Transition from Oral to Written Knowledge

Looking back, my first blog for the Oral Language unit was a frustrated one; one where I had not yet grasped the beauty and importance of oral language. I thought it was pointless without the written, and saw things with a very narrow minded perspective. I struggled and struggled. I could not find anything online, I tried contacting three professors, and I just could not get the understanding I needed. Gradually, very gradually, through all of your blog posts and class discussions have I become passionate about what oral knowledge holds and the importance of preserving it.

Oral language, a free flowing dialogue, has qualities unlike any other form of communication. It is like the ebb and flow of an ocean tide, able to move freely and change, and return to the same conversation over and over again; because nothing is set in stone. It is not confined to words on a page. It is malleable and amendable. Like Dr. Burton mentions in his post about syllabi, the absence of a syllabus is beneficial because it allows the course to be adaptable and cater to the student's true learning, by giving them the autonomy to take learning into their own hands. This is all because we do not have to follow the strict instructions that often cause us to view our learning as an item on our agenda instead of the innumerable worlds waiting to be explored.

Another benefit to oral knowledge is illustrated by the rare occasion when professors ask us to stop taking notes and we actually listen (imagine that!). We take in what they are saying. We break free of the robotic transfer of information going in our ears and out on paper without it entering our brains, and are given the chance to think and to process it. To understand it. To own it. And of course we may not remember everything we hear, but at least we remember something.

Oral knowledge also has a heightened ability to enhance communication with those around us; there is something remarkable about hearing the intonations in peoples' voices and seeing the expressions on their faces that helps us truly listen, understand, and communicate better. Think of texting. I am sure there have been plenty of times where you have second guessed the sender's intentions, and it may have possibly caused a conflict. Of course this miscommuincation is still possible with oral language, but not as likely, seeing as over 50% of communication is through body language.

Now onto the more spiritual aspect; like Brianne has mentioned in her blog(s) about reenacting scenes from the New Testament, and like our class reciting of King Benjamin's speech, there is power and spirit behind words when they are spoken out loud. We have the ability to feel because we can sense the emotion through the intonations annd expressions like previously mentioned. I am sure everyone in the room today felt the power of the Spirit that was delivered through the spoken word.

Now, as you can see, oral language has its unique benefits, but like most civilizations have discovered, oral is not complete without the written component. It is like the Yin and the Yang, both needing each other to be balanced, and yet having a part of the other. To me, this statement holds true because of the patterns I have noticed civilizations repeat in all parts of the world and in all different centuries: almost all civilizations have written records of their language. You can see how their writing style has changed over the course of the years, and even the material that was written on. Take the Egyptian for example: (Click here for source)

• Old Egyptian - up to about 2100BC
• Old Egyptian was spoken and written during the time of the pyramids. 
• The writings inside the pyramids- the Pyramid Texts - are in this language. 

• Middle Egyptian- 2100-1550BC 
• This is the classical Egyptian writing. 
• Most Egyptian literature was written in this language (it's quite similar to Old Egyptian). 
• Even after people stopped speaking it around 1550BC, it was still used on monuments and temple inscriptions and writings by priests.

• Late Egyptian - 1550-700BC 
  • In the New Kingdom people started talking a new version of Egyptian, although Middle Egyptian was still used  in writing until about 1350BC (just before the time of Tutankhamun). So Tut would have spoken Late Egyptian. Writing on temple walls was still Middle Egyptian, though.

• Demotic - 700BC - AD250 
  • Demotic began to be written and spoken about 700BC, when the people of Kush (Ethiopia) briefly ruled Egypt. 
  • After Alexander the Great conquered Egypt in 332BC, some people also started to speak spoken Greek.
• Coptic - After AD 250 
  • The Copts were the Christian descendents of the ancient Egyptians. 
  • Coptic has some similarities to the ancient Egyptian language, and today scholars get clues to the meaning of hieroglyphic words by looking at Coptic. 
  • Nowadays Coptic is only used in some churches, and though it is read out it is not understood
• Arabic - after AD 640 
  • After the Arabs conquered Egypt in AD 640, Arabic became the official language - and it still is today. 
  • The following place names are all Arabic: Cairo, Luxor, Aswan, Deir el Bahari, Giza, Amarna, and Karnak .
   

You can see that their language has changed greatly over the years; once Egyptian, now Arabic. How could we have known today what language was spoken thousands of years ago if it were not written down? How would we have known that the Egyptians often wrote in two line prose? How would would we have any window of insight without the aid of the written language? Like the Rosetta Stone, written language is like a key to understand the oral. One should not exist without the other.