SMS TEXTING AMONG GSM USERS IN NIGERIA: A MORPHO-SYNTACTIC

  • Type: Project
  • Department: English
  • Project ID: ENG0081
  • Access Fee: ₦5,000 ($14)
  • Chapters: 5 Chapters
  • Pages: 65 Pages
  • Format: Microsoft Word
  • Views: 859
  • Report This work

For more Info, call us on
+234 8130 686 500
or
+234 8093 423 853

Abstract

The gradual shift from the offline to online communication such as text messaging has given way to innovative

language-short forms whose morph-syntactic aspects have permeated the linguistic characters of the texters. For

about a decade now, there exist a growing body of research on mobile phone text messaging by linguists but

only very few have been done in the area of morpho-syntax. The work therefore, examines the aspects of

morphology and syntax found in SMS text messages. It adopts a combination of Chomsky (1957)

Transformational and Silverstein (1976) Meta pragmatic theories. Through the move-a rule and the pragmatic

method of analysis, the study discovers that there are morpho-syntactic variations among texters which are

problematic to formal English. It also reveals that movement of constituents from one slot to the other is a

common feature in text messages though some of such movements violates move-a rules. Other syntactic

differences are reflected in form of subject/agent, object, determiner, to-infinitive deletions/omissions. Wordorder

violations, contractions, abbreviations, acronyms, compounding, blends and lack of punctuation also

characterize morpho-syntactic elements in SMS texts. Morphologically, there is no hard and fast rule with

regards to the users’ choice of letters in abbreviation. Texters use a combination of letters and numbers in their

text messages and in some cases they use only numerals. The texters obviously down-play the orthographic and

syntactic rules of the formal English language for their convenience.

Keywords: SMS texts, Nigeria, mobile phone, morpho-syntactic analysis.

1.0 Introduction

Language has been an integral part of communication and human beings being compulsive communicators

continue to find new ways of communication in an attempt to bridge the distance between individuals. Internet

technology has greatly influenced human life especially in the area of communication. Following the wave of the

technology, Wiki (2008) notes that there is an overwhelming access to different forms of media with an increase

in interconnectedness of peoples and races around the entire world. According to Adejub (2010:2), “the entire

world comprising six continents and many countries of about 6,881,800,000 (as the estimated population United

States Census Bureau) has been reduced to a global village through the dynamism of communication with the aid

of information technology (ICT).” ICT is a term used to refer to a range of technologies for gathering, storing,

retrieving, processing, analyzing and transmitting information. The SMS (short message service) which serves as

the latest way of quick communication since the invention of SMS texts came alongside with the global

technology Lexemes are used to facilitate the effectiveness of this device. The effectiveness of this medium of

communication depends on the appropriate combination of the words it carries, and in the combination of these

words lie what is known as the message. This communication technique is currently in use in all areas of lifeoffices,

schools, markets, homes, advertisements, churches, etc. The component service (the phone) is unique for

its smallness and mobility. Due to the smallness, there is a limited space which leaves subscribers no choice

other than pursue simple sentence structures and other language short-forms to enable them exhaust their

message. Crystal (2008) contributing to the small character space of the mobile phone contends that subscribers

have created new linguistic forms to enable them maximize the available space and at the same time, make sure

they say all that is to be said to the understanding of the receiver. Supporting this view, Rafi (2010) observes that

through the new written conventions, texters have developed a written form of sounds that replaces the ability to

hear spoken utterances. The study therefore, seeks to examine the morpho-syntactic analysis of the innovative

language-form (Text messaging).

1.1 Methodology

The sources of data for our analysis comprise the text messages sent and received by the students of the

University of Nigeria, Nsukka. Our choice of area of study is guided by the fact that University of Nigeria,

Nsukka is a federal university where the students comprise peoples from different tribes of the nation. Data was

collected from fifty University students comprising both male and female. A total of seventy-five messages

(consisting of educational, seasonal, love, religious and other messages that express well wishes) were collected

from the participants whose messages were taken in confidence. This guarantees the researcher’s permission to

analyze the messages. The samples of the data are found in the Appendix.

Research on Humanities and Social Sciences www.iiste.org

ISSN 2222-1719 (Paper) ISSN 2222-2863 (Online)

Vol.3, No.15, 2013

85

2. SMS Text Messaging: An Overview

The Short Message Service (SMS) is the part of a phone, web or mobile communication system used globally for

the exchange of short text messages between discussants. SMS according to Oladoye (2011:16) was first used in

December 1992 by a 22-year old named Neil Papworth. He says that the concept of SMS was developed by

Friedhelm Hillebrand, Bernard Ghillebaert and Oculy Silaban in 1984, in the Franco-German GSM cooperation.

