Is Text Language Creative?

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Is text language creative? In this essay I will explore whether text based interactions can be described as a creative form of language use. The text that I will analyse is a conversation between friends: I will identify a number of features of the text, comment on their effect and whether they are creative, then discuss some of the public attitudes towards texting. Many of the techniques used in sample have the purpose of engaging the reader; making the text more eye-catching; making the text sound colloquial (like a spoken conversation); adding to the humorous banter-like tone of the text; and injecting an expression of emotion into the writing. One technique used in the text is including slang or words written as they are said. Some examples of this are ‘wazaap?’ (l.1); ‘Who dis?’ (l.2); ‘nah’ (l.9); ‘Waana’ (l.14); ‘Wat abat’ (l.16). The effect of these features is to make the text read like a very informal, spoken conversation between two people who know each other very well. This makes the person reading the text, feel that they can express their thoughts and feelings in a natural, open way, and creates an intimate link between them. The text also uses non-verbal language such as: ‘whoa whoa whoa’ (l.11); tch .hh – yeh - u::h u::h (l.15); ‘Mmhm’ (l.18). The effect of these techniques is to add in spoken sounds that are never written into formal texts. These are sounds that people make when they are speaking directly to one another and are not part of language, they are known as ‘metacommunication’. They usually tell the reader about how the texter feels, for example ‘whoa whoa whoa’ suggests that the texter is excited about something, and ‘Mmhm’ is a non-verbal way of saying ‘yes’. In a similar way to the use of slang, these features bring the texter and the reader closer together, because in speech they are an informal way of communicating with people who
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