Grammar and Electronic Communication

How digital communication technologies are affecting language, literacy, and language change has excited considerable speculation and inspired a growing body of scholarship. At the heart of this question is the notion of grammar, or the set of structural rules that govern the composition of words, phrases, and sentences in a language. Grammatical usage in computer‐mediated communication (CMC), referred to here as e‐grammar, often deviates from prescriptive norms of written language. This entry describes nonstandard structural characteristics of e‐grammar at the levels of typography, orthography, morphology, and syntax in text‐based English CMC. Separate sections address emoji grammar, e‐grammar and language change, and e‐grammar and literacy.