Written Task 1

Move Over AAVE, Textspeak Has Replaced You

Just like trends and fads, dialects and their varieties come and go. And although we rarely think about how we speak, our spoken dialects are probably the most fluctuating language forms of all. The ‘yo’s and double negations that once dotted our speech have now been replaced with ‘LOL’, ‘OMG’ and spoken hashtags. Our culture has switched dialects, and it seems this time that textspeak has replaced AAVE (African American Vernacular English) as the language of our time.

Despite their significantly different origins and structures, the current development of textspeak emulates that of AAVE’s very well. First emerging from the combination of English and native West African languages when these speakers came into contact with each other, AAVE was initially an African dialect that couldn’t be helped. As it developed, however, it became a choice since its speakers continued preserving it after becoming fluent in English and knowing how it’s spoken.

Textspeak also initially arose out of physical necessities.  Linguist David Crystal proclaims that it has arisen due to ‘on-screen limitations’, which ring true at the time when messages had maximum characters and textspeak was crucial to saving money and energy. With current smart phones and unlimited free messaging thanks to Wi-Fi, however, textspeak is no longer needed and has become a choice.

The persistence of these two dialects to be used so many years after they initially developed out of needs shows that they are both choices. Not only are they still used when they aren’t necessary anymore, but they have both reached across their origins to pervade new groups of people.

Blondie’s 1981 song Rapture was the first time a white artist ever rapped, and marked the start of AAVE’s long journey out of African American culture. Likewise, although textspeak was initially used only by youth, as texting gained popularity the dialect extended its reach so that 80% of people who text and use textspeak now are adults.

What is so exciting about these similarities is that despite how much we think we have changed as a society, textspeak is repeating AAVE’s exact patterns from over three decades ago. And although technology has made major steps forward during this time, both dialects also share the impacts technology can have on a language.

Albeit technology being absent from AAVE’s early beginnings, it proved instrumental in the dialect’s rise to prominence. AAVE was popularized due to the media, especially through music, as well as technology’s role in making entertainment available to more people. As R&B and Hip Hop gained fame, AAVE expanded to be used in novels, short stories, and poetry. The media presented an outlet for documenting experiences, and AAVE was the perfect instrument in depicting African American lives and culture. Through this increased publicizing of African American culture, the usage of AAVE also eventually came to be considered cool.

Technology was just as important to textspeak, especially since the creation of this dialect was caused solely by technology presenting, as Crystal says, ‘a new medium for language’. Without the platform technology created, there would have been no text speak at all. Beyond its creation, however, technology also presented a way for textspeak to evolve. Sites like Tumblr and Twitter seem designed for textspeak to be used, creating communities where this dialect is the main method of communication and where its conventions are understood by all. Textspeak has even worked its way into music, like Trey Songz’ LOL : -), and daily speech, with us saying things like ‘lol’ or ‘wat’ – phrases that all originated from textspeak.

Despite how much fame these dialects have garnered at their own times, they have also faced issues with their usage. Both have been deemed ‘unprofessional’, and not for use on formal occasions. When interviewing speakers of AAVE, many of them said they ‘wouldn’t use it (AAVE) in an interview’. Likewise, many current employers have been turned off by the usage of textspeak in thank-you notes from interviewees.

It seems that despite the popularity they gain in popular culture, AAVE and textspeak are both personal languages, reserved for people we are close to. Indeed, as our social circles grow, these dialects mark the differences in our interactions between friends and acquaintances and shape the identities we take on with different people.

Through these similarities between textspeak and AAVE, there remains one obvious difference in who is allowed to use either. While the totally uninhibited use of AAVE by anyone other than an African American may result in accusations of cultural appropriation, the usage of textspeak is open to all. Perhaps as a testament to how much our society has become an amalgamation of so many different cultures, our new ‘in’ language was developed by everyone, and is used by everyone.

After seeing how closely textspeak has followed the path of AAVE, language shows itself as a cycle where new dialects are constantly evolving to suit our needs for a particular time. In this sense, the history of our language functions as a cultural memoir of sorts – reflecting on how our society’s values have changed over time.

Just like AAVE eventually petered out and is now used mainly by African Americans again, so can we expect textspeak’s popularity to slowly disappear later on as a new form of language comes up that is a product of our future society. In the constantly evolving world of language, our society will continue to change what we speak, and therefore how we define our identities.

Word Count: 908