The evolution of language
The evolution of language
Muse #143 - are we going backwards or forwards?
Language has evolved in over 500,000 years - and more so in the last 50,000 years. From my various readings, I synthesize this order of evolution from gestures, grunts, singing, speech, and symbols, finally evolving to writing and grammar.
But in recent years, we have been going back to the symbols of 10,000 years ago (or is it evolving?) in our written language with the use of emoticons and other symbols. Especially in this era of social networking.
Back in the 90’s when text messages became prevalent (it took a while in the Americas) “ILU” and “143” were used as shortcuts instead of “I love you!” - From here it has evolved to the use of emoticons, then to complex emoji’s, and now to active Memoji’s (Apple) and Bitmoji’s (Snapchat) amongst others.
This thought was actually triggered by the #143-day count on today’s post. It brought back memories of my wife and me texting each other extensively in the early 2000s while in Singapore, where texting was the norm.
Bringing me to the real topic for today. It is not about symbols at all. It is a thank you message to my wife. To celebrate yet another upcoming coming-together milestone.
A thank you note for my special woman who has lived with me for more than a score-and-half years. So, just wanted to take this opportunity to tell her - “I love you and thank you for being there this lifetime with me. You have made my journey worthwhile”. “If I have done one thing right in my life, it was finding you and making sure that I could keep you all these years with me. I have been really lucky.”
Signing off…
Resources:
Code hidden in Stone Age art may be the root of human writing - https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg23230990-700-in-search-of-the-very-first-coded-symbols/
Love - definition - https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/love
Love - Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love
Love - https://www.etymonline.com/word/love
Symbols - Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symbol
Emoji’s - Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emoji