Language Compression in Text, Cell Phones and Email: Deletion, Context and Ambiguity
1 Outline
Lngge Cmprssn in Cll Phns and Eml: Dltn, Cntxt and Ambgty.
This article deals with language compression, by means of abbreviation of forms of consistently patterned written communication, that have practical use in rapid text messaging, fast data-base searching and crawling, email or any other written communication originating in keypads/keyboards.
In the present article, various means of practical language cmprssn are explored with respect to how far compression can be taken, how far it can go practclly without intrdcng unwantd ambiguity & how much the succss of the vrs means depend upon a meaningful lngstic contxt in the bsc communication.
Aspects discussed include mnmm cdng, ambiguity, abbrvtn of cmmn words (propositions, articles, cnjnctns, etc.), the dltn of rdndnt Englsh chrctrs and vowel groups, simplification of lngstc form and the relationship btwn vocabulary, intelligibility and cnscsnss.
The artcle drvs from sverl previous notes - rltng to phonetic and word ordrng, letter ordering within words and lngge intllgblty; thse are rprdcd in the vrs attchd Appendices B, C and E.
Some additional notes, regarding simple message codification both in written and oral communication, are incorporated, the latter as Appendix D.
You may hve ntcd alrdy tht the artcle bcms an exmple of itslf as it prcds.
2 General Introduction
The article now slowly bocmees evn mre of an empaxle of istlef as it pedorces - monvig into stadnard Eglinsh when unambiguous pnts nd mkng .
As discessud and datemonsterd ewelshere on tihs pgae (Appendix D), the barin can sheomow magnae to utangnle dosredrid wetitrn luagange petatrns (as you are dinog rihgt now) podvried that:a) suficinfet cotnutxal celus are available[Aside; the reason all this works relates to the fact that 'speech' occurs in CHORDS, with spoken vowels serving (generally) as 'carrier waves' which get modulated sequentially by the (intelligence carrying) consonants. Strangely enough, because of the way we read and internally 'voice' the written word, we unconcsiously insert (random) vowels and render intelligibillity. This effect can also work (in reverse) with the spoken word. Provided the speaker and the listener have practiced a little and use a fairly simple vocabulary, any third party will struggle to comprehend what is going on when modified language is spoken aloud with monotonic or random vowel carriers... see later in Appendix D.]
b) the fisrt and lsat letetrs of ecah wrod in the txet are (generally) rientaed
c) the wodrs uesd flal wihitn the boidunares of cocisnonsuses/comomlny uesd vabacurlay of the radeer
d) the lanuggae partetn is cencustrotd scuh as to emliniate abigumity
The ultmte qstn aseddrsed in tihs acritle is bacsilaly: 'how far can one pisosbly tkae tihs wlisht slitl ranteinig chombrepensile from?' Aholtugh at first sgiht this may apepar to be smoe knid of a pephras isneterntig and (ofetn hailirous) gme, it has imprtnt respiercsuons wtih regrad to ANPICROHOCS, communications compression and enocomics (time, bandwidth, and materials usage), lugnaage pratten and ultmtly the nutrae of the pinnatterg of conscionss [as an elmapxe of the letatr, if the wrod in upepr csae in tihs papgrarah deos not esixt in yuor conensciossus tehn you wlil be ublane to idmemeitlay docdee its from or minaneg... ....it says: 'acrophonics'.]
3 Principal Deletions: Vowels and Vowel Groups
In most cases, the vowels in a word (single and combined vowels) can be deleted without significantly impeding the intelligibility of the word (this principle derives from the very earliest historical beginnings of writing using alphabets or assigning specific elemental symbols to specific fragmentary sounds [acrophonics]).
