Exploration of styles of lexical compression and lexical formation rules in Computer Mediated Communication: Linguistic implications

Abstract

The gradual shift from the offline to online communication such as: short message services (SMS), 2go and whatsapp has given way to innovative language short forms, whose lexical compressions have permeated the linguistic characters of the texters. For about a decade now, there exists a growing body of research on mobile text messaging by linguists, but only few have been done in the area of lexical compression on Computer Mediated Communication (CMC) platforms. The objectives of the study focus on ascertaining the implicationsoflexical compressionon emergence of cyber linguistic orthography, cyber linguistic register and also to determine the effects on Computer Mediated Communication (CMC) platforms users. The data analysis was done using qualitative descriptive method to analyze the texters chats which the research obtained from the Computer Mediated Communication (CMC) platforms users. The research work finds out that lexical compression in Computer Mediated Communication (CMC) has resulted in the emergence of cyber linguistic orthography, cyber linguistic register, and finally proves that lexical compression in Computer Mediated Communication (CMC) provides a platform for users to create and practice phonemic activities which enhance their phonemic awareness.