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: nokiawins1@live.co.uk
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