Since the invention, the mobile telephone has been the latest way to communicate quickly. Text messaging is a

general term that is used to refer to the short written messages usually sent through phone and other portable

devices over a network. Ong’onda (2011:1) observes that the terms ‘text messaging’ or just ‘texting’ refers to the

brief typed messages sent using the Short Message Service (SMS) of mobile/cell phones, personal digital

assistants (PDAs), smart phones or web browsers. Uhunmwangho (2009:27) defined a text message as “any

linguistic event, usually a written form of speech that is imbued with meaning”. Doring (2002:7) notes that

“SMS communication allows for a reasonable use of syntactic and lexical short forms, which save character

space, or touches of the handset keys, as compared with using the full forms of words”. In the words of Rafi

(2010:3) it pursues simple sentence structures for communication. They also make use of written sound of words

and in other cases bring code mixing into it. Rafi further observes that SMS syntactic and lexical choices by the

texters are not so different from a child language; for instance a child expresses his feelings through simple

present progressive tense e.g. mom eating for ‘Mom is eating’ and Eating for ‘I am eating’

The equipment in its uniqueness affords most texters a much economized means of communication (Habluetzel

2007), (Thurlow 2003) and (Thurlow and Poff 2011). The Short message Service gives the subscriber the

advantage of choosing a specific number of words that would communicate comprehensively, but briefly, with

minimum cost- Chiluwa (2007:96). Due to the inconveniences caused by the limitation in the time and space that

comes along with the Short Message Service, texters are forced to find new ways for sending text messages.

Letters and numbers are also often combined (or used alone) for compression and convenience. Discussing on

the brevity of the electronic discourse, (Crystal 2001), (Hard af Sagerstad 2002) and (Thurlow 2003) note that

the technical restrictions of text messaging have led to the development of language short forms in SMS

communication.

The sender of a text message is known as a texter. SMS text service itself has different colloquialisms depending

on the region in that it may simply be referred to as a text in North America, India, Australia, Nigeria etc. Our

area of study geographically is therefore, morpho-syntactic analysis of SMS text messaging in Nigeria.

2.1 Nigeria and the SMS Texts

The global technology for Mobile communication notes Alabi (2010a) was introduced in Nigeria in the year

2001 and following the inception, he observes that SMS text messaging has become a major medium of passing

across information from one person to another irrespective of the distance between the ‘sender’ and ‘receiver’.

MTN, which happened to be the first GSM Company in Nigeria, commenced its commercial services in August

2001. In the words of Bodomo (2010:110) mobile phone in Nigeria was introduced in 2001 with the evolution of

Global System for Mobile Communication which two people or more exchange messages by coding and

decoding texts received and sent from their cell phones”. Oladoye writes that the commencement brought the

Short Message Service (SMS) to limelight in the Nigerian communication system; ever since then, text

messaging has taken different turns. SMS text messaging as used by modern handsets is a part of the Global

System for Mobile communication (GSM), as a means of sending messages of more than 160 characters to and

from GSM mobile handsets. In Nigeria, most SMS messages are mobile - to - mobile text messages, although the

standard supports other types of broadcast messaging as well. Linguists and scholars of related fields have

conducted researches on the general use of SMS text messaging since it became a part of the Global System of

communication in Nigeria. Such scholars include: Chiluwa (2007), Egbe (2009), Uhunmwangho (2009), Alabi

(2010ab), Adejub (2010) Oladoye (2011), etc. Chiluwa focused on the effects of the limited interface allowed by

the SMS to the users and the Nigerianess of SMS messages in English. Egbe spoke elaborately on the varying

possibilities offered by text messages and acknowledges that many users sending greetings at Christmas, Easter,

Sallah, anniversaries, wedding ceremonies or events are no longer by the use of cards but through text messages

by the mobile handset. Even invitations to events, meetings and high powered gatherings are sent through the

mobile discourse. Oladoye (2011:46) discussing on the importance of the SMS as a means of communication in

Nigeria comments as follows:

SMS text messaging has become a vital part of our communication system in Nigeria. It serves as a cheaper

alternative for many Nigerians today, in which they pay less, as against the higher costs on oral phone calls. It

has found a place for itself and it has come to stay. Various new devices are now developed to promote its usage

e.g. Blackberries and I-phones. In Nigeria today, people receive invitations to employment interviews, warnings,

announcements, etc via text messages. SMS text messaging is moving fast on a wide range in the Nigerian

communication system and even in the whole of Africa

From the foregoing, there seem to exist a growing body of research on mobile phone texts messaging by

Research on Humanities and Social Sciences www.iiste.org

ISSN 2222-1719 (Paper) ISSN 2222-2863 (Online)

Vol.3, No.15, 2013

86

linguists but only very few have been done on the area of morpho-syntax. Nevertheless, we shall review them as

they constitute our base.

2.2 Empirical studies

Nwankwo (2011) examines the syntactic errors among GSM users and discovers such dominant features as

omissions of punctuation marks, incorrect phrasal combinations, spellings and the use of abbreviations. She

warns that the users of this innovative language should be conscious of these deviations not to transfer the habit

in writing to the formal English. Iloelunachi (2011) studies the relationship between the syntax of the SMS

language style and the language of media. Comparing their syntactic structures, his result reveals that SMS

language format are structured differently from that of formal writing. He therefore, strongly suggests that

learners should be taught on how best to apply the forms with due recognition for formal and informal contexts

while writing. Oladoye (2011) investigates the syntactic and lexico-semantic analyses of selected SMS text

messages among the university of Ilorin students. The result shows that among the word classes, the most

frequently occurring element is the noun with 39.22%. It discovers that all the text messages had noun elements

in them. The most prominent word sequence was the clause which had 20.5%. Ogbonna (2012) made a

sociolinguistic study of the local colouration in mobile phone text messaging in Nigeria. Adopting Hymes’ (1962)

Ethnography of Speaking, she discovers that young Nigerian text composers blend their knowledge of Nigeria

social, linguistic, cultural, political and economic settings with their knowledge of conventions of organization of

SMS messaging within Nigerian context to create different types of messages that are meaningful. The study

reveals that for most Nigerian youths, the major purpose of texts is social bonding and in expressions that are

Nigeria specific. However, the present study examines the morpho-syntactic aspects of text messages as

contained in the messages sent or received by the students of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka.