The exceptions to this are noted below and, in the specific exceptional case of words begin with a vowel group, in the next section. In particular the following deletions significantly reduce the unnecessary traditional baggage carried in English without particularly damaging meaning:
a, e, i , o, u - single occurences; drop EXCEPT as indicated below and in next sectionExamples:
qu - drop the 'u' in all cases leaving 'q'
ae/ai/ao/au - drop
ea/ei/eo/eu - drop
ia/ie/io/iu - drop
oa/oe/oi/ou - drop
ua/ue/ui/uo - drop
aa/ee/oo/uu - drop or substitute singular letter PROVIDED context assures non-ambiguity
bb/cc/dd/ff/gg/ll/mm/nn/ss/tt - drop for singular PROVIDED context assures non-ambiguity
words with trailing 'e' - RETAIN the 'e' most times (first and last letters of word often critical to recognition; see Appendices)
square becomes sqre
circle becomes crcle
happiness becomes hpnss (retaining trailing double 's' to differentiate from 'happens')
keyboard becomes kybrd
tolerance becomes tlrnce
school becomes schl
forgotten becomes frgtn
becomes becomes bcms
honesty becomes hnsty
pardon becomes prdn
laser printer becomes lsr prntr
newspaper junk becomes nwsppr jnk
dog bites man on hand becomes dog bts mn o hnd (retaining first word to define context)
government full of fools becomes gvrnmnt fll o fls
water becomes wtr (but if the phrase were 'waiter served water' then one of the words would require fuller definition)
new bit ck to k, ght to gt or t, ph to f
4 Words With Leading Vowels and Vowel Groups
Since word recognition relies heavily on the first and last letters in a word, (see Appendix xxx), the opening vowel in words that have leading vowel/vowel groups needs retaining. Examples:
aware becomes awre
equality becomes eqlty
employed becomes emplyd
intelligent becomes intlgnt
observant becomes obsrvnt
the observer is the observed becomes t obsrvr i t obsrvd
understanding becomes undrstndg
aural awareness is important becomes aurl awrnss i imprtnt
As examples of what happens if you don't maintain opening vowels, we have the obscure forms: 'pnn' (for opinion), 'sy' (for easy), 'ngle' (for angle) and 'phld' (for uphold). How does 'i m pnn w phld lw n tke sy ngle' look to you when you attempt to decipher it?
5 Compression of Contextual Language Clues
When we use English (or any other language) part of the definition of the overall form that permits comprehension arises in the use of elements such as articles, pronouns, conjunctions and prepositions that provide significant contextual clues as to what's going on.
Although it may be possible to dispense with these in various types of pidgin: e.g. 'Man cmoe fly iorn brid,' to omit them in more complex forms such as: 'Waomn binrg weatr bcekut,' and even more so when potential ambiguity exists in the nouns and verbs thus: 'Crap fimnarg dabceles,' (Carp farming debacles) leads to difficulty bordering on near unintelligibility.
Accordingly, and in order to retain the glue provided by the elements indicated above - and simultaneously achiebe compression of these rpetitive and commonplace elements - it is necessary to codify them constently in a regular form. This may be achieved in a number of ways - each depending on the predelictions and culture of the users - but in this article the codifications adapted are as follows:
b - be (abbreviation/phonetic)
c - see (phonetic)
g - go/get/good/ (abbreviation; context determines meaning)
i - i/is/it/its/it's//if/in (abbreviation/consonant cut off; context determines meaning)
m - me (abbreviation)
n - and (phonetic as in ‘Rock ‘n Roll‘) also abbreviation of ‘no’; context determines meaning
o - on/of/off (abbreviation/consonant cut off; context determines meaning)
r - are (phonetic as in: ‘Toys r Us‘)
t - the (abbreviation/as in NW England t’ abbreviation)
u - you (phonetic)
v - very (abbreviation)
w - was/were/where/what/who/we/with (abbreviation: as in NW England abbreviation of was/were w‘; context determines meaning)
y - why (phonetic) also abbreviation of ‘yes’; context determines meaning
2 - to/too/two (phonetic; context determines meaning)
4 - for (phonetic; context determines meaning)
6 Examples Using Deleted Vowels & Abbreviated Common Contextual Wrds
t ct st o t mt
hw r u tdy
mry hd a lttl lmb i flce w whte as snw
wh w gng 2nte?
wot u do 2nte?
brng t tll blnd grl w u c u at 2
r u fll out w m?
hppy bthdy 2 u
c u 2 ltr
al u nd i lve
hw fr frm hre 2 lndn
m n g pub 2nte m n flg v gd c u 2mrw
m g shp n by nu jkt 2day
w al lve i a yllw sub
thnks 4 mssge w r u nw?
