Re: Letters with **three** cases?

Seán O'Leathlóbhair kirjoitti:

"Text"?  I've  never seen  such a usage.   People say "SMS".   This is
true in Germany as well as Hong  Kong.  "SMS" is also the term used by
the mobile phone providers in their phamplets, service contracts, etc.

Here in the UK, it is very common to say "text".
....
In the Philippines the same applies.

I don't think I've ever heard "SMS" in spoken Finnish, and in written, only in some ads. The usual words are /tekstiviesti/ ('text message', formal) or /tekstari/ (colloquial). The colloquial verbs are /tekstata/ or /tekstailla/; formally there's only /lähettää tekstiviesti/ 'to send a text message'.

BTW, to return to language topics, /tekstailla/ is formally frequentative, i.e., denoting repeated action, but the form often (or even, more usually) refers to "not-so-serious" action. I've often wondered if anyone has ever explicitly noted that it has this kind of use; as in: /kirjoittaa/ 'write', /kirjoitella/ 'write every now and then OR to do some writing'.

--
..... Tommi Nieminen .... http://www.saunalahti.fi/~tommni/ ....
    Csak füvön élt a kis zebra,
    de most rákapott a zabra;
    végül is elvitték Szobra,
    ott oktatják szebbre-jobbra.
       -Devecseri Gábor-
..... tommi dot nieminen at campus dot jyu dot fi ....
.