Meanings of Screen

 Meanings of Screen 

Throughout time there have been many different meanings for the word 'screen' including the meaning in different languages as well. It could be argued, according to Kress that the word 'screen' has become a crucial word in the cultural, social, technological and economic landscape of communication. 

Kress discusses different meanings of the word 'screen' and one of these was from the French word 'escran' meaning a screen set between one and a fire as sheltering from an intense heat, furthermore, the French form may derive itself from the Old High German 'skrank', which seems to be also used in Sweden. In modern German, this means a barrier or a rail. This seems that there is a theme of protectiveness, in two different languages 'screen' has meant something that is protecting someone or something from potential harm. On the other hand, there is a second definition for the meaning 'screen', according to Kress which is 'a screen for gravel or corn is a grating which wards off the coarser particles and prevents them from coming through'. Once again, even though this is a slightly different meaning than before, there is still that theme where something should not get through, once again like a barrier. However, in English, the most dominant meaning would be its use of projection whether in cinema or for TV/video and over the last twenty five years or so, the computer screen. 

As someone who has grown up in the twenty first century, the word 'screen' for me has more of a resonation of the electronic screen, such as the computer or television. To support this, when you look up the meaning of the word 'screen' in the Cambridge English dictionary, the first meaning to come up is the electronic meaning such as the cinema and then the physical meaning such as something you would get dressed behind or something that would protect you. This shows if someone was learning English as another language, the first meaning of the word 'screen' they would probably be taught is the electronic version, this could be because we live in a modern world and according to Introna and Ilharco, it is soon possible that 'we will live in a world that has more screens than people'. As this article is from 2006, it is probably quite possible that now we do live in a world with more screens than people as according to Statista, the average UK household owned 9.6 electronic devices in 2020. When you look at the graph below from Statista you can see the large amount of devices people owned in 2020 and it is highly likely that it has either stayed the same or increased since 2020 as many people have moved their work online and work from home since the pandemic. 

[screenshot from Statista hyperlink] 

According to Kress, 'ecran' to a native French speaker means something you get dressed behind, of course this is the same meaning in English but also in French 'ecran' can be a more metaphorical level as to protect someone from criticism for example, but this would not be the same for English as we would be more likely to say shield. This is a slight difference between the meanings of screen in languages as this is a metaphorical meaning of the word screen yet, in English, there isn't a metaphorical meaning for the word screen as we have other words. Another difference for the meaning of screen is in German when the word is named after what it is made out of. In modern German it is, 'projektionsflaeche' which literally means the surface for projecting which is different to English as there are not many words which literally mean what it is made out of. This shows the differences between a few languages but also the similarities particularly the worldwide knowledge of the electronic screen as technology is worldwide and we live in a technologically advanced world. 

To conclude, there are many meanings of the word 'screen' and they have changed throughout time with the evolution of languages throughout the world. The world is always changing and evolving and that includes languages as well. If electronic screens were never invented the word 'screen' would still exist as it has had many other meanings throughout time before the electronic screen such as something you get dressed behind or protect something or someone from harm. Furthermore, it also proves how modern technology has had an impact on society and language as 'screen', meaning computer or cinema is the first definition that comes up when you look it up in the Cambridge dictionary. This shows how much language can change in a few years or so. 

References: 

Kress G. 2006. Visual Communication. 2nd issue. Cardiff University. 

Statista. 2020. Average number of devices residents have access to in UK households in 2020, by device. AudienceProject. 

Introna L, Inharco F. 2006. On the Meaning of Screens: Towards a Phenomenological Account of Screenness. Lancaster University.