Language, Texts and Technology Where are we going with this? Created by Brett Oppegaard for...

Language, Texts and Technology

Where are we going with this?

Created by Brett Oppegaardfor Washington State University's

DTC 375 class, fall 2009

Defining the terms:

• What is language?Main Entry: lan·guage Pronunciation: \ˈlaŋ-gwij, -wij\ Function: noun Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French langage, from lange, langue tongue, language, from Latin lingua — more at TONGUE Date: 14th century1 a : the words, their pronunciation, and the methods of combining them used and understood by a community b (1) : audible, articulate, meaningful

sound as produced by the action of the vocal organs (2) : a systematic means of communicating ideas or feelings by the use of conventionalized signs, sounds, gestures, or marks having understood meanings (3) : the

suggestion by objects, actions, or conditions of associated ideas or feelings <language in their very gesture — Shakespeare> (4) : the means by which animals communicate (5) : a formal system of signs and symbols (as FORTRAN or a calculus in logic) including rules for the formation and transformation of admissible expressions (6) : MACHINE LANGUAGE 12 a : form or manner of verbal expression; specifically : STYLE b : the vocabulary and phraseology belonging to an art or a department of knowledge c : PROFANITY3 : the study of language especially as a school subject4 : specific words especially in a law or regulation

Courtesy of Merriam-Webster.com

Defining the terms:

• What are texts?

This is text, of course

• And so is this:

Courtesy of hudsonshakespeare.org

This is text, of course

• And so are these:

Courtesy of Cssvault.com

This is text, of course

• And so is this:

Courtesy of DeviantArt.com

This is text, of course

• And so is this:

Courtesy of h-net.org

This is text, of course

• And so is this:

Courtesy of cdli.ucla.edu

And because of this …110001110001111000• So is this:

Courtesy of nerdtests.com

And because of this …110001110001111000• And this:

And because of this …110001110001111000• And this:

Defining the terms:

• What is technology?

What do fire, the wheel and the Internet have in common?

“Technology is a broad concept that deals with an animal species' usage and knowledge of tools and crafts, and how it affects an animal species' ability to control and adapt to its environment.”

- Wikipedia.

Defining the terms:

• Who are we?

“Man is the symbol-using (symbol-making, symbol misusing) animal, inventor of the negative …”

- Kenneth Burke

Now, we're getting

somewhere• What do these things have in

common?• (in Arabic) أ• (in Hebrew) א• 01000001 (in binary code)• A (in the English alphabet)• D (in Caesar’s cipher)

Ciphers / codes / languages

• Caesar’s cipher (abt 50 B.C., letter+3)

• Freemasons’ cipher (16th century)

• Perro, chien, hund … dog

What do you mean by: dog

• How big?• What color?• What breed?• What kind of temperment?• How old?• What's the dog's name?