I fl wndrfl 2nte
hw mny ppl u brng 2 party?
m g bd nw u tk cre
smle and wld sml w u
m g gt ice crm
m c u at lbrry at hlf pst 2
b sre brng enuf mny pay 4 cffe n dnts
y u sy y thn sy n 2 m ltr? m cnfsd
m sttng t phys ppr tmrrw mrng bt wll b thr bi lnch wll c u n jo dnr at 130
7 Avoiding Over-Complex Words
Although the longer a word becomes the more readily identifiable it becomes by definition of its consonant morphology - and the easier to recognise if consonant order is retained: e.g. anthrplgy (anthropology), eqlbrm (equilibrium) - the message writer should be aware that some words may not exist within the vocabulary/memory/consciousness of the reader (i.e. complex words) and thus cannot possibly be recognised immediately (if at all) by the reader [eg try anthrpmrflgcl (for anthropomorphological)].
Hence, for ease of comprehension, a lowest common denominator (i.e. shared) vocabulary should be used for messaging in compressed form.
8 Phrasing and Spacing
Single concise messages are delivered in single concise phrases in compressed form. Unless deliberately arranged otherwise, the phrases may be conjoined into elongated sentences BUT phrases and sentences that deal with separate ideas/content should be separated by double/triple spaces. Multiple spaces break the text into sections and, coincidentally, it is quicker/easier to access the space on a cell phone, or the space bar on a keyboard, than full stops or other delimiters.
Examples:
m g shp latr u wnt any cgrs gd lck w ftbl
cr brkn dwn m g wk on trn b lte hme hppy vlntne
got new gtr pls pck up bks frm librry
c u i jcks br ltr m wrk tll 6
9 Punctuation Elements
The most useful of these is the question mark. If the form of your compressed text does not clearly indicate a question (e.g. whn u cmng arnd m hse) and a question needs to be indicated without ambiguity then use a question mark. The second most useful device is the dash thus: '-', which can be used to indicate asides/thoughts in parenthesis/qualifiers, commas, semi-colon and colon alike. Example: 'm g 2 wrk lte tdy - wrkng ltr stcktkng - b hme 730'. The use of punctuation, normally being awkward to access on most mobile phones, should be minimised for economy of effort.
10 Avoiding Clichés and Redundant Words
When we use everyday spoken English, we tend to take for granted the vast repertoire of clichés, catch words, figures of speech and local quirks that it contains. Colloquial word patterns such as: 'at the end of the day', 'you know what I mean', 'it's like', 'I see what you're saying', etc. pepper common speech - yet they have no communications function and become an encumbrance when attempting to communicate rapidly and concisely.
In language compression word groupings such as cliches comprise redundancies and should be dropped altogether and be replaced by either:
a) nothing
or
b) succinct [preferably single] words - but only if such words are ESSENTIAL to getting across the core message
11 Abbreviations and Nicknames
Maximise your use of abbreviations such as to economise. Use common abbreviations (see Appendix A) and, if you are in regular contact with discrete individuals or groups of individuals, use agreed, short abbreviations and 'local' nicknames for objects, people, places and activities (this will also significantly improve the security of your communications).
Note that nicknames and short forms need not have any linguistic affinity with their meanings.
Examples:
Mr Brown - brn
Head Office - 22
Route 66 - xx
Flying Business Class - atrp
Detailed Specification - ds
'brn g 2 22 atrp thn xx w ds tsdy 4th eta 1400'
12 Phonetics
Many of the true 'dictionary' forms of English words contain archaic letter groupings which can be significantly compressed by means of their phonetic equivalents. Often, if the other rules of compression given here are applied, the use of phonetic forms may be unnecessary, but sometimes they are useful.
Examples:
replace the letter group 'ght' by 't' or 'te' (tonight = tonite OR 2nte/2nt)
replace 'ph' by 'f' (phone = fone OR fne)
replace 'cs' by 'x' (phonetics =fonetix OR fntx)
replace 'ck' by 'k' (clock = clk)
The numerical forms 1, (won) 2, (to/too) 4, (for), 6 (six/sex) and 8 (eight) can also be useful provided they are easier/faster to access at the keypad/keyboard .
