topology and script
Jay Lemke (JLLBC who-is-at CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU)
Mon, 06 May 96 15:48:18 EDT
As an addendum to words-as-script-units vs. words-as-meaning-options
it is useful to note that in all scripts there are sub-graphemic
variations that may not matter to, say which letter, or which
kanji, we read (typological level), but certainly can still have
indexical meaning (topological level) in other regards: what
handwriting tells us about personal identity and maybe personality,
what calligraphy can tell us about esthetic dispositions of
writers and cultures, etc. This also illustrates the quantitative
aspect of topological meaning-making. A computer allows us to
selected one of some finite number of distinct typefaces or fonts,
and usually likewise with regard to type sizes (point values).
But handwriting and calligraphy can be analyzed quantitatively
down to almost indefinite precision, and so allows almost infinite
resource for meaning. Reducing this infinity to manageable and
not-too-much-more-than-needed variety is the typological function.
But the topological surplus-variety-for-meaning is always still
there, and perhaps matters more often than our semiotic and
linguistic theories allow for. JAY.
JAY LEMKE.
City University of New York.
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