Variations in Spelling and the Special Case of Colloquial Contractions

Abstract

Colloquial contractions — spelling variants such as kinda, hafta, and ya — are widely used to represent informal speech. They are examined here against a background of other sorts of variation in our writing system. Variation in spelling that is independent of variation in speech includes abbreviations, regional spellings, the adaptation of loanwords, brand names, and eye dialect. Variation ties to speech includes forms marked for region, social identity, and colloquial style. Colloquial contractions are described here with respect to their morphological identity, their characteristic spelling patterns, and their significance in print.