Dimension of Language: Internet and Chatroom Speak

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The English language is arguably and statistically the most used language today. Not only is the most used language, it is also the most popular among consumers, this is, and even day-to-day conversation. However, language is far from static. Indeed, language has a property of continuous transformation that keeps linguists on their toes. Another important point to note is that the changes in language do not necessarily come over long periods, but could have been in a span of only a few years. Changes in language could see specifically in individual cultures, professions, and social groups. The study of languages among such subcategories of society is the topics for continuous research for sociologists, linguists, historians, and anthropologists. Another important point to note is that when we speak of changes in language among a small social group, personal category of society, it does not necessarily entail cultural minorities like tribes, segregated villages, and far-flung communities. Indeed, the changes in language in small social groups are happening right under our noses – and we could even be one of them without that actually knows it. Take for example the recent changes in the vocabulary of heavy Internet users and those exposed constantly to the Internet and the World Wide Web. It has said that technology has indeed a large effect on the transformation of language, but is only recently, when we find and discover indeed significant changes in the way people communicate. In a span of the decade, hundreds of new words and acronyms have added to formal dictionaries because of such transformations of language in those subcultures that use them (Burke, 2001). 12 years ago, the Internet had been able to provide a new form of communication known today as instant messaging. Even before the development of short messaging services by cell phone companies and

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