"Silent orality": Toward a conceptualization of the digital oral features in CMC and SMS texts

Computer-mediated communication (CMC) and short messages service (SMS) play an increasing role in contemporary interpersonal communication. Studies on the linguistic style of these means often refer to its hybrid discursive nature, which combines the formal written register and the informal oral features. This article conceptualizes the oral features of digital CMC and SMS text against the background of two previous eras of orality: the residual-manuscript orality of the Middle Ages and the " secondary orality" of electronic mass communication. It argues that digital orality is unique in the silence of its manifestations, as texts are not converted into the audial sphere. This new type of orality is also unique in that it is celebrated: Its users intentionally toy with the language.