Examples:
1drfl (wonderful)
2mrrw (tomorrow)
2sdy (Tuesday)
4tne (fortune)
e6 grl (Essex girl)
w8 lftr (weight lifter)
w8 4 m (wait for me)
1 2 1 dscssn
t 4 2
13 Nouns, and Articles That Indicate Nouns
The principal content of any message lies in the nouns - the things, people, objects/ Accordingly, it is important to
a) ensure the presence of key nounsThe simplest way to do this lies in using articles or words that signify the presence of nouns - 'the', 'a', 'several', 'these', 'one', etc.
and
b) denote the presence of nouns in any particular message if not patently obvious.
Note also that pronouns - 'he', 'she', 'it', 'they', 'them', etc. generalise message content and contain significant potential for ambiguity. In the case of important or sensitive messages pronouns should be discarded in favour of actual nouns. As a general rule always beware statements that contain large numbers of pronouns since, when used mendaciously - or carelessly - they can easily misinform.
14 Using Active Verbs, Undeleting Nouns & Verb Simplification by Avoiding
Using active verbs restores the relationships that naturally exist between doers and doings in the real world. 'Reports' do not 'say' things, neither do 'samples' and the like magically manipulate themselves as in: 'the report said that the sample was weighed': phooey!
Active agents (usually people) cause things to happen, in one way or another, and for unambiguous messaging, using active verbs attaches doers to their doings.
Likewise, using the present tense of a verb dumps a whole set of difficult and often irregular conjugation (conjugation = inflection shifting to suit time [present to past/future] number [singular/plural] and person [he/she/it/them, etc.])
If necessary, and it often isn't, the inflection of the verb can be indicated by a statement of time, number or person.
Examples:
fred write rprt lst yr
jack cmmnt on rprt nxt wk
4mn implmnt rprt fndngs nxt yr
jhn love mary
hutton lts off tny blr
barry imprgnts lucy at prty
georg sys he rn 100m in 3s nxt wk
15 Verbs: Avoiding Auxiliary (Continuity) Verbs
Verb groups such as: 'is raining,' 'was growing,' 'will be crying' which assert states of continuity by using forms of the vague, generalising verb: 'to be' (as auxiliaries in conjunction with an actual verb form) are loose language forms that create long-winded and cumbersome language compressions.
Avoid such verb forms altogether by avoiding pronouns and third party anonymous/unattributed actions and deploying NOUNS in conjunction with ACTIVE verbs in PRESENT TENSE and, when necessary, qualifying with a TIME statement. That sounds complicated as description, but when you use it in practice it creates a primitive, unambiguous, short pidgin form - far more precise than that of the: 'is/was/were/will be' vagaries.
Examples:
m wrk tmrw
sam wrk ystrdy
jim wrk nw
sam sys fd tsts gd
m row boat tmrw
jim dnce lst nght
alice sbmt rprt ystrdy mrnng
m hrry hme in hlf hr
jim ply ftbll last thrsdy
sam fshs rvr
harry feels rain
Note that the verbs used here are all IMMEDIATE with active present tense (thus dumping a whole raft of complex conjugation), with the 'when' of time (stated only if necessary and with some precision) as past/future and with continuity created in the activity represented by the verb itself.
Note how vagaries like 'it is raining' (what is 'it' that rains, and how, where and when do we detect the rain?), 'I will be rowing the boat' (when?) 'He played football' (who, when?) and third party deletions: 'the report was submitted' and 'it was observed that' (who, when, what about?) and so on get eliminated.
16 Avoiding Ambiguity and Misunderstanding
Most day to day communications contain ambiguities to some degree, indeed 'spin doctors' and politicians make full use of such in order to deceive the gullible (and quite often the not so gullible). Some of the time, ambiguity doesn't matter, but situations do arise however where the occurrence of ambiguity, obscure words and misunderstanding can severely damage important or sensitive communications - often with disastrous consequences.
You should be aware that this can happen and be aware of times when a compressed message form could cause ambiguity or misunderstanding that might have serious consequences.
In such cases, you should either change the wording (especially by adding unambiguous fragments of contextual NOUNS) or spell out important words )especially nouns) in full such as to make the meaning as clear as you possibly can. In particular, never overestimate the extent of the receiver's vocabulary, their insight into the workings of your mind or sense of humour.