2.3 Morpho-Syntax

2.3.1 Morphology and morphological processes

Morphology studies the internal structure of words. It is the way the speech sounds are stringed together to form

words. Morphological processes are those processes employed in linguistics to form new words in a language.

Sanmi (2010) identified eight ways by which words are formed. They include: affixation, compounding

reduplication, acronym, blends, conversion, back-formation, clipping etc. We shall only discuss the

morphological processes of Compounding, Blending and Acronyms

2.3.2 Compounding is neither inflection nor derivation; it is a combination of two or more independent words.

The product of the words formed stands as a free morpheme. According to Lyons (1868), Zwicky (1985) and

Sanmi (2010:59), the compound formed is a morphological complex unit in linguistics; it is unquestionable

among linguists. It can be formed by adding a noun to another noun as in star lights, noun to a verb as in

kickback etc.

2.3.3 Blending

It is a process in morphology where new words are formed by combining the initial and the final segments of

two or more already existing words in a language. Adams (1973) says that blends words made of parts of

morphemes usually formed by joining the parts of two diff’ words together. Sanmi (2010:65) observes there are

two types of blends; the first cannot be analysed into constituents but contains elements which may remind us of

other words similar to them. For instance smog tells us of smoke and fog. Quirk (1986) contends that the second

type of blend consists of words seen as contracted forms of compounds, that is, words in which one element is

fragmentary when compared to its corresponding uncompounded form. Example, Breakfast + Launch → brunch,

carpet + cafetaria → capetaria

2.3.4 Acronyms

They are new words formed from joining the first letters of two sets of words. Oladoye (2011:36) writes that

“when the initial letters are pronounced with the name of the letters of the alphabet, they are called

‘alphabetisms’ but when they are pronounced like individual words, they are called acronyms”. Examples

include: WHO, NEPA, YES (Youth Empowerment Scheme), AIDS etc. The morphological style is languagespecific,

that is, the word formation rule differs across languages. However, in this study we are specifically

concerned with the formation rule in English language

2.4. Syntax

It is the related area of linguistics which studies the patterns that governs the way in which words are combined

to form phrases, sentences or clauses (word-order topologies). It can be seen as constructive rules according to

which words are combined into sentences using the rules of the grammar of that language. The study anchors on

Chomsky’s (1965) syntactic component of grammar. He argues for the innate ability of every normal child in

acquiring a grammar of a language that can generate infinite number of grammatical structures using syntactic

rules and at the same time detects the ungrammaticality in constructions. We shall also apply Chomsky’s (1957)

rules of transformation which was advanced by Baker (19780), Radford (1981) etc. Ndimele (2003:160) holds

that a transformation is a grammatical operation which enables two levels of structural representation (Deep and

Research on Humanities and Social Sciences www.iiste.org

ISSN 2222-1719 (Paper) ISSN 2222-2863 (Online)

Vol.3, No.15, 2013

87

surface structure) to be placed in correspondence. The rule responsible for such operations in syntax is known as

move-alpha. The transformational operations we shall discuss here are movement and deletion.

2.5. Meta Pragmatic Theory: An overview

Metapragmatic theory was propounded by silvestein (1976) and his associates. Leech (1983) says that the theory

involves metapragmatic reasoning and reasonability. He observes that the reasonability of the metapragmatic

denotes ‘user reasonability’. By ‘user reasonability’, he means that it is the users that deem the rules of text

composition reasonable. This contention implies that it is the sender and the receiver of text messages that deem

the content of the text reasonable for the understanding of the intended messages. The key principles of Meta

pragmatic theory include the principles of economy and efficiency. Though this theory seems to belong to the

area of sociolinguistics, but the reason for using it in the analysis of the selected text messages is its ability in

capturing the reasonability and the economy of the texters.

Having made a review of both theoretical and empirical data, we shall examine the morpho-syntactic aspects

of the data on the text messages collected just as the way the words, phrases, sentences and clauses are formed

by the texters in this work. The analysis is based on the standard norms of the structure of a sentence (English

language). It will be discussed under the following headings: movement transformation, Deletion, Word-order

violation, omissions, contractions, abbreviations, acronyms, etc.

3. Morpho-syntactic Analysis

3.1 Movement

From the data, we observe that some messages received or sent by texters in SMS messages (M) show evidence

of moved constituents from their syntactic positions to a landing site. See Mgs 12, 23, 64 and 65. In M64 ‘Your

account’ which is the NP of the sentence moved from its original slot as the pr-verbal NP to a landing site of

post-verbal NP of the verb ‘debited’. This type of transformation is barred because a constituent is not allowed to

move across more than one bounding node. In M.12, the embedded clause was moved to the subject slot and the

complementiser ‘for’ functions as the subject. The structure should be ‘John is tough for one to beat’. In M23,

the subject ‘we’ has been inverted leading to syntactic variation. The variation created by move-a may be a

device by the writer to achieve focus or even a stylistic device.

