Emojis hieroglyphics and mandarin: devolving back into pictures instead of words and are signs simpler
Language has evolved slowly from art to symbols to words. Words have become the necessary interpretation of phenomena for millennium. Recently symbols have resurfaced in every day lingo. As texting has become the new frenzy acronyms (lol, rotl etc.) and now emojis replace words. Articulating emotion through illustrated symbols.
Symbols are commonplace as expression. They add flare to the text. Exclamation points are but limited in pitch but require the reader to imagine. The emoji acts as an extension. Congratulating someone may follow with a bottle of champagne and exploding ribbons. The emojis properly contextualize the statement. Its emphasis is tied to an emotional visual. To some extent it is superfluous. Writing sounds good and adding a thumbs up or it’s a deal and adding the handshake symbol is unnecessary. replacing words with symbols is new. It hijacks communication to be transmitted in code. The code is obvious. These are pictographs but even simpler. They are generated identical with the realistic experience. Unlike hieroglyphics the simple mode of emoji use is simple redirection. it’s not necessarily easier since it is quicker to type thanks or got it than place a thumbs up. There is more emphasis from the symbol.
Emoji quizzes have popped up asking contestants to interpret the consecutive symbols into a sentence. Encrypting the code is akin to hieroglyphs. The simplicity of writing a few symbols than writing out a thought is ease but the reader has to understand the lingo. The shared imagery must have the same comprehension. It is possible that emojis may act as a bridge between languages. Yet like the hieroglyphics the images were also sounds that combined to mean something different. Images are translated differently and thus have a different sounds. Those who spoke Egyptian could understand the picture by sounding out the images. This mode of encryption is logographic but finds more similarities with the Japanese kanji than Chinese. The Japanese rely on combining sounds so too this quiz game does the same by lining up symbols to be sounded together to make a coherent sentence.
Even if the images mean the word and not sounds. The picture must filter. Not everyone views the same image in the same way. The image is known to all but understood differently. Symbols are universal but interpretation is personal. The subjective element is tribal per ideology. The middle finger is a western curse symbol while in the east the pinky is curse. Some symbols are vague and unclear: the high five can be praying hands or hello. If a single emoji can be interpreted differently the sequence will be further hair-scratching. The symbols of the unconscious are selective as is the linguistic element. Each person relates to signs in various capacities. The comprehensive subjectivity fails to formulate a universal language. A mishap of globalized aspiration. An ideal underestimated by cultural independence.
The chiastic structure has finally made it full circle. Pictographs have returned. 2000 BCE and 2000 CE maybe but 3000 signs will be written without any letters. The transition from written to typed has elevated the everyday conversation. Ancient illiteracy was compensated by pictures. Writing was an advanced form of communication. Coordinating complexity could only be done by hand. It was no longer the personal or even communal but trans-cultural. Writing was a form guided communication. Just think if the Bible was pictographs or emojis—though society may not be too far from that. A bible emoji that doesn’t have emojis as flare at the end of a sentence but replace the words. Pictographs are signs in place of letters. The full switch will rid letters as limited in scope and inconsiderate in proper feeling. Then again the signs are only as dead petite as the oral community assigns to them. Letters are a ruled structure that carries weight to simple explanation. Tone is absent the morphemes but punctuation salvages the impression.
From clay to parchment to paper. From quills to pens to typewriters. The progression to simpler writing has encapsulated man’s ability to communicate. The more frequent textuality required easier substances to write. The nature of letters was an ethos of common liturgical communication. Yet the ease of writing signs was more difficult with clay than the cursive lettering. Parchment and paper were flimsier fabrics and a typewriter is merely techno-shapes imprinted on the paper. It is ultimately, the imprint of the letter on the typewriter that offers the sign to return. Urbanization and expansion led to extensive analysis which needed cohesive lettering. A distinguishing mark that accounted for the complexity of culture and civilisation. Yet the onslaught of the most techno friendly has the most juggernaut symbolism. The digitised monitoring reveals the simplicity of global communication.
