Initial thoughts on text… when I\u2019m thinking about a word I usually start with it as a \u2018centre\u2019 and work my way out, or around, imagining it as the centre of a web of other words \u2013 getting a sense of its full meaning and implications and variety through context (conTEXT).<\/p>\n
text \u2013> context \u2013> subtext -> pretext…<\/p>\n
So text starts as the written word, with implications of authority and permanence… then grows to define not only that with which it deals directly, but also that around it… and then to add nuance, shading, detail \u2013 and even doubt.\u00a0 (Now I\u2019m thinking of Allan Fotheringham\u2019s oft-used saying, \u201cfuzzify the mudification\u201d.)<\/p>\n
And what does the dictionary say?<\/p>\n
Text: from texere<\/em> (Latin: to weave)… but as usage has developed, with much tendency to invoke authority and the establishment of the definitive.\u00a0 The emphasis is heavily on biblical scripture as defining text \u2013 or at least giving it its weight relative to lesser patches of common writing, wherever they may spring up.\u00a0 Purity<\/em> creeps in there, too.<\/p>\n (In addition to the OED online I am also consulting my favourite dictionary: my grandmother\u2019s 1927 edition of Funk and Wagnall\u2019s New Standard Dictionary of the English Language, which is only very slightly smaller than the table it sits on and smells like the stacks in an old library.\u00a0 The two are essentially in agreement, but Grandma\u2019s dictionary is more exciting \u2013 sometimes I find things she tucked between the pages.\u00a0 Rumour has it she hid money in there, too, but this may have been purely a ploy to promote literacy among her clan.)<\/p>\n Question to consider \u2013 what does textile have to do with text?\u00a0 Well, there\u2019s the obvious root in texere<\/em>… which makes each a form – or result – of weaving.\u00a0 A textile is \u201csuch as may be woven\u201d.\u00a0 Which, if text<\/em> derives from the verb to weave<\/em>, means that words are textile \u2013 aren\u2019t they?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Initial thoughts on text… when I\u2019m thinking about a word I usually start with it as a \u2018centre\u2019 and work my way out, or around, imagining it as the centre of a web of other words \u2013 getting a sense of its full meaning and implications and variety through context (conTEXT). text \u2013> context \u2013> […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":926,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4972],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-591","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-text"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/etec540sept09\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/591","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/etec540sept09\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/etec540sept09\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/etec540sept09\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/926"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/etec540sept09\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=591"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/etec540sept09\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/591\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":678,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/etec540sept09\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/591\/revisions\/678"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/etec540sept09\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=591"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/etec540sept09\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=591"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/etec540sept09\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=591"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}