3.2. Deletion/Omission

Deletion is a syntactic operation that removes constituent in a construction and therefore cause it not to appear in

the surface structure. Many sentences in SMS texts involve discourse ellipsis, that is, contextually determined

omission where the subjects/agents and objects are intentionally deleted or omitted because they are either

implicit in the verb or are known by the interlocutors in the discourse. The elements seen as omissions are

deleted at the surface structure for purposes of economy and user’s reasonability in understanding the rules of

text composition. The data reflected the following types of deletion: subjects/agents, objects, etc. In ‘Ms.1, 3, 5,

9, 20, 2I, 22, 24-30’ there are deletions of the subjects in the text messages of the discussants. From the data, the

subjects deleted are mostly pronouns such as we, he, she especially the personal pronoun ‘I’. M2 shows evidence

of deletion of the agent to the action of the verb ‘transfer’. Texters sometimes omit the object of a sentence

which constitutes an obligatory part of a sentence. For instance, in ‘M36 the object of ‘forge’ is omitted. The

verb ‘forge’ needs an object to complete the sense of the verb yet its object has been deleted. It is natural in

many discourse situations that the discussants under a particular context limit some information to underlying

structure yet they understand themselves. The omission shows that there is a shared context or background

between the interlocutors about the object in question. This also bears out Ong’onda’s (2011:4) postulation that

the stylistic feature of syntactic omissions in SMS discourse relies on the fact that communications with close

friends, partners and family members allows one to organize messages pragmatically as a common background

exists. Articles and determiners are also omitted in texts of SMS users. In Ms2, 32 and 33’ the determiner ‘the’

are omitted while the article ‘a’ is omitted in ‘M34’.

3.3 Contractions

Contraction is a term used for words or group of words whose orthographic letters are not fully represented; they

are shortened for want of time or space. SMS communication makes use of contractions. The words are

contracted by cutting the middle of a word or by attaching the first letter of the first word to the second word and

removing the rest of the letters of the first word. In ‘M.31, 37, 40, 42, 50’ respectively ‘the phrase what is up’ is

contracted as follows: ‘wassup’, birthday as ‘bday’, somebody as ‘sbody’, breakfast as ‘bfast’ fdom as freedom,

gmourning for good mourning. The contracted forms which are derived from two or three sets of self standing

words do not lose their property of a fully independent word. However, if the practice continues overtime, the

fear is that the novice language created by texters may cause some words to lose their property of a fully

independent word and acquire the properties of a morphological affix.

3.4 Violations in Word-ordering

Some sentences found in SMS texts when placed in line with the English word-order, rebel against the standard

Research on Humanities and Social Sciences www.iiste.org

ISSN 2222-1719 (Paper) ISSN 2222-2863 (Online)

Vol.3, No.15, 2013

88

format of subject-verb-object (SVO). Consider Mgs ‘5 and 9’, in ‘5’ the syntactic ordering of the constituents is

‘VOV’ (verb object verb). In ‘9’ the ordering is ‘VSVO’ However, Ong’onda (2011) notes that in an attempt to

say all that is needed to be said to achieve effective communication, users tend to rebel against word-ordering; in

such cases, ‘to infinitive’ the auxiliary, verbs, prepositions or adverbs may therefore come first. Rafi (2010),

comments that inversion of normal English word order seems to be motivated by lack of paralinguistic cues. It is

important to note that the structural representation of syntactic variant is based on the assumption that variants

have an identical underlying structure. Messages (M) ‘4, 12 and 23’ show that subjects of the sentences are

implied. In M4, ‘to infinitive is topicalised for the sake of emphasis; it then occupies the subject slot though it is

a pseudo-subject. The surface structure reads ‘it is human to err’.

3.5. Compounding, Acronyms and Blends

The words merigoround carryova and emotionpach in Ms 24, 36 and 38 are compound words used in the data.

The texters overlooked the use of hyphen that connects the word sets as in meri-go-round etc. Acronyms are

commonly used as found in the data. Example, C.W.O, UK, UNN, NFCS, NEPA, AIDS, FUNAI in Ms

26,28,37,43, 57 and 72 respectively. Blends are also used in the messages, motel in M56 and telecast in ‘74’ are

instances used by texters.