When in doubt, spell it out.
With regard to complex words, if you have the choice of using a single long, complex word or two short, simple ones - which the receiver is more likely to understand - always choose the latter since such as to avoid misunderstanding.
17 Emoticons
These indicators of 'mood' rarely convey any useful information and - since they are often ambiguous (in terms of 'who' has what 'emotion' about 'what') - they can create significant difficulties if somebody assumes unintended (emotional) meaning. Avoid them.
Appendix A: Some Common Abbreviations (the list is not exhaustive)
abbr - abbreviate/abbreviation
abs - absolutely
acc2 - according to
afaik - as far as I know
aka - also known as
app - apparently
asap - as soon as possible
attrb - attributed/attributive(ly)
awol - absent without leave
bbl - be back later
brb - be right back
bs - bullshit
btdt - been there done that
btw - by the way
b4 - before
cmpnd - compound
crp/co - corporation
crrsp - corresponding
cskr/skr - sucker
cu - cubic
cul - see u later
def - definite
dh - dickhead
dmd/dssr - dossier of mass deception/dossier: mendacious bullshit
E - England/English
eg - for example
eom - end of message
esp - especially
est - established
est - estimate(d)
est - eastern standard time
eta - estimated time of arrival
faq - frequently asked questions
fem - feminine/female
fkd - broken/finished/done for
fmb - feeding me bullshit
freq - frequent(ly)
ft - feet
ftf - face to face
fwiw - for what it's worth
fyeo - for your eyes only
fyi - for your information
gbye - goodbye
genl - general
gk - Greek
gmt - greenwich mean time/universal time
gngb - good night god bless
gsoh - good sense of humour
gtts - got the tee shirt
gvt - government
h - hour(s)
ic - I see
idk - i don't know
ie - that is
ilu - I love you
imo - in my opinion
in - inches
incl - including
iow - in other words
jam - just a minute
jk - just kidding
lb - pounds
lol - load of laughs
min - minute(s)
mph - miles per hour
mssg/msg - message
np - no problem
nrn - no reply necessary
ns - non smoking
obtw - oh by the way
oic - oh I see
ok - fine
omdb - over my dead body
ord - ordinary
orig - original(ly)
ot - off topic
otoh - on the other hand
pita - pain in the arse
poa - price on application
pou - peace on you
rby - ruby ('ruby murray' from Cockney rhyming slang): a curry
rem - reminder/remember
rofl - rolling on floor laughing
ruok - are you ok?
skr/cskr - sucker
snafu - situation normal all fucked up
stfu - shut the fuck up
tdb - the dog's bollocks: superlative, the very best
tic - tongue in cheek
ttfn - ta ta for now
ttp/ttm - taking the piss/mickey (attempting to fool, mislead/patronise)
ttyl - talk to you later
US - America/American
wot - what
wrt - with respect to/with regard to
wru/wtfru - where are you?
w8 - wait/weight
x - kiss
yd - yards
zz - sleep/sleeping
Appendix B: Do it Yerosluf Dixsleya
Aoccdrnig to recnet rscheearch at an Elingsh uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in what oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer is at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl blokocls and you can sitll raed it wouthit any garet pormbels.
A New Elsingh for the Tentwy Frist Cuntery
Tihs is bcuseae we do not raed ervey lteter by it slef but the wrod and cextont as a wlohe. Smees rakbemarle, but the vrey fcat taht you are albe to raed tihs pagsase and shmeoow mkae smoe knid of sesne out of it reveals iesnttireng tginhs aubot the penotital of our brinas and the menanr in wichh we dodece wertitn lugagane.
It bomcees igresncaliny mroe petrolbimac as the sitmanec cetnont diteaves sfanigilcnity form taht nalromly actsoasied with edyavery porse and esexlicsvey catompilced and edentexd lustinigic dicoretins get erpoxled (aganmars can begugr tinghs up in careting opfuftting faxtied samtenic pentrats as wlel).
Wtih repsect to witring petory and scuh, rixeming wrods in tihs mennar oneps smoe retahr isnetrentig new pisisotbilies in rymhe and inertnal attierlialion in words.
