Textual Tone of Voice

Introduction II : Our inflections and registers in electronic text.

Humans have a system of communication so complex that regardless of how well one communicates his intention using any medium there is always the possibility of miscommunication or misinterpretation. It is for this reason that people have integrated body language, facial expressions and gestures into their oral paralanguage. When we move into a text-based system of communication, most of these communication aids are initially lost. However, Internet users have developed ways to inflect the tone of voice that text lacks. Text is a subjective experience. Words on a page or on a screen are always victims of interpretations, often not entirely in the spirit with which the author intended them.These innovations in language will be discussed in the next few pages. Here, however, I will discuss the more basic tone and structure that is characteristic of electronic communication, especially e-mail and Blitzmail.

As a disclaimer, by no means do the follow pages try to describe every Blitzmail user at Dartmouth nor do the claim to incorporate every view of e-mail. In fact, if the project focuses on any level of Blitzmail usage at all, it is that of the above-average user - the user who uses Blitzmail, the World Wide Web, and generally aware of at least part of what the Internet has to offer.

Most users of Blitzmail have distinct registers of speech for different situations. Much of electronic communication examined in this project has a chatty and informal style to it. The simultaneous nature of electronic mail and forms of "talk" creates an atmosphere of casuality. It is full of emotives and is often notable for it's spontaneity. This register encompasses run-on sentences, sentence fragments, enormously long or strikingly short Therefore, much of the e-mail conversations that take place have a very chatty and informal tone. Capitalization and spelling are often set aside in order to respond quickly and efficiently. This register is informal and used often for friends and family.

A second register is more formal. In students, in particular, this register is vastly different than the one used with friends. This is the register used to ask professors questions, for extensions, and for information because someone missed class. This register also serves as the register used for sending mail to strangers or sending mail to large lists of people. It is more impersonal, more grammatically correct, and better thought out. Structurally, messages written in this register have actual paragraphs as well as fewer sentence fragments and run-on sentences.

Of course, other registers exist. However, these are the two basic registers. Most other registers appear to be variations on these two. This project will examine language in the informal register primarily. This register is more spontaneous and relaxed as a rule so there are more interesting inflective properties to explore.