3.6. Abreviations

The use of abbreviations in words and phrases is one of the most features that characterizes the messages of the

texters. In M.35, 39, 41, 43-49 respectively, the following words: ‘sumtin stands for something’, ‘wnt for want’,

‘cos for because’, ‘fyn for fine’, ‘hw for how’, ‘liten for lighten’,‘d for the’, ‘wz for was’, ‘apy for happy’, broda

for brother’, plz for please’. From the data, there is no hard and fast rule morphologically with regards to the

users’ choice of letters in abbreviation. This gave rise to morphological variation in lexical forms such that while

some texters use phonectic forms as in M.53- ‘gud’ which ignores the orthographic form of the vowel ‘o’ and

adopts the graphemic usage ‘u’ in its place. Thurtlow (2007) discussing abbreviations in text discourse notes that

texters also take the advantage of different phonetic spellings in order to create different types of verbal effects in

their messages such that SMS language reflects abbreviations, capitalization and punctuation. Others who

adopt the written framework while abbreviating still vary in their choices of orthographic combination. For

instance, ‘cos’ in M.41’ is written ‘cuz’ in M51’, ‘plz in ‘50’ is written ‘plse’ in ‘57’ etc. Some writers use a

combination of letters and numbers in their text messages. Example: ‘2morow and b4’as used in M.56. Some

others use only numbers for compression. For instance, the numeral ‘8’ is used for ‘eight and ate’ in M. 52 and

54, 2 for ‘to, two and too’ in Ms. ‘58, 59 and 60’ respectively. We observe that most often the letters ‘ion’ in the

end of words or phrases is abbreviated to be ‘n’. There are also two or three words shortened and merged to

become one as in ‘wassup’ and ‘gmourning’ above; they can be termed abbreviated phrases. An abbreviated

construction is the one that has two or three words compressed by omission of letters and merging of the words

involved. Few text messages use abbreviated phrases. Abbreviated phrases seem to be prompted by the challenge

of small screen and the limited character space-Doring (2002). Moreover abbreviations are easily understood by

SMS users as Leech’s (1983) metagragmatic user’s reasonability deems such combinations reasonable to both

the sender and the receiver.

4. Summary and conclusion

The paper examined the text messages of the students of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka taking focus on

the morpho-syntactic aspects that underlie the linguistic characters of the writers. From the data, our findings are

as follows:

Syntactically, SMS texts employ transformation rules such as the move-a and deletion rules in some

constructions. It is noted too, that some of such movements violates move-a rules. There are many deviations by

the online interactive media on the formal English format in such areas as word-ordering, lexical and phrasal

contractions and omissions.

Morphologically, there is no hard and fast rule with regards to the users’ choice of letters in abbreviation.

Texters use a combination of letters and numbers in their text messages and in some cases they use only

numerals. The data shows that morphological processes of word formation such as compounding, acronyms and

blends are common features that are found in messages of the interlocutors. The analysis also reveals that the

SMS text is seriously controlled by socio-linguistic variables as shared background knowledge, the

metapragmatic principles of economy, user’s reasonability and efficiency.

In conclusion, the stylistic device in SMS texts captured in word modifications, phrasal and clausal

manipulations and excessive liberty afforded to the subscribers have given rise to novice language which affects

the morpho-syntactic aspects of the Standard English format.

References

Adejub,EE, S. (2010). Syntax of SMS: A gb approach. A paper presented at the 23rd annual conference of the

Research on Humanities and Social Sciences www.iiste.org

ISSN 2222-1719 (Paper) ISSN 2222-2863 (Online)

Vol.3, No.15, 2013

89

Linguistic association of Nigeria at the University of Port-Harcourt, Nigeria. November 2010.

Alabi, V.A. (2010a). Problems of the emergent written language of the global system for mobile

communication (GSM) in Nigeria. Marang: Journal of language and literature.20, 35-46.

Alabi, V.A.(2010b). Stylistic creativity via schemes, tropes, lexical cohesion and descriptive adjectives in

SMS text messaging among Nigerian graduates. In SMS text messaging among Nigerian graduates. In

D.D. Kuupolie & I. Bariki, (Eds), Applied social dimensions of language use in West Africa, (pp.

133-142). University of Cape Coast: University Press.

Baker, C. L. (1978). Introduction to generative- transformational syntax. Prentice-Hall

Bodomo, A. B. (2010). Computer mediated communication for Linguistics and literacy: Technology and natural

language education. New York: Information Science Reference

Chiluwa, I. (2007). The Nigerianness of SMS text messages in English. In I. Udofot, (Eds), Journal of the

Nigerian English studies association. Vol 3 (1): 95-109.

Chomsky, N. (1957). Syntactic structures. Mouton: MIT Press.

Chomsky, N. (1965). Aspects of the theory of Syntax. MIT Press

Crystal, D. (2001). Language and the internet. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Crystal, D. (2004). The Cambridge encyclopedia of the English language.UK: Cambridge University Press.

Egbe, G.B.& Ekpe, I.S. (2009). New literacy, new English: Aspects of the grammar of SMS text messages. In

W. Adegbite & B, Olajide, (Eds), English in the Nigerian environment: Emerging patterns and new

challenges. Vol 24 (pp.38-50). Lagos : Olivetree Publishing Ventures.

Döring, N. (2002) Abbreviations and acronyms in SMS communication. http://www,nicola-doering.de/. Retrieved

August 17, 2010.

Habluetzel, C. (2007). The remediation of love: text messaging as Writing. Avenue Journal, 1(1).

http://www.avenuejournal.ca/index.php/avenue/article/view/3. Retrieved September 12, 2007.

Hard af Segertad, Y. H. (2002). Uses and adaptation of written language to the conditions of computer-mediated

communication. Unpublished PhD dissertation. University of Gothen.