And tihs is not all - thef uncan bex ten ded inth is man erw herev her he bod he canon der stand watt isbe in zed ap he artfromdep ers on hoo essay init witch Leeds two as train jars it you Asian Dan wipr bee iks pecked heiprat foresight.
Ev enb etterw heny ouact uallys plitt hew ordsdow ninto ind ividu alpho nem esandm orph emess ucha stopr odu ceastr eamof unre cog niza blesy mol form swhich nev erth elessc anbepr onoun cedass pee chan dund ersto odbylis tenersp rovi dedthes peak erg ets onwithit wit houtp ausingt othink.
Ing test inerly weh n tes he tich nequ es get cloup ed to the ger the rulsets slit l mag nae to hva e smo e men nar of cosh pren emion - agl houth one m sut am dit taht the and it iodal abu migity ido trunced mek as dip here c nig the pin ot wre he one wro d alcu taly ends and ant ehor binges a bit prem ablotic - puls the acrit les cunt jino cons and pops it ire ons tned to vin sah itno tihn air as wlel.
So, waht do you get out of this? Wlel, the nxet tmie sobe mody syas taht the lgoo for 'fern ch coint necon uk' is not beasd on an osn cebe old Eln gish wrod, you now konw the y are tlik nag a loipr of old fik cnug blo locks.
Appendix C: Some Observations on Word Pattern
Why is it that some words appear to follow others as sure as night follows ... ? At the end of the... How do you 'know what's coming... Could this be an indication of the way our memories are associatively patterned?
Apparently, the right hemisphere of the brain deals with storing cliché (and melody), as 'discrete' wholes - so the phrase: 'I did it..' will appear incomplete (both as a cliché and as a melodic fragment). Just watch how it works in yourself for a moment or two And try it also with a friend): 'as thick as...'; 'at the end of...'; 'it's been a hard...'; 'the weakest...'; 'I feel like making...'; 'as different as...'. Interesting that the cues into these preset phrases need to be sufficiently long enough such as to provide essentially non-ambiguous patterns. If cue phrases saying (for instance): 'It's been...'; 'Here I...'; 'If I...'; 'Where will...', etc. are presented then insufficient predication in the head of the pattern exists such as to uniquely predict the whole.
Similarly, grammar the disrupting one form persist indicates deep still patterning the sentence yet intelligibility the. Form radical and even quite context some perhaps rearrangements with semiology decoding due persists. Likewise can out and make of remaining. There are further intrinsic patterns: lso an rop ertain lements o ords ut, rovided e asic nderlying honeme tructure ets reserved en ntelligibillity ersists.
As for phonemic/morphemic rearrangements (and ignoring for the moment any particular accommodations that might produce morphemic forms that are recognisable in some English lexicon or guidance in the form of punctuation) , 'mary mary quite contrary how does your garden grow,' readily transforms into: 'ma rym aryq uitec ontra ryho wdoesyo urg arde ngr ow', 'm ar ymaryq uite con tra ryh ow doesyou rga rd eng row' and 'maryma ryqu iteco ntrar yhowdo e syou rg arde ngrow' with remarkable ease: the number of available combinations is enormous...
The disruption of the phonemic/morphemic structure, as well as rendering the sentence virtually unpronounceable, renders it equally unintelligible to a casual listener as well. Rendering the sentence in something like a rudimentary phonemic form restores both ease of pronunciation and aural perception of the meaning - albeit the form is staccato: 'ma ry ma ry ow dos yor gar den gro'.
Interestingly (or obviously?), the removal of the redundant letters in the standard English words allows greater intelligibility if the resulting stream of letters is chopped at random intervals.
Eppendex D: Speken en Defferent Tengs
As discussed elsewhere in this article, most words retain meaning without vowels - the exceptions being leading vowels and some trailing 'e's'. When there are long words present - or coherent phrases - that provide good context by means of consonant pattern, then even leading vowels may be modified and trailing 'e's' dropped, e.g.: 'Th mn n th wht ct hs lstnd t my chst nd prnncd m ft n hlthy'.
