HTML

In the process of creating a personal website, I have been learning HTML (hypertext markup language). I started wondering how languages like HTML fit into the sound and sense discussion. After all, this is a language that is not spoken. In fact, it isn't even meant to be read by people. It is a language solely for communicating with computers, to make them display what is meant to be read by people.

Remember that in phonetic languages the written version of a word describes the spoken version of the word. HTML describes the written version of a word. So, a document that is coded for the web is even further removed from meaning than a document that is written on a piece of paper. Don't believe me? Take a look at the source code for this page. Unless you do some coding yourself it's pretty scary looking. (Still scares me.) And even if you understand what it means and you see that a certain word is supposed to be displayed with italics, you aren't actually seeing it in italics. Just like you can read a word in italics and know that it is spoken with emphasis, but can't actually hear it.

Is this enough to declare a trend? The invention of writing allowed people to communicate over longer distances, preserve thought, and be more creative. The invention of the internet has allowed people to communicate with almost anyone on the planet, instantly publish their every thought, and be even more creative. But in each case, the code used gets a little further away from the things that are actually being said. The more sophisticated a method of communication is, the less it has to do with meaning.