Iloelunachi, R. K. (2011). “The syntax of short message service (SMS)”. An unpublished B.A. project,

Department of linguistics, Igbo and other Nigerian languages, University of Nigeria, Nsukka.

Lyons, J. (1968). Introduction to theoretical linguistics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Ndimele, O. (2003) Morphology and Syntax. Port Harcourt: Emhai Press.

Nwankwo, J. C. (2011). “Error analysis of the language of the Global system for mobile communication

(GSM): A Morpho-syntactic approach “. An unpublished B.A. project, Department of linguistics,

Igbo and other Nigerian languages, University of Nigeria,Nsukka.

Ogbonna, J. E. (2012). Local colouration in mobile phone text messaging in Nigeria: A sociolinguistic study.

A Ph.D. seminar presented to the Department of linguistics, Igbo and other Nigerian languages,

University of Nigeria,Nsukka.

Oladoye, O. (2011). Syntactic and lexico-semantic analysis of selected SMS text messages among the

University of Ilorin students. An unpublished B. A. Project, Department of English, Faculty of Arts,

University of Ilorin, Ilorin

Ong’onda, N. A , Matu, P. M and Oloo P. A.(2011). Syntactic Aspects in Text Messaging. World Journal of

English Language. Vol. 1, No. 1;42-47 . Sciedu Press

Quirk, R., & Greenbaum, S. (2000). A University grammar of English. Delhi: Longman.

Radford, A. (1981). Transformational syntax: A student’s guide to Chomsk’s Extended standard theory.

Cambridge University Press.

Rafi, M. S. (2010). SMS text analysis: Language, Gender and current practices. http:// -1-pdf adobe reader

Retrieved August 17, 2010.

Sanmi, O. B. (2010). Morphology: Its Basics and Application. Nsukka: Paschal Communications.

Silverstein, J. (1976) Metapragmatic discourse and metapragmatic function. In J.A.Lucy (ed.), reflexive language:

Reported speech and metapragmatics, 33-58. CUP.

Uhunmwangho, A. (2009). Is there Nigerian English? SMS text messaging and the use of English language in

Nigeria. In W. Adegbite & B. Olajide, (Eds) English in the Nigerian enviroment: Emerging

patterns and New challenges, Vol 24 (pp.26-37). Lagos: Olivetree publishing ventures.

Thurlow, C. (2007). Fabricating youth: New-media discourse and the technologization ofyoung people. In

Language in the media: Representations, identities, ideologies. In S. Johnson and A. Ensslin, (Eds.),

Ed.213 - 233. London: Continuum.

Thurlow, C., & Poff, M. (2011). Text-messaging. In S. C. Herring, D. Stein & T. Virtanen (Eds.). Handbook of the

pragmatics of CMC. Berlin and New York: Mouton de Gruyter.

Wiki (2008). Blogs, wikis and text messaging: What are the implications for students with learning Disabilities.

Center for Implementing Technology in Education:(CITEd) (2008)

Research on Humanities and Social Sciences www.iiste.org

ISSN 2222-1719 (Paper) ISSN 2222-2863 (Online)

Vol.3, No.15, 2013

90

Zwicky, A. M. (1985). ‘Heads’. Journal of linguistics. 21 pp1-29

Appendix

M1. Saw ur cal.Whats gwan?

M2 Transferred 2 dept of soil science 4 gud

M3. Sure wil be there 2 conzol u. Get on wit ur laif

M4. To err is human; just overlook dat animalistik behaviour in me

M5. Love the card, tanks

M9. Tanks, I love the card

M12. For one to beat John is tough

M20. Left for Aba yestade

M21. Will cloz 20th Aug.

M22. Hope u enjoyed the meal

M23. For this purpose we are born.

M24. Called but no picking join the merigoround @ d freedom square

M25. Pd in.30k jus now .tex me d make of d laptop. is it fairly used or new

M26. Invited u 2 an interview wit d diosecan C.W.O @ 3pm on September 8.

M27. Avail bal.10,077

M28. Won 1m naira UK NOKIA award. Payment No:NK-015. 4 claim send ur name, num & country 2 US via

e-mail: [email protected]

M29 Hi,gud monin, sori if sounded rude 2dy. Didn’t mean any harm. sori bt pls i dnt tlk 2 guys on d road even

if u must tlk 2 me on d way, u do dat politely.sori

M30. feeling so happy, so kul, so high. Do u know why? cuz i m so lucky, do u know how? cuz God loves

me.Do u know how? cuz he gave me a gift. Do u know what? its YOU my love.

M31. wassup? I de house

M32 Ngozi ‘ll wed 15th Dec. Hope u’ll bring wedin gown.

M33. Beyond Ur fears and visions lay unfallable hand of the unfallable lord. It’s a nw hope,liv wit it & enjoy nw

month!

M34. There is new prinspl of Ph.D defens in UNN now, extnal examiners’ CV & articles on screening,

HORRIBLE, DISGUSTING! ‘ve ur examiner gotn approval?

M35. Dili had an accident,she wnt 2 buy sumtin n a bottle mistakenly fel on her leg n cut her vein.We jst cmin

4rm medical center.