Now, if we can manage without the vowels and still retain intelligibility, then we can do something else, something far more entertaining - and in certain circumstances quite useful as well. In order to actually 'speak' out loud, we need vowels of some description such as to act essentially as 'carrier frequencies' or tones - produced by breath in the chest, vocal cords and airways - which we then modify with the mouth, teeth, lips, tongue and palate. (Try saying: 'Th fst ct cght th slw ms.' without sounding in the airways - all you get is some slurping, clicking and licking sounds.)
Observing that those tones act as carriers, but aren't really essential for the actual sense or information in the spoken message, which arises principally from the consonant patterns, we note that we can use whatever tone(s) we choose as carriers. Thus we can use monotones (e.g. with 'aa' for the 'noodling Norwegian': 'Thaa maan aan thaa whaat caat haas laastaand taa maa chaast aand praanaancd maa faat aan haalthy.') or patterned mixed tones (e.g. with 'aa' 'oo' alternating for the 'rambling rambling Romanian': Thaa moon aan thoo whaat coot haas loostaand too maa choost aand proonaancd moo faat oon haalthy.') or purely random tones (e.g. 'Osfik from Planet Puspit': 'Thi meen an thou whoot ceat haas loustund tie mo cheast ind prounincd mou feet ain hulthy.')
So what use is this? On paper, it's a passing oddity but it really comes to life when you actually use it in the SPOKEN WORD - and yes, it can be learnt quite easily with a bit of practice (with a friend).
In the first place it breaks up habitual speech patterns by creating new sound forms, many of them hilarious; it's great fun - just try speaking it out loud for two minutes! Secondly, when you become accomplished with this, you will be able to communicate fluently with others 'in the know' in front of third parties without those third parties having the faintest idea what you are talking about - indeed strangers are likely to dismiss you as foreigners. (if you do catch somebody attempting to listen in then:
a) shift your vowel patterns more frequently (if using monotonic or pattern form)
b ) use proper nouns, names and slang known to you and your co speaker(s)
c) be careful to avoid using give away clichés or repetition of words or phrases
Appendix E: Redundancy in English - A Small Experiment
1: Heads
Peaking ith he owels f olves,
Osetta otates he oaster,
Oots ools, ones otes,
Each heat, raps arts,
Iding he oller oaster.
2: Tails
Speakin wit th vowel o wolve,
Rosett rotate th toaste,
Loot tool, tone note,
Teac chea, trap part,
Ridin th rolle coaste.
3: Heads Again
(but retaining single letters)
Eaking th e wels f lves,
Setta tates e aster,
Ots ols, nes tes,
Ach eat, aps rts,
Ding e ller aster.
4: More Tales
(but again retaining single letters)
Speaki wi t vowe o wolv,
Roset rotat t toast,
Loo too, ton not,
Tea che, tra par,
Ridi t roll coast.
5: Heads and Tails
(retaining single letters at word starts)
Peakin it t owel o olve,
Osett otate t oaste,
Oot ool, one ote,
Eac hea, rap art,
Idin t olle oaste.
And here, as if you really needed it, is the original verse, the appearance of which has been delayed until now such as to avoid priming/anticipation]:
Speaking with the vowels of wolves,
Rosetta rotates the toaster,
Loots tools, tones notes,
Teach cheat, traps parts,
Riding the roller coaster.
Comment
It appears that the major redundancies, in this admittedly small example, occur towards the tail ends of words. Indeed version 2, spoken phonetically carries something in excess of 90% of the meaning of the original nonsense verse (and it was written in nonsense such as to avoid contextual clues whilst still retaining some semblance of grammar). Surprisingly, version 4 - with two letters snipped from each word tail (except that single letter words are retained) - still manages to convey some form of the original 'meaning', albeit this may be due to the use of several plural forms.
Herewith an exercise to immediately examine that:
I appea th t maj redundanci, i th admitted sma examp, occ towar t ta en o wor. Inde versi 2, spok phonetical carri somethi i exce o 90% o t meani o t origin nonsen ver (a i w writt i nonsen su a t avo contextu clu whil sti retaini so semblan o gramm).
Surprising, versi 4 - wi t lette snipp fr ea wo ta (exce th sing lett wor a retain) - sti manag t conv so fo o t origin 'meani', albe th m b d t t u o sever plur for.
Interesting!
