethan English during the era of Shakespeare to modern English used today. And we have witnessed that revolution called Americanism.

As the world becomes smaller with the means of communications undergoing a mini revolution with each passing day, it is but natural that a language would evolve to communicate that must faster. Purists might cringe, but the language is changing because of communication devices @ ur fingertips.

Millions of text messages fly around the world every day, and most people Gulf News spoke to said they were guilty of using the abbreviations. Is this the language of the future? May be, may be not. But for the moment this is the lingo most often used to communicate in today's fast paced world.

According to Belinda Palubiski, English Faculty at Dubai Men's College (DMC), the use of abbreviated forms of the English language dates back to the early 1970s.

The language developed further with the advent of the internet chat rooms, where users would abbreviate some words to allow quick responses. The trend became even more pronounced with SMSs (short messaging service).

Palubiski said she spots a couple of messaging-related errors in her work, the most common one being 'u' for the word you. "Language must change to survive," Palubiski said. "Because Latin didn't change, the language died."

And if you log into an Arabic chat room you might be puzzled. A native English speaker would not understand a word, but neither would a traditional Arabic speaker. It is often referred to as Arabenglish or Arabizi by young Arabs. So do u use the new lingo?

Are you a frequent text messager? Has this caused languages to become corrupted? Give us examples of how text language has invaded every day language? Tell us at letter2editor@gulfnews.com