We asked David Crystal, author of Txtng: The Gr8 Db8, to suggest a reading list about new forms of electronic communication and how they're shaping our language. Here are his recommendations.
Naomi S. Baron, Always On: Language in an Online and Mobile World. Oxford University Press, 2008.
A wide-ranging account of the way the various domains of electronically mediated communication are influencing the way we speak and write.
David Crystal. Language and the Internet, 2nd edition. Cambridge University Press, 2006.
A review of the emerging language varieties in the Internet, within a perspective which views the Internet as a new medium of communication.
David Crystal. A Glossary of Netspeak and Textspeak. Edinburgh University Press, 2004.
An alphabetical listing of the terminology that is evolving in relation to the Internet and cellphones, with particular reference to the way technical terms are influencing everyday speech.
R. Harper, L. Palen, A. Taylor (eds). The Inside Text: Social, Cultural and Design Perspectives on SMS. Springer, 2005.
A collection of papers examining the differences between SMS and other forms of communication, with particular reference to cultural variation across countries.