The heads of the majority of lengthier words would appear to be able to retain most of their meaning (due to greater implicit redundancy) whereas the hard working, succinct short ones rapidly descend into gibberish when concatenated in any length and bereft of the semiological stability of the long forms: I refer the reader to the gibberish phrase: ' th m b d t t u o ' on the ultimate line of the compressed transcription above.
There is a lesson here for writing meaningful word morphs - i.e.. avoid concatenation of strings of short words - and if such has to be the case, be sure to expand them/have sufficient contextual information available such as to retain meaning.
Apndx F: Lngge Cmprsn in Cll Phns n Eml: Dltn, Cntxt n Ambgty
Otlne
[Ths appx rprsnts t opnng pgrfs o ths artcle in cmprsd txt: cmpre lngth wth orgnl.]
Ths artcle dls wth lngge cmprsn as means f abbrvn of frms f wrtn cmnctn tht hve prctcl use i rpd txt msgg, eml or any othr wrtn cmnctn orgntng i kypds/kybrds.
I t prsnt artcle, vrs mns of prctl lgge cmprsn r explrd wth rspct t hw fr cmprsn cn b tkn, hw fr i cn g prctcly wtht intrdcg unwntd ambgty & hw mch t scs of t vrs mns dpnd upn a mnngfl lngstc cntxt in t bsc cmnctn.
Aspcts dscsd inclde min cdng, ambgty, abrvtn of cmmn wrds (prpstns, artcls, cnjnctns, etc.), t dltn of rdndnt Englsh chrctrs n vwl grps, smplfctn of lngstc frm n t rltnshp btwn vcblry, intlgblty and cnscsns.
T artcle drvs frm svrl prvs nts - rltng t phonetic n wrd ordrng, letter ordrng wthn wrds n lngge intlgblty; thse r rprdcd i t vrs atchd Apndces B, C n E.
Some addtnl nts, rgrdng smple mssge codification bth i wrtn n oral cmnctn, r incrprtd, t latter as Apndx D.
Appendix G: Spenoorising Vewols
Dr William Archibald Spooner became a fellow of New College Oxford in 1867. Spooner had a nervous disposition and sometimes transposed initial letters or syllables (usually leading ones) in speech. This tendency became known as Spoonerism and his often hilarious transpositions became known as Spoonerisms. Spooner's bizarre speech patterns earned him a comic reputation and created a fad amongst his students who devised their own transposition puns and attributed them to him.
Normally, when a word or phrase is 'Spoonerised', the leading letters or syllables are swapped as in: 'you have deliberately tasted two worms', 'he felt a blushing crow', 'she wides a rell boiled icicle' 'fighting a liar' and the infamous 'Mary Hinge'# and 'Betty Swollocks' of Findercella fame. Meaning of the word group can be retained (through context) but shifting the leading letters/syllables of words does tend towards ambiguity, especially if the shifts give rise to word groups that have meaning in their own right, e.g.: 'she wandered amongst the trees' retains some intelligibility as: 'she trandered amongst the wees' whilst 'he checked the night shift' comes out phonetically as the ambiguous: 'he checked the shite niffed'. (Try Spoonerising your Christian name and surname and see what you get...)
An alternate way of Spoonerising lies in shifting vowels. Most words can get along quite well without vowels - as anbdy wh uses cllphne txt msgng cn cnfrm - the exceptions being those with a leading vowel and those that need a trailing 'e' for clarity (this retains first/last letter order as an aid to decodability as discussed overleaf). When we shoft viwels, we koop the oreeginal ward shopes and consonant forms and evon seme of the original wurds soch os ta retain intelligibility. Thos pricess werks woll on pepar - one can even bruk the reales and work it in undividial words with loding veawels privoded some samblence of cansonont order raimens antict as ullestritud in this sentence (but keep trailing 'e's' in place).
The rul fean sterts whan one bigens to ese thuse midofied pettarns een spich. To those porsons in the knew and prictased, the spekon werd rotains entulligibility but to itsouders, the spoukers seand is af they are spikeang on sime onciherent feirogn lungaage (pirtacalurly if the spakers teak cere naver to reapet themselves...)
Stirt wath shart phresos, and huve fan!
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