Pre-Reading Definitions
text – a method of communication via writing/words
technology – artificial objects/techniques that enhance human ability and/or efficiency
OED Definition and Etymology
text
“The wording of anything written or printed; the structure formed by the words in their order; the very words, phrases, and sentences as written.”
Same root as textile/texture, woven, style
technology
“The branch of knowledge dealing with the mechanical arts and applied sciences; the study of this.”
Root, technologia, “treatise on the liberal arts…” “systematic treatment of grammar.”
Ngram
Both text and technology has a trend of two periods of much usage before centuries of relative inactivity, before an increase in its usage in the mid to late 20th century. Usage of the word technology had spikes at 1505 and 1536, then had a period of being relatively unused until 1950. Meanwhile, the spikes for the word text lags slightly behind technology at 1533 and 1579, before a slow increase in usage until a sudden jump in 1973.
Also of note is that there has been two time periods where technology was used more often than text: a few years around 1505 and between 1970 to 2000.
Questions
Analyzing etymology is a typical technique in, for example, science class, to help students understand vocabulary. Words such as subscript, subduct, biomimicry, bioluminescence may seem intimidating to a student in junior science until we analyze the parts of the word to gleam its meaning. That said, I find that in the case of text, the etymology was far more surprisingly and while it makes sense in hindsight, it does not provide a lot of new information on the modern usage of the word. Prior to this activity I wouldn’t have associated text with textile, and though there is a logic in associating the two terms (weaving words to create text, weaving threads to create cloth), I feel that due to how often we see the word “text” there is no need to gleam its meaning from its roots, unlike unfamiliar science words such as subscript, subduct, biomimicry, and bioluminescence.