XIV Международная студенческая научная конференция Студенческий научный форум - 2022

The mobile phone is now an integral part of the modern lifestyle for people of all ages. And if the initial function of mobile phones was communication through making calls, then this SMS exchange is becoming more widespread, especially among young people. So, neologisms «Handy-Generation», «Generation SMS» appeared in German, emphasizing the special role of communication via SMS among young people. Initially, the abbreviation «SMS» («Short Message Service») meant a service for the transmission of short messages (in paging and communications via mobile phones). Now this term is also used to denote, in fact, a short message no longer than 1 kb. Thus, SMS messages are limited in volume. The first SMS had to contain no more than 70 symbols (in Cyrillic) and no more than 160 symbols (in Latin).

In form, SMS communication is a written communication, at the same time, as the researcher Palkova A.V. says, it has features of oral one [1]. S.V. Bondarenko emphasizes that the texts of SMS messages combine «oral speech with the reflexivity of the epistolary genre», and mobile text communication contains «material traces of the oral culture of interpersonal interactions» [2]. Thus, scientists emphasize the special status of SMS communication as a new form of communication. In mediated communication, which is the exchange of SMS messages, its participants have only one so-called communication channel, while in «natural» communication, participants can use visual contact, body movements, facial expressions, gestures, speech speed, voice volume, pauses to which communicants respond. An attempt to avoid misunderstanding led to the development of special means, which include forms of abbreviations that allow the communication process to be carried out almost as quickly as in natural communication.

Based on S.O. Barinova’s classification of abbreviations in the language of the Internet [3], we made an attempt to study the abbreviations used in SMS communication based on German and English. The first type of abbreviations includes syllabic abbreviations, for example, in English: edu (education), Net / Inet (Internet), in German: Uni (Universität). Compound syllabic abbreviations include not only reduced forms of words, but also full words, for example, in English: e-mail (electronic mail), emoticon (emotional icon), in German: HaHu (Habe Hunger), MaMiMa (Mail mir mal), HaSe (Habe Sehnsucht), RuMiAn (ruf michan), dubido (Du bist doof!), DuBiMeiLe (Dubist mein Leben.), WaMaDuHeu? (Was machst du heute?).

Among initial abbreviations which necessarily include initial letters, the sounds of words of an abbreviated phrase or even a sentence, the following examples can be given: in English, IT (information technologies), PC (personal computer), in German: JoN (jetzt oder nie), mfG (mit freundlichen Grüßen), LG (Liebe Grüße), bbb (Bis bald, Baby!), www (Wir werden warten), ivd (Ich vermisse dich.), hdl (Hab dich lieb.), DN (Du nervst!), bd (Brauche dich.), BSE (Bin so einsam.), DaD (Denk an dich.), DaM (Denk an mich.), sTn (Schönen Tag noch!), ZDOM (Zu dir oder zu mir?), NEWS (Nur ein wenig sauer.).

Among graphic abbreviations, contractures can be distinguished – signs that convey only consonant sounds, for example, in English: thx / tx (thanks), hrs (hours), pls (please). Final and initial truncations are often found in SMS messages, for example, in German: freu, is, nich, nem, ne, assimilation phenomena: aufm, wars, as well as reductions: sehn, müssn, grade , wieda, supa, leida, which is also a confirmation of the oral conceptual nature of SMS.

Phonoideograms include ideographic signs consisting of one sign (determinative) indicating an approximate meaning, and a sign indicating an exact or approximate reading of this sign. Examples are most often found in English, for example, 2bctnd (to be continued), f2f (face to face), cu (see you), tuvm (thank you very much), w4u (wait for you), 2g4u (too good for you).

Very often, SMS messages contain pictograms – signs that express the emotional state of the participants during communication. They include emoticons which can be both textual (i.e. combine combinations of keyboard characters), for example: «: - )», «: - (», and graphic, for example: ☺, ♥.

To the graphic features of SMS communication, researchers include writing the text of the message only in small or in capital letters. This phenomenon can be explained by the principle of saving efforts when typing through the telephone keyboard.

It should be noted that in most cases punctuation marks are ignored by participants in SMS communication, which can be explained by limited volume of messages, on the one hand, and an insufficient level of literacy, on the other hand.

The considered means are found mainly in SMS messages exchanged between young people. And, if adults send messages, most often, for reasons of practicality and informative value, then, speaking of SMS communication between young people, first of all, one should keep in mind its emotional nature. Globalization, digital revolution and evolution of languages are closely interconnected. It is necessary to continue further empirical studies of SMS communication as a specific form of communication. It should be emphasized that in modern conditions the fears of scientists that languages suffer because of the influence of new communication means are justified, which can lead to negative consequences, in particular, numerous violations and deviations from the norms of existing literary languages.

References

Палкова А.В. SMS как новая форма коммуникации // Вестник ТвГУ. Серия: Филология. – 2011. – № 4. – С.93-102.

Бондаренко С.В. Особенности символико-смысловых взаимодействий в рамках молодежной субкультуры мобильной коммуникации // Молодежь юга России: положение, проблемы, перспективы. Южнороссийское обозрение Центра системных региональных исследований ИППК РГУ и ИСПИ РАН. Под ред. В.В. Черноуса. – Ростов-на-Дону, 2005. – Вып. 31. – С. 28-51.

Баринова С. О. Классификация сокращений в языке Интернета (на материале английского языка) // Известия РГПУ им. А. И. Герцена. 2007. №33. URL: https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/klassifikatsiya-sokrascheniy-v-yazyke-interneta-na-materiale-angliyskogo-yazyka (дата обращения: 03.11.2021).