M36. I didn’t forge as planned, the man kum disapoint Na carryova be dat

M37. G/evening sir & hw r u doin. Diz is 2 officialy invite u 2 my bday party wit Rotract club of UNN @

physics 3rd yr class carver building by 2 pm

plz kindly dress formal

M38 Its beta nt 2 dan 2 fall in luv wit 1 who doesn’t luv u in return. U ‘ve nt bn callin.. emotionpach is d most

chronic pach 1 can tink of. U said u luv me bt ur actns nor words doesn’t show it, nt even in tex, flashn or cals. I

said it @ d initial tym, tnk God 4 my kind of person.Ur wish is granted anyway.Wish u d best in life.

M39. Wnt 2 com Bac 2dey.I wil come 2morrow. Ope (hope) u r ok.

M40. D guy name apia for notice bod, they say he take exam 4 sbody. O boy don go bi dat oo

M41 Cos i was hurrying i forgot to giv u d meseg.

M42. I no eat 4 nite com de tek bfast 4 eleven o’ clock. Dis assignment de show me

M43 D NFCS final yr forum hold her semina dis sat 18/2/12.Time :10:30 am venue :seat of wisdom

hall ,speaker Nath Francis. Hp fyn

M44. Dear hw is ur health,hope ur gettn beta plz reply. luv u dear

M45. Luv is d dream of nature giving 2 liten man’s burden, lv meks simple d imposible tins of lyf. It shyns n

neva fades Hapi val.

M46. You know wat? I read d txt wit ma frnd.

M47. Fyno and u, hw wz ur day? ope kul

M48. Imagin a wrld witout pipple & pipple witout love,luv is sometin dat al cherish, few understood. Let us

define it wit our lives. apy val.

M49. Broda rejoice with me d battle is ova, my Supervisor has won DVC.

M50. Plz am in d church ok

M51 If i were a tear in ur eye i wood roll down onto ur lips.But if u were a tear in my eye i wood never cry as

i wood be afraid 2 lose u!

M52. D outbreak of ur breaktru in dis new yr shall be faster dan speed of 8ty rocket stars .God shall grant

u all ur effort wit gud sucsess.

Research on Humanities and Social Sciences www.iiste.org

ISSN 2222-1719 (Paper) ISSN 2222-2863 (Online)

Vol.3, No.15, 2013

91

M53. Do u relate wt people well? Gud,u re invited 2 a shearing forum of d final forum on Etiquette in human

relationships dis Thursday immediately after d evin mass. NFCS Finalist...the lord is our strength.

M54 Am just wakin from sleep.I 8 heavli last nite I missed d church just bcos no one kia 2 wake me.

M55 Imilike undergraduate asso meetin holds as folos: date:11/2/12(sun) time:3pm venue:soc.sc quardranghte

agenda :rendering account and first year induct.

Plse be there.

M56 It’s ova b/w us. Caught her wit anoda boy at d motel along Benin express

M57 May u live long laik corruption in Nigeria, may ur generocity spread laik poverty and AIDS in naija, may

ur enemies fall laik naira value, may ur blessing increase laik fuel price in naija, may ur happiness rise laik

unemployment, may u nt fail laik NEPA in Nigeria nd may God fight ur enemies more powerful than Boko

Haram in Nigeria. Api new month!

M58 Cheers.Big Tony. I dnt evn knw hw to tel u ths bt i have 2.D truth is dt av nt ben paid.De promise to pay

me on Wednesday unfailnly. I knw its goin 2b like abmb.plz bea wt me

M59 No airtym to reply ystrday,the credit exprd 2 days ago. D nxt cash i get ‘ll com ur way.i had a serious

crash wit d car bt i won’t repair it until we’r got dat laptop.

M60 Wishing you the best in ur exams. bles you as u join our felo/ship. Be on fire 4 christ & ur blessn is

assured. Me 2 is already in flames 4 dis purpose

M61 Life ends wen you stop drimin, hop ends wen you stop believing and luv ends wen you stop caring.

So drim hope and love...Makes Life Beautiful

M62 God has givn u d opportunity to rule & reign ova life’s circmstances.’ve a nice de!

M63 Ist time i saw u i was scared 2 touch u.1st time i touched u i was scared 2 kiss u.1st time i kiss u i was

scared to luv u.but now dat i luv u im scared 2 lose u!

M64 NGN8,000 has been debited with your account on 30-Aug- 2013 by cash W/D self. Bal

NGN20,000.32CR

M65 NGN600.00 credit was transferred frm my SIM 2 ur phone. enjoy

M67 conventn hold at Nathan Ejiogu Buildin by 10am prompt. NFCS secretariat

M68 Need a gud job!, text AVNSUB073 to 33070 start receiving job vacancies alert daily.

M69 Tanx 4 giving, u’l av more in return

M70 Av dominion ova laif struggles. U’r an ovacomer

M71 Strike is total no teachin, gona go swimin

M72 Movment frm d VC’s lodge 2 Lagos sat Aug 24th 4 wedin of Emma Nzeako-Pol Science Dept. FUNAI

M73 Just 2 let u know he survived tank God

M74 breakin news check telecast by 7pm 2day

M75 Call me when u hv free period b/4 noon I’l be there b/w 8 &12am.

