With the advent of technology, abbreviations regarding the language of Internet users became very common. This practice is not well accepted by language scholars, nor by most educators, because when it comes to formal language, it interferes with the quality of writing.
But did you know that this practice dates back to ancient times?
Since the first centuries of the history of Brazil, there was the abbreviation of documents, and among the factors that contributed to this occurrence were: the lack of resources in acquiring materials, such as inks, paper and feathers, due to the distance between Portugal and the colony, and the absence of an official orthographic system for the language Portuguese.
Thus, the best option was to abbreviate the words, due to the practicality of the act compared to writing texts produced by hand.
Even when the first printed documents appeared, in the 17th century, with the arrival of the royal family Portuguese, the abbreviations did not cease to exist due to the high prices of the materials used in the print.
This makes it difficult for researchers to decipher ancient manuscripts.
So that we can better understand, an example of these difficulties is the letter "P", which when written alone has up to 50 identified meanings, from the measurement units, such as “foot” and “inch”, even the proper names, like “Paulo” and “Pedro”.
Now let's look at other examples of colonial abbreviations:
X- This letter, in its capital form, was used to designate “Christ”.
7.bro and 8.bro - These abbreviations were used to spell the names of the months of September and October, very similar to the current model found in chat rooms.
Vm - Today it is very common to put “you” to abbreviate you, and in those times it was to designate “your mercy”.
Onra and Sõra - Abbreviations for lady.
Today, the constant repetition of terms in official and business correspondence is very common, as is the case of Cia., Ltda. (short for Companhia Limitada).
As a result, there are already bodies responsible for standardizing the abbreviation standards for official texts, which is the ABNT (Brazilian Association of Technical Standards).
As already mentioned, the subject generates controversy among many people, however, a study carried out by researcher Carla Jeanny Fusca, from the University State of São Paulo, showed that the habit of internet users using reduced language to communicate in real time does not affect linguistic performance when deals with written texts, they only distinguish between the "contextual situation" in which they are inserted, taking into account the profile of the interlocutors involved.
This practice is not only practiced on the Internet, but also in the use of cell phones, which is restricted to sending messages such as text messages and SMS, where the abbreviation stands for linguistic as well as financial economy.
Given this, it remains for us to conclude that compared to colonial times, there was only a more modern method of implementation, but the technique remains the same.
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By Vânia Duarte
Graduated in Letters
Brazil School Team
Grammar - Brazil School
Would you like to reference this text in a school or academic work? Look:
DUARTE, Vânia Maria do Nascimento. "Internet users' abbreviated language goes back to a historical past"; Brazil School. Available in: https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/gramatica/a-linguagem-abreviada-dos-internautas-remonta-um-passado-.htm. Accessed on June 27, 2021.
