Today, The Wired Campus reports that online chatting is more linguistically sophisticated than we may have suspected. The article presents the finding of two researchers from the University of Toronto, who looked at spoken and IM communications of 72 people age 15 to 20. Instant messaging represented, they said, “an expansive new linguistic renaissance.”

Sali A. Tagliamonte, a professor of linguistics, and Derek Denis, her student, found that instant messages mix up colloquial with formal language, creating a complex hybrid. Their research will appear in a future issue of American Speech, and was reported first by New Scientist.

AAR8, perhaps studies like this one will serve to further legitimize text messaging as a classroom communication tool. Then again, it could be just as effective for AWLTP.

Be sure to check out the full article in The Wired Campus. Or check out the largest list of text message shorthand at Netlingo.