Txtng: The Gr8 Db8 (Hardcover)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: young texters, texting conventions, texting abbreviations, New York, Revista de Estudios de Juventud, Clare Wood (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"In this witty and insightful work, Crystal examines the phenomenon of text messaging, notably in terms of its impact on language and society. Crystal cuts through the exaggerations about the dire impact of the medium on language and places texting in context. This book serves both as an excellent introduction to texting for the uninitiated and as a scholarly resource for those who study the phenomenon. Essential." --CHOICE

Product Description

Text messaging has spread like wildfire. Indeed texting is so widespread that many parents, teachers, and media pundits have been outspoken in their criticism of it. Does texting spell the end of western civilization?
In this humorous, level-headed and insightful book, David Crystal argues that the panic over texting is misplaced. Crystal, a world renowned linguist and prolific author on the uses and abuses of English, here looks at every aspect of the phenomenon of text-messaging and considers its effects on literacy, language, and society. He explains how texting began, how it works, who uses it, and how much it is used, and he shows how to interpret the mixture of pictograms, logograms, abbreviations, symbols, and wordplay typically used in texting. He finds that the texting system of conveying sounds and concepts goes back a long way--to the very origins of writing. And far from hindering children's literacy, texting turns out to help it.
Illustrated with original art by Ed MacLachlan, a popular cartoonist whose work has appeared in Punch, Private Eye, New Statesman, and many other publications, Txting: The Gr8 Db8 is entertaining and instructive--reassuring for worried parents and teachers, illuminating for teenagers, and fascinating for everyone interested in what's currently happening to language and communication.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (September 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0199544905
• ISBN-13: 978-0199544905
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (53 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #231,653 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "f u cn rd ths thn wats th prblm?", September 29, 2008

By	Dame Droiture (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews

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Personally, I think texting is great: it keeps my minutes low, and allows me to give a premeditated response to incoming messages -- with more convenience than email offers. This book actually prompted a lively discussion in my class the other day, when I asked my students if they thought that texting was adversely affecting their literary or writing skills. While the vast majority said No, at least one of them pointed out the difficulties in changing communication registers (i.e. from text-speak to academic essay-writing).

The book itself wasn't what I thought it would be, though. Crystal's observations are provocative, but it really does advocate a texting-is-perfectly-fine argument. (The back cover blurb says "You decide.")

However, there is one thing that Crystal makes absolutely clear: texting is not much different from other forms of technology that have been introduced, and which came under critical fire. The telegraph and telephone are two prominent examples. I can think of another one: medieval manuscript abbreviations, where words were habitually shortened in order to save space on expensive parchment. Rather than dampening our literary spirits, these things seem to have promoted reading and writing.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I txt - there4 I M., October 16, 2008

By	The Matrix Fan "Video Gamer since 1979." - See all my reviews

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I hear the noise of a text message coming in to my phone, and I don't think "Wow, this signifies the end of written language as we know it..." - quite the contrary. I feel elated when I receive a text message, as do thousands upon thousands of other people.

David Crystal's novel dives into the worldwide phenomenon of text messaging. He samples texts from other languages, discusses how it came about in such a short time, why people text at all, what they text about, and does his best to allay any fears that texting is causing the destruction of language.

From the start, it's clear that David Crystal is no hack - he's studied linguistics for many years, authored and co-authored several books, and is even a proponent of a new field of study, "internet linguistics". There is no one better to discuss the global impact of texting.

The writing style of this book weighs heavily on the side of research; there are several annotations and references to websites and other research papers. Some of the chapters only get a cursory glance, such as "the hype about texting" while others, such as "what makes texting distinctive" go into much more detail and give examples of how texting uses at least six combinations of features designed to provoke emotions, shorten words, omit letters, and so forth.

To widen our understanding, David Crystal mentions several non-conventional uses for text messaging: Amber Alerts, texting championships, texting poetry competitions, mobile phone books, and several others. He talks about the usage of texting in several countries, and even discusses how it meshes/clashes with cultural folkways and mores.

But is it out to destroy language? It doesn't seem like it. Since texting requires sophisticated abilities in reading, writing and comprehension, people who lack these skills aren't likely to adopt texting as their preferred method of communication.

Using his singular wit, David Crystal poses that if texting was proposed with the pitch below, it would never have existed at all:

"I have this great idea. A new way of person-to-person communication, using your phone. The users won't have a familiar keyboard. Their fingers will have trouble finding the keys. They will be able to send messages, but with no more than 160 characters at a time. The writing on the screens will be small and difficult to read, especially if you have a visual handicap. The messages will arrive at any time, interrupting your daily routine or your sleep. Oh, and every now and again you won't be able to send or receive anything because your battery will run out."

After the 8 chapters are finished, there are 2 appendices. The first discusses English text abbreviations, and the other shows text abbreviations from 11 different languages.

If you're interested in linguistics, or if you've ever sent a text message, this book will definitely entertain and educate you.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting, but a bit too "scholarly" for my liking..., October 1, 2008

By	Thomas Duff "Duffbert" (Portland, OR United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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As part of the Amazon Vine review program, I requested and received a copy of David Crystal's book Txtng: The Gr8 Db8. Being the proud owner of an iPhone with two older children, I've done my share of texting with them and others in my circle of friends. While the book does do a good job in examining the pros and cons of texting on our language skills, it was far too academic for my liking. Conversely, if you were teaching a class (or were interested) in linguistics, there'd be a lot in this book that would fascinate you. Guess it all depends on your reason and/or expectations for reading it.

Contents:
The hype about texting; How weird is texting?; What makes texting distinctive?; What do they do it?; Who texts?; What do they text about?; How do other languages do it?; Why all the fuss?; Glossary; Appendix A - English text abbreviations; Appendix B - Text abbreviations in eleven languages; Index

Crystal is a professor of linguistics in the United Kingdom, and he's spent considerable time and effort studying the subject of text messaging. His main argument is with those who decry "text speak" as the death knell of proper writing skills. He reaches the exact opposite conclusion in his opinion. The ability to shorten, abbreviate, and combine sounds to create written communication has been around as long as language itself, and the core skills involved in creating text messages are the same as a person would use for any other written form of communication. The hysteria of those who don't understand it is countered by solid statistics and research provided by Crystal. In fact, there are entire competitions devoted to creating poetry that is restricted to the 140 character limit often imposed on SMS text messages. While some win the contest with full words (just not very many of them), others push the boundaries of texting and create emotional works using sentences like "txtin iz messin, mi headn'me englis". While not a "language" that would be officially recognized as such, it's difficult to believe that someone couldn't figure out exactly what was meant in those lines. And really, that's the goal of communication.

I found some of the material interesting, as well as his non-gloom-and-doom attitude quite refreshing. But it bogged down at times when it came to detailed statistics about who does what most often. A serious student of linguistics might be interested in knowing how women and men differ in their texting, or how the different age groups might approach it. But from my techo-geek perspective, I found myself in rapid skim mode more often than not. I feel that your enjoyment of the book will be based on proper expectations. If you want a scholarly approach to the subject backed up by research, it's great. If you're more interested in a "hacker's" view of texting, then you may be left wanting...