242 LANGUAGE AND THE INTERNET
diversity and creativity. There is no indication, in any of the areas
I have examined, of Netspeak replacing or threatening already ex-
isting varieties. On the contrary, the arrival of new, informal, even
bizarre forms of language extends the range of our sensitivity to
linguistic contrasts.^32 Formal language, and other kinds of informal
language, are seen in a new light, by virtue of the existence of Nets-
peak. An analogy with clothing helps make this point. I remember
once owning a very formal shirt and another I used for informal
occasions. Then I was given a grotesque creation that I was assured
was the latest cool trend in informality; and certainly, the effect was
to make my previously informal shirt look really somewhat staid.
The new shirt had not destroyed my sense of the value of a formal
vs. informal contrast in dress behaviour; it simply extended it. I was
sartorially enriched, with more options available to me. I see the
arrival of Netspeak as similarlyenriching the range of communica-
tive options available to us. And the Internet is going to record this
linguistic diversity more fully and accurately than was ever possible
before.
What is truly remarkable is that so many people have learned
so quickly to adapt their language to meet the demands of the
new situations, and to exploit the potential of the new medium
so creatively to form new areas of expression. It has all happened
within a few decades. The human linguistic faculty seems to be in
good shape, I conclude. The arrival of Netspeak is showing ushomo
loquensat its best.
(^32) The point is beginning to be recognized. John Cumming (1995: 7) quotes a US columnist,
Jon Carroll: ‘E-mail and computer conferencing is teaching an entire generation about the
flexibility and utility of prose.’ Li Lan (2000: 55) answers his question, ‘email: a challenge
to Standard English?’ in the negative: ‘E-mail style may not therefore directly challenge
Standard English, but seems likely to extend it in a variety of ways.’