When it comes to texting, the period, full stop, point \u2013 whatever you call it \u2013 has been getting a lot of attention.<\/p>\n
People have begun noticing slight changes to the way our smallest punctuation mark is deployed, from declarations that it\u2019s going out of style<\/a><\/strong> to claims that it\u2019s becoming angry<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n What they\u2019re actually noticing is written language becoming more flexible, with texting possessing its own set of stylistic norms (sometimes informally called \u201ctextspeak\u201d or \u201ctextese\u201d).<\/p>\n The period is merely one example of this shift, a change that has opened up new possibilities for communicating with written language.<\/p>\n Just as we have different styles of speaking in different situations, so do we have context-dependent styles of writing.<\/p>\n Though periods can still signal the end of a sentence in a text message, many users will omit them (especially if the message is only one sentence long).<\/p>\n This tendency now subtly influences how we interpret them.<\/p>\n Because text messaging is a conversation that involves a lot of back-and-forth, people add fillers as a way to mimic spoken language.<\/p>\n We see this with the increased use of ellipses<\/a><\/strong>, which can invite the recipient to continue the conversation.<\/p>\n The period is the opposite of that \u2013 a definitive stop that signals, as linguistics professor Mark Liberman has explained<\/a><\/strong>, \u201cThis is final, this is the end of the discussion.\u201d<\/p>\n For some, this can appear angry or standoffish.<\/p>\n Earlier this year, psychologist Danielle Gunraj tested<\/a><\/strong> how people perceived one-sentence text messages that used a period at the end of the sentence.<\/p>\n Participants thought these text messages were more insincere than those that didn\u2019t have a period. But when the researchers then tested the same messages in handwritten notes, they found that the use of a period didn\u2019t influence how the messages were perceived.<\/p>\n In a 2007 study<\/a><\/strong> by linguists Naomi Baron and Rich Ling, multi-sentence text messages often had punctuation to indicate where the sentences stopped, but only 29 percent of these texts had punctuation at the very end of the message.<\/p>\n The reason, Baron and Ling explain, is that \u201cthe act of sending a message coincides with sentence-final punctuation.\u201d<\/p>\n But of all the things to feel when seeing a period at the end of a text message \u2013 why insincerity<\/em>?<\/p>\n The answer could have something to do with a term used by linguist John J. Gumperz: \u201csituational code-switching,\u201d<\/strong> which is when we change how we talk depending on where we are, who we\u2019re talking to or how we\u2019re communicating.<\/p>\n A common example is the way we talk in a job interview versus at a bar with friends.<\/p>\n Typically, a speaker will use much more formal language in an interview than when hanging out with peers. If you talked to your friends the same way you talked during a job interview, it would probably give a stilted, distant feeling to the conversation.<\/p>\n Scholars originally investigated situational code-switching in spoken<\/em> language because spoken language was used in both casual and formal settings. In the past, written language was almost always tinged with a level of formality because it was associated with permanence in books and written documents.<\/p>\n However, now that text messaging and social media have given their users an outlet for casual written language, differences between writing styles can be seen.<\/p>\n The use of the period is one example of situational code-switching: When using one in a text message, it\u2019s perceived as overly formal. So when you end your text with a period, it can come across as insincere or awkward, just like using formal spoken language in a casual setting like a bar.<\/p>\n Another example of language change in casual written forms is the repetition of letters.<\/p>\n Communication scholar Erika Darics has observed<\/a><\/strong> that the repetition of letters or punctuation marks adds intensity to messages (\u201cstopppp!!!\u201d). She writes that this creates \u201ca display of informality through using a relaxed writing style.\u201d<\/p>\n Linguist Deborah Tannen described a similar phenomenon<\/a><\/strong>, noting that repeated exclamation points in a message can convey a sincere tone, like in the following text message:<\/p>\n JACKIE I AM SO SO SO SORRY! I thought you were behind us in the cab and then I saw you weren\u2019t!!!!! I feel soooooooo bad! Catch another cab and ill pay for it for youuuuu<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Note that this message does not contain a message-final period, since that may convey insincerity that would contradict the apology being presented.<\/p>\n Instead, the sender uses the non-standard long vowels in \u201csoooooooo\u201d and \u201cyouuuuu\u201d as well as five exclamation points at the end of one sentence.<\/p>\n Compare this to a standardized version of the text message:<\/p>\n Jackie, I am so sorry. I thought you were behind us in the cab and then I saw you weren\u2019t. I feel so bad! Catch another cab and I\u2019ll pay for it for you.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n This more formal version, according to the arguments made by Tannen and Darics, reads more like a work email sent to a colleague than one to a friend sincerely and fervently apologizing for a transportation mishap.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a bit counterintuitive, but using formal language may undermine the sincerity of the apology; in order to convey the \u201cright\u201d message, it\u2019s important to know the proper protocols.<\/p>\n This may explain why some people\u2019s text messages seem stilted or awkward: they\u2019re used to writing with a formal style that doesn\u2019t translate to the casual medium.<\/p>\n In the media, there\u2019s been a fair amount of debate about whether texting \u2013 or using overly casual language \u2013 can \u201cruin\u201d someone\u2019s writing ability. (Examples include the LA Times<\/a><\/strong>, the BBC<\/a><\/strong> and The Daily Mail<\/a><\/strong>, to name a few.)<\/p>\n However, past research into situational code-switching in spoken language has shown that a person\u2019s ability to code-switch can signal social competency<\/a><\/strong>, can affirm one\u2019s sense of identity or membership in a community<\/a><\/strong> and may be an indicator of high intellectual ability in children<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n Studies like the recent work of psychologists Gene Ouellette and Melissa Michaud<\/a><\/strong> have shown that the use of text messaging and \u201ctextese\u201d has little relationship to how someone will score on spelling, reading and vocabulary tests.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, a study out of California State University<\/a><\/strong> found little use of \u201ctextisms\u201d in formal letter writing assignments completed by students.<\/p>\n This observation supports work like a study by psychologist Beverly Plester and colleagues<\/a><\/strong>, who found that an increased use of textese was correlated with higher scores on verbal reasoning ability tests.<\/p>\n They suggested that the preteens in their study were able to \u201cslip between one register of language and another, as they deem it appropriate.\u201d<\/p>\n This shows that frequent and fluent users of casual written language can often readily code-switch: they know to put that period at the end of every sentence in a formal writing assignment.<\/p>\n Some educators are even beginning to incorporate lessons about formal and informal writing into their classrooms<\/a><\/strong>, which can help students identify those situations that require the use of different styles.<\/p>\n Instead of ignoring or deriding the variation in written language, embracing the change in language \u2013 and the ability of speakers and writers to code-switch \u2013 can lead to better communication skills in all contexts.<\/p>\n Knowing when a period might indicate insincerity is just one of them.<\/p>\n This article was originally published on The Conversation<\/a><\/strong>. Read the original article<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n How to get FTTH to come to your neighbourhood<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n The best multiplayer PC games of 2016 (so far)<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\nReading between the periods<\/h3>\n
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