Symbols: A Universal Language
We are all familiar with symbols for all sorts of things from warning labels to hashtags to @ signs to road signs to religious symbols and political symbols that dominate our lives. But do you know what these symbols mean? Well, Symbols, A Universal Language has taken the time to explain what a good number of these symbols mean.
As an amateur linguist I am always looking for ways that we communicate. I’m talking about everything from the blinkers on our cars to the way carry ourselves and the way we symbolize ideas with markings.
Do you know what The Rosetta Stone is? Do you know where the “Jolly Roger” came from? Do you know where we got the symbols that we use for dollars, pounds and euros? Where did the term “Bluetooth” come from? …or do you know the proper name for a hashtag?
This book covers a bunch of these points and gives some interesting history around these and a number of other symbols in our everyday lives. I think this book is a great intro read into linguistics because it does a great job showing the reader how we associate ideas – both good and evil – with symbols and I feel that the more you understand written markings as a representation of ideas the better your understanding of language (especially written language) will be.
If you are looking for a great entry-level book for learning how symbols are used in our daily life and a deeper understanding of what they mean, I would absolutely recommend reading this Symbols, A Universal Language. It is the best book that I have come across for talking normally about some of the most common symbols that we see on a daily basis as well as some symbols that have been banned in certain parts of the world.