The digital communication evolved from typewriting letters to typing emails. Texting is the next wave in the evolution. Email is still used as a formal communicative engine as texting lighter and casual. Emails are for school and texting is for friends. Though millennials grew up on aol, e-mail has captured work and texting is more intimate. The ease of texting is but it’s utility. There is a manner of deconstruction where long winded exchanges become simple sentences. Reading old letters are poetic (though may be the few that are taught) while today is straight to the point. The jargon has declined and simplistic narration is the route of the masses. Fourth grade level English is regurgitated in conversations. Dialogues are not of the philosophers but of the playroom.
Humans didn’t become stupider. This isn’t some sort of decline of the generations theme. Humanity has cultivated some of the most evolutionary gadgets in the past decades then ever in history. The explosion of human innovation is wild since the post-war era. Even more since the 90s. The symbolic resurfacing is akin to the simplicity of communication. The global world has never been so close. With social media it only tightens. Civilization is complex but people are simple. They speak the language of the internet. The language of homogeneity. Emojis aren’t just a globalized unification sign but a measure of easing the burden of elongated notes. To cover the extent of the conversation in a few choice words. There is no need to be coy or clever just straight up. The global fascination is comforted by a dignified unison.
Email retains form and is lengthy. The notion at times is ideological and even taboo. Yet texting has a methodology of on and off. One texts and then awaits the quick response. Emails are directed responses but texting is a substitute for a conversation. Emails are responsive not dialogical. Telephones are the original texting. Letters emails and voicemails are all long term investments. The response is awaited. An email is a chain of formal details surrounding a faithful exposition. While dumbed down from letters, emails still represent a formal stature of communication. Texting is a dialogue from a distance. It’s informal because it’s a verbal conversation translated into textuality. It is novel and never before written messaging. Short bursts of verbalism quenched into sequential rapid responses.
The texting novelty transformed conversations into cyber imaging. No face just words cultivated the stage. While this has extended to social media platforms, it was a chat box between two friends across town. Calling was an option but even that has become a formality. Texting is the replacement for connecting two cups and a string. Invisible conversation. Robotic verses sent to enable further discussion after hangout time. Communicating in code after hours. Texting is a technical masterpiece allowing digital conversation to replace actual conversation. The same jokes are sent over text maybe even a pic or a gif for some fun. It’s narrowing distance with digital everyday dialogue.
As everyday conversation, it incorporates the slang and shorter sentences are written. Yet as the conversation becomes more fast paced quicker replies are necessary. Shorter words are required. Ttyl, gtg, and even the letter k. While these may be things people say out loud it is more conducive to the textual world. People may say lmao but most people do not say btw. Texting becomes even faster and lighter than verbalism. It becomes even more simplistic. Articulating a point in a few words. It is like the game to name a song in the fewest notes. A quick text sent for the reply to shoot back. The encoded lingo occupies a special place for the digital dialogue. It has surpassed verbalism. No longer are full sentences need. People understand the code. Abbreviations are centerstage in a textual dialogue. Abbreviations are the link to symbols. Knowing the abbreviations represents a keen knowledge of the oral chain.
Abbreviations lead to symbols. It is responding in the simplest way. It is replacing abbreviations with a sign. Sending an emoji to highlight an emotion or simplify the message. Ideographs are far more straightforward than textual syntax that requires explaining. Symbols are the next stage in the evolution of linguistics. The symbols correspond to a development of sign language that extends beyond the hand signaling. Symbols are gestured in pictographs. They are perceived and deduced. They are imprinted and clear. No need to read through a sentence but comprehend by the picture. Just as a picture explains the moment so does the emoji. It will never replace language but may replace communication. The digital pictographs are comprehensive and interpretive. For now, emojis are for emotional emphasis but soon may replace textuality entirely.
Clarity and simplicity are key to the texting age. Texting is the digital replacement for verbalism but with VR maybe texting will decay with the fictional world becoming a hub of virtual discussions. Currently chat boxes for gamers exist but with full immersive dives the meta-sphere may become a hub for quasi-verbalism. A symbiosis between the verbal and digital. The resurgence of signs as a communicative device isn’t out of stupidity but clarity and simplicity. Fast paced conversation and discussion. Globalized unity and linguistic formalism.
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