This academic article was published by The International Institute for Science,

Technology and Education (IISTE). The IISTE is a pioneer in the Open Access

Publishing service based in the U.S. and Europe. The aim of the institute is

Accelerating Global Knowledge Sharing.

More information about the publisher can be found in the IISTE’s homepage:

http://www.iiste.org

CALL FOR JOURNAL PAPERS

The IISTE is currently hosting more than 30 peer-reviewed academic journals and

collaborating with academic institutions around the world. There’s no deadline for

submission. Prospective authors of IISTE journals can find the submission

instruction on the following page: http://www.iiste.org/journals/ The IISTE

editorial team promises to the review and publish all the qualified submissions in a

fast manner. All the journals articles are available online to the readers all over the

world without financial, legal, or technical barriers other than those inseparable from

gaining access to the internet itself. Printed version of the journals is also available

upon request of readers and authors.

MORE RESOURCES

Book publication information: http://www.iiste.org/book/

Recent conferences: http://www.iiste.org/conference/

IISTE Knowledge Sharing Partners

EBSCO, Index Copernicus, Ulrich's Periodicals Directory, JournalTOCS, PKP Open

Archives Harvester, Bielefeld Academic Search Engine, Elektronische

Zeitschriftenbibliothek EZB, Open J-Gate, OCLC WorldCat, Universe Digtial

Library , NewJour, Google Scholar

SMS TEXTING AMONG GSM USERS IN NIGERIA: A MORPHO-SYNTACTIC
For more Info, call us on
+234 8130 686 500
or
+234 8093 423 853

Share This
  • Type: Project
  • Department: English
  • Project ID: ENG0081
  • Access Fee: ₦5,000 ($14)
  • Chapters: 5 Chapters
  • Pages: 65 Pages
  • Format: Microsoft Word
  • Views: 859
Payment Instruction
Bank payment for Nigerians, Make a payment of ₦ 5,000 to

Bank GTBANK
gtbank
Account Name Obiaks Business Venture
Account Number 0211074565

Bitcoin: Make a payment of 0.0005 to

Bitcoin(Btc)

btc wallet
Copy to clipboard Copy text

500
Leave a comment...

    Details

    Type Project
    Department English
    Project ID ENG0081
    Fee ₦5,000 ($14)
    Chapters 5 Chapters
    No of Pages 65 Pages
    Format Microsoft Word

    Related Works

    Abstract The gradual shift from the offline to online communication such as text messaging has given way to innovative language-short forms whose morph-syntactic aspects have permeated the linguistic characters of the texters. For about a decade now, there exist a growing body of research on mobile phone text messaging by linguists but only very... Continue Reading
    This study is an OT investigation of the morpho-phonology of English loanwords in Kitigania, a dialect of Kiimeru language. The subject of loanwords and adaptation is pivoted on the assumption that Kitigania has had a long time contact with the English language. This English-Kiimeru language contact can be traced back to the coming of missionaries... Continue Reading
    ABSTRACT This research work is on the role of information and communication technology (ICT) in the provision of reference service in public library user in Nigeria. A case study of Imo state Library. The literature review is on the concept of ICTs types of ICT infrastructure applicable in public library, funding of ICTs in public libraries in... Continue Reading
    ABSTRACT This is a research on problems of acquisition of materials and services to users in special libraries in Nigeria. A case study of Imo State House of Assembly. Questionnaires were used in getting the relevant information needed for the research. The responses from the questionnaires were analyzed to arrive at conclusion. The study revealed... Continue Reading
    INTRODUCTION* Problems Of Acquisition Of Material And Services To Users In Special Libraries In Nigeria� You are reading project material titled: Problems Of Acquisition Of Material And Services To Users In Special Libraries In Nigeria Title Page Certification Page Dedication Acknowledgment Abstract Table Of Content Chapter One 1.0 Introduction/... Continue Reading
    Abstract This project analyzes the relevance of audit committee functions on the quality of financial statement in Nigeria, the users’ perception. The broad objective of the study is to ascertain if audit committee reports strengthen the decision relevance of corporate report and also to find out if the information content of audit committee... Continue Reading
    ABSTRACT This work is seen to reveal the difficulties and challenges in learning English as a second language especially in non- native background of Igbo speaking students in Lagos state University, (LASU) Ojo. To carry out this exercise, the researcher visited the students, recorded their first and second languages with the use of a... Continue Reading
    ABSTRACT This study investigates the syntactic features of Nigerian English which have been created through the following processes – the use of subjectless sentences, reduplication, double subjects, Pidgin-influenced structures, discourse particles, verbless sentences, and substitution. It observes that the fact that some features of Nigerian... Continue Reading
    ABSTRACT This study is specifically concerned with the syntactic analysis of the use of auxiliary verbs in office documents by writers of office documentsusing Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (IBB) University,Lapai Niger State and the interpersonal meanings, and the various interpretations deduced from the use of the English auxiliary verbs in the... Continue Reading
    ABSTRACT This is a research on problems of acquisition of materials and services to users in special libraries in Nigeria. A case study of Imo State House of Assembly. Questionnaires were used in getting the relevant information needed for the research. The responses from the questionnaires were analyzed to arrive at conclusion. The study revealed... Continue Reading
    Call Us
    Get this work
    whatsappWhatsApp Us