So ko nak wat ape?

Over breakfast today with my brother & father, the topic of languages came up. My brother related an incident when he was chatting on MIRC, and he saw the sentence "so ko nak wat ape" typed out on the general-discussion screen. His first reaction was that it must be the Thai students in the uni having a chat. He then realized, that that text was in a language that's native to the country south of thailand's border; tanah air-nyer, Malaysia.

Spend 5 minutes watching Hitz.fm Chat-tv and you are bound to be amused, confused & rather concerned. What language is being spoken? It's hard to know.

I'm far from being an etymologist, but I am aware that languages go through processes of change over time; they evolve, they grow. It is intriguing to consider however the impact of communication technology on the development of languages. Our need for quick access, speedy replies, the use of a minimum number of letters to convey a message: all of this surely has an effect on the "evolution" of languages. What is this impact? Am I right to call it 'evolution' or this is now a process of 'de-evolution'?

Over our Bru-coffees & nasi lemak, we proposed that in years to come, we would communicate with each other using the most basic sounds, the fewest number of letters & digits. After all, this might perhaps be the most efficient way to get our messages across when using the numerous communication-gadgets that are available.

So, consider this: Children will be born with what we now consider to be fully-developed language skills & large vocabularies (they'll speak in full sentences, using presently-accepted grammatical rules, with an "advanced" vocabulary), and as they grow, this will progressively diminish - a process that will not just be accepted, but also encouraged.

In the future, you'll have parents of children complaining about the 'slow-learners' in the family, who still use full sentences & haven't mastered the art of a concise-vocab & effective communication.

Note: "so ko nak wat ape" =(direct translation)= "so, kamu-orang hendak buat apa?"