Here a comma, there a comma, everywhere a comma comma...and some contractions

So I've noticed that apparently I like to title my posts as questions? While pondering this cute little quirk of mine I started to contemplate the almighty concept of grammar. *shudder*

Now admittedly, despite my obvious love of all things linguistic, grammar has not always been my strong suit. I may have mastered the semicolon; it's proper use is hardly well understood amongst the common English speaker. However, many rules and conventions of grammar I find completely baffling.

Take the comma, for example. I've heard of two different schools of thought on the comma. The first defines very specific rules for the how and when commas should be used (in lists, to offset parenthetical statements, etc.). The other, which I sometimes dabble a little too heavily in, says that if you would pause in speaking or reading the sentence, insert a comma. I believe this is highly discouraged amongst most grammarians. And widely used by the general public. (Tangent: ahh...the good ol' prescriptive vs. descriptive grammar debate).

You may have noticed I tend to write as though I'm speaking. I will confess, I don't think my vocabulary is quite as grandiloquent in person (at least most of the time). But then, I don't usually have access to an online dictionary and thesaurus when I'm speaking. And I definitely don't use nearly as many contractions in writing as I do in speech.

I mean really - sometimes when I think about what I've said, it wouldn't even look like English if I transcribed it(if I could figure out HOW to transcribe it...). At least not GOOD English...

Seriously - if you saw someone write the following "sentence", don't tell me you wouldn't judge them:

'M'a go the store, y'wan' some milk?

Now, I realize this sentence would sound just as odd/awkward if it were to be spelled out completely in perfect English:

I am going to go to the store, do you want me to get some milk?

I love this stuff! I just get a little thrill every time I realize how smart our little brains really are and how much work they do for us without us really noticing it. When you think about it, it's pretty amazing that we can hear:

'M'a go the store, y'wan' some milk?

and our brain interprets for us:

I am going to go to the store, do you want me to get some milk?

And it does it all in the blink of any eye. In the amount of time it takes you to read that first "sentence," your brain has already decoded it, come up with the appropriate answer and probably delivered it.

We learn all these grammar rules and requirements in school so that we can speak correctly and be understood. And then we hear some contracted, truncated, totally grammatically incorrect statement, and we have no problem understanding and responding to it. Incredible!

Irony?

So, if you haven't picked up on it by now, I have always been fascinated by language. Even as a child I used to babble in my own made up language (my mom is convinced it was Italian - but upon reflection I think it may have been closer to Portuguese).

The fascination started early (dictionary!), but really as a child there weren't that many outlets for my infatuation to grow. Once I was in school, I definitely enjoyed English class, but we never really focused on the language itself (although I always did well on my vocab tests) but rather on literature with an occasional grammar lesson thrown in.

In high school the new option to explore my growing passion for language was to take a foreign language. Now, any rational, reasonable, sensible person living in California knows that if you're going to learn a foreign language, the only one that really makes sense is Spanish. And if you really don't want to take Spanish, then the next most logical would be French. What did I choose? German.

I think there were about 3 or 4 different teachers for Spanish, and 3 for French. But there was only 1 class taught by 1 teacher for German. We started freshman year with 30 people in our class. And by senior year there were about 20 of us left. We spent 4 years bonding with each other and our beloved "Lehrerin." We were each given a German name to use in class. I was "Maria" for 4 long years (that would be 4 long years of my teacher belting out the opening strings of Maria from West Side Story every time she called on me in class). It was wunderbar!

By sophomore year I was so enthusiastic about German, that I decided to take French at the same time. And freshman year of college I finally added Italian to my repertoire.

Of course, in college I discovered there were actually courses in this amazing subject called Linguistics - where all you did all day was study language! It was incredible! You could take a class in any part of language you were interested in - the details of grammar, meaning, the structure of the sound or even the impact of language on society.

And now, several years later - I have my degree in Linguistics, which, even though I'm not currently doing anything with it in my career, I do not regret one bit. I still live in California. And I still don't speak Spanish.

But I did get a job working for a German company. Go figure!

Gr8 Db8?

While browsing a well-known social networking site that I'm most definitely not addicted to, (Facebook) I came across a "status update" from a friend in Germany that sent my mind reeling and inspired a little google.com exploration into the "linguistics of texting".

Incidently, I discovered if you type "gr8 linguistics" into google you will get approximately 259,000 hits (as of September 1st, 2009). All of the first 1-10 hits (and I suspect a good portion of the next 100 although I didn't bother to check) were various references to "The Gr8 Db8" by David Crystal. It seems to be a discourse rejecting the notion that the abbreviated language of texting is having a negative impact on the English language and that it in fact is a natural part of language. How did I not know about this book? It is definitely going on my reading list! Perhaps I will take it with me on my forthcoming, month-long trip to lands abroad.

Which brings me back the inspiration for my little google expedition. I have frequently seen(and participated in) the use of abbreviated texting language, for example:

LOL
BRB
cya l8r

Today was my first exposure to the texting lingo of another language. My German friend chose to end his status with "guten N8"

Okay - so this doesn't really make sense unless you understand German. Much like "l8r" really wouldn't make any sense to anyone who wasn't pretty familiar with English.

Here's my brief explanation:
the German word for "night" is "Nacht"
the number 8 is pronounced "acht" in German.

Thus we get "N8" for N-acht or night. How cool is that?

I'm not sure why this is so surprising to me. Am I so arrogant as to think that only American's would come up with these clever little abbreviated ways of communicating on our tiny little phones? I'd like to think I'm more open- and fair-minded than that.

Either way, I am now quite intrigued by the topic and think I will have to do a little more investigating into the international world of txting. ;-)