Orð og tunga - 01.06.2014, Page 82

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Orð og tunga
sons ranges from various purposes for online communication (some
being formal, others informal) to constantly changing communicative
settings. Because of the latter, language has to transform appropriate-
ly to comply with new requirements and possibilities (Crystal 2006,
Schlobinski 2006) presented by time, space and technological limita-
tions that arise. The result is a set of verbal and non-verbal strategies
that vary across national languages, although cross-linguistic simi-
larities are possible (cf. Sveningsson 2003:139).
However, research on online communication, often referred to as
computer-mediated cömmunication (CMC) (Herring 1996, Thurlow, Len-
gel & Tomic 2004, Wright & Webb 2011), is still mostly focused on
the English language (Baron 2008, Greiffenstern 2010, Herring 2004)1.
Especially smaller languages have hardly been taken into account.
This paper aims therefore to broaden the picture and to give an initial
insight into Icelandic CMC. Regarding the often claimed "purist" lan-
guage policy in Iceland, the examination of CMC becomes especially
relevant, for it contains features that contrast with what one may call
"good Icelandic". English borrowings (likc, nice) for example, are fre-
quently used in Icelandic CMC. Moreover, strategies to compensate
for essential elements of oral communication, such as tone and body
language, can be observed. Examples of this are the use of emoticons
and verbalized laughter. Finally, spelling, such as the use of diacritics,
and punctuation are not prioritized in the digital discourse. Instead,
the creative use of spelling and punctuation in CMC may serve indi-
vidual and stylistic purposes.
With regard to the analysis of CMC as a new variety of Icelan-
dic, we must first understand its nature. Accordingly, this paper will
address the following questions: What linguistic features are signifi-
cant? How can they be categorized? And what functional purpose
do they serve? Answering these questions will aid to assess whether
CMC can be characterized as a new variety of written Icelandic.
In order to answer these questions, section 2 will first give an in-
troduction to CMC as a new way for communication and will then
' Introduced in the 1980s, the term CMC was first used to encompass (interactive)
communication through different computer related platforms such as instant
messaging, chat and email (cf. Baron 2008: 11). With the coming of new digital
communication technologies that are not computers in the narrow sense, such
as mobile phones, the term was expanded to communicative interaction through
electronic devices (e.g. Thurlow, Lengel & Tomic 2004). This essay will thus use
the term in the latter sense and understand CMC as written (interactive) commu-
nication carried out on digital electronic devices.