Activity 1.4: Defining terms

What do the words “text” and “technology” mean to you?

To me the word ‘text’ means something written in some form that would be read by someone. ‘Technology’ is a machine that enable a creature to do something.

Listen to The Word Guy on Internet Age Words – think of other words that might have been updated based on technological advancements? Keep an informal record.

• scroll
• mouse over
• zip
• copy and paste
• highlight
• Zoom
• breakout
• FaceTime
• chat
• delete
• enter
• space (bar)
• ping
• extensions
• bookmark
• hover
• refresh
• cookies
• link
• like
• cache

3. Search OED for 

My university doesn’t have a subscription to the OED, so I only use it through UBC. I love that OED provides the etymology, with quotations of past usage, frequency of usage.

text:

The noun form has a six entries, I think the order provided on the page is linked to how frequently this definition is used?

Sense 1a is: The wording of anything written or printed; the structure formed by the words in their order; the very words, phrases, and sentences as written.

It is interesting to note that part of this definition is the reference to the order of the word as written. This goes beyond my initial definition of ‘text’.

Etymology – this a French, Northern French word. Following this definition, there quotations from c1400 when text was spelled as ‘tyxt’ or ‘tyxte’, to the 1500’s when text matched the French spelling ‘texte’ and the 1678 and 1728 quotations when the text was used with an upper-case T, making its usage seem more formal and perhaps in reference to something like an important document (the Constitution, the Bible).

The other senses under heading 1 (c-d), also refer to original words being quoted, or wording adopted by an editor representing an author’s original word (book, edition, writing) – any form that is written. These slightly different definitions were in use times that overlapped each other.

The second sense of text focuses on the words and sentences as originally written (so more like reference to something written, than the more general definition in category 1), through translation, commentary, notes. The examples of past usage with this definition show that there tends to be an adjective describing the original text (e.g. Arabic text, Greek text).

The 3rd through 6th senses demonstrate where the word text probably came from, as reference to ‘ the Holy Scriptures’, parts of important written documents.

Below these definitions, there are also a number of compound nouns that have been used over time. I found ‘text-mongering’ (1883) an interesting and potentially apt compound noun that no one uses any more! As someone with a background in Corpus Linguistics, ‘text-frequency’ (with quotations from 1942 and 1962) – this compound noun undoubtedly appears because of the technology that enabled counting this kind of frequency from corpora.

Looking at words with a similar root word (tex):

textile. Latin. This has a more recent historical quotes, and not as many changes to its usage and spelling over time. Yet, it is still most commonly used to describe fibers that have been woven by hand, so similar to text being something written (at first on paper, a kind of fiber) and by a human.

texture. Latin, more about process of weaving, related to textile, though not necessarily on a specific type of fiber (could also be fabric, any structure that appears woven).

However, if we consider frequency of usage, I would guess that many use the word ‘text’ as a verb (e.g. “I’ll send you a text later.”) I’m not sure why the OED doesn’t include this (or have I missed it?).

technology

In researching ‘technology’ with the OED, I realized that the placement of the definitions, may not be due to their frequency in usage, since the first 3 definitions are now obsolete (this was explained discussion of the word’s etymology – being of multiple origins, with many of the earlier usage of ‘technology’ (technologia) revolving around the definition as a systematic treatment on something (like art, craft, grammar).

Only in sense 4 of the word, can I see what I currently recognize as a definition of that is in use now: The branch of knowledge dealing with mechanical arts and applied sciences, or The application of such knowledge for practical purposes, esp. industry, manufacturing, etc.

Looking at the dates when this definition starts to be used (from the quotations provided), it seems like may be linked to when more industries, machines and manufacturing began to influence and be a subject of study, first Europe (1787). It’s interesting to see the last example of Sense 4a of technology is a quote about textile technology.

Sense 5 of technology is a very specific definition that goes beyond my original efforts to define it: A particular, practical or industrial art: a branch of mechanical arts or applied sciences: a technological disciple.

Digging for more information:

technique: I can see that technology, and technique have the same root from from French, and around a similar time in history became a part of English vernacular (late 1700’s, early 1800’s), the focus of studying sciences, scholarships, technical methods linked to changes in society and advances in manufacturing, etc.

technical: Borrowed from Latin, or Ancient Greek.  Sense 1 is a person having knowledge/expertise in particular art, science; skilled in techniques (see technique above) of a particular field, as time progressed (more current use) an expert in applied / industrial sciences. There are 4 different senses of the word provided, but all seem to have similar thread connecting them in that ‘technique’ is related to knowledge, skill, design.

teche: related to ‘teach’- many of these senses of this word revolve around: To show, present, conduct (some of which are obsolete now), but the leading sense is to show by way of information or instruction. This sense of the word has usage examples from 971 (AD?)

teche and technology both have the same root, and seem to refer to knowledge acquisition or sharing of knowledge.

Usage of terms over time with Google Ngram Viewer

I will try to upload an image of my results later (my server is too busy or slow right now), but it is very interesting to see that ‘text’ has two spikes in its usage around 1532 and 1581. I think this might be linked to the spread of the printing press from China into Europe in the 15th C, to the extent that writers such as John Calvin, Martin Luther and Copernicus were printing up different versions of the bible  in this century. Overall, ‘text’ is more frequently used that ‘technology’, until we reach 1971 , when the two words merge in their frequency of usage. 1971 is the year Intel released the first microprocessor according to the Computer History Museum timeline.

In 2001, the two terms again merged in their frequency in usage, and ‘text’ has maintained a slight edge in usage in comparison to ‘technology’.  I feel that usage of the more idiomatic verb ‘text’ in relation to the ubiquitous Smart phones that have spread all over the world in the 2000’s may have something to do with this frequency.