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| Language as a Code |
Language as a Code
At the beginning or the 20th century, there were still over six thousand distinct languages in the world, although the growth of modern communications is gradually reducing that number. A language begins as a set of verbal codes for describing what we find important in the world around us. It is possible to code anything that can be experienced, but the design of the code varies from culture to culture. A message is built by selecting words from a common vocabulary, and then arranging those words using rules of grammar.
The Inuit have several dozen words to describe different types of snow and ice. The distinctions among shades of blue and green can vary in different cultures. Number systems can vary from culture to culture. The terms one, two, and many were sufficient for describing quantities in many early languages ; the Romans used a system of letter codes to number objects (Example: MMIX = 2009); the Maya developed a number system with base 20 that could easily describe any number into the millions.
Even when a common language is used, communication is not always clear and straightforward. For example, English authors of the 18th century tended to make use of run-on sentences and an extensive vocabulary. Now in the 21st century their works are sometimes difficult to comprehend. Consider the following extract from Of the Standard of Taste by David Hume, 1757:
“ It is evident that none of the rules of composition are fixed by reasonings ‘a priori’, or can be esteemed abstract conclusions of the understanding, from comparing those habitudes and relations of ideas, which are eternal and immutable.”
In a similar manner, their efforts to be absolutely clear, modern lawyers tend to compose statements that can only be understood by other lawyers.
Sometimes the meaning of a statement is deliberately made obscure. Roger Bacon (c1270) expressed the sentiment that knowledge in the hands of the common person was dangerous, and described seven classical techniques for obscuring the truth in written statements from the uninitiated. In 1384, John Wycliffe translated the Latin Bible into the English language, however the clergy were reluctant to put the word of God into the hands of peasants and labourers. Twenty-four years after his death, Wycliffe was declared a heretic, his body was exhumed and burned, and his English translation was suppressed for over 100 years. The science of cryptology is devoted to coding information so that only those with a secret key are able to decode it.
Encoding information has become a standard practice in computerized record keeping.
The effective use of language is not a simple matter. Designing a clear and concise message is a complex task that is part art and part science. It is an additional challenge to include emotional overtones that will attract an audience and still support the main message.
At the beginning or the 20th century, there were still over six thousand distinct languages in the world, although the growth of modern communications is gradually reducing that number. A language begins as a set of verbal codes for describing what we find important in the world around us. It is possible to code anything that can be experienced, but the design of the code varies from culture to culture. A message is built by selecting words from a common vocabulary, and then arranging those words using rules of grammar.
The Inuit have several dozen words to describe different types of snow and ice. The distinctions among shades of blue and green can vary in different cultures. Number systems can vary from culture to culture. The terms one, two, and many were sufficient for describing quantities in many early languages ; the Romans used a system of letter codes to number objects (Example: MMIX = 2009); the Maya developed a number system with base 20 that could easily describe any number into the millions.
Even when a common language is used, communication is not always clear and straightforward. For example, English authors of the 18th century tended to make use of run-on sentences and an extensive vocabulary. Now in the 21st century their works are sometimes difficult to comprehend. Consider the following extract from Of the Standard of Taste by David Hume, 1757:
“ It is evident that none of the rules of composition are fixed by reasonings ‘a priori’, or can be esteemed abstract conclusions of the understanding, from comparing those habitudes and relations of ideas, which are eternal and immutable.”
In a similar manner, their efforts to be absolutely clear, modern lawyers tend to compose statements that can only be understood by other lawyers.
Sometimes the meaning of a statement is deliberately made obscure. Roger Bacon (c1270) expressed the sentiment that knowledge in the hands of the common person was dangerous, and described seven classical techniques for obscuring the truth in written statements from the uninitiated. In 1384, John Wycliffe translated the Latin Bible into the English language, however the clergy were reluctant to put the word of God into the hands of peasants and labourers. Twenty-four years after his death, Wycliffe was declared a heretic, his body was exhumed and burned, and his English translation was suppressed for over 100 years. The science of cryptology is devoted to coding information so that only those with a secret key are able to decode it.
Encoding information has become a standard practice in computerized record keeping.
The effective use of language is not a simple matter. Designing a clear and concise message is a complex task that is part art and part science. It is an additional challenge to include emotional overtones that will attract an audience and still support the main message.
