An Alternative Glossary of Exchange
*This text appears in Ends Meet: Essays on Exchange
Trying to secure the significance of a word may result in a chain of associations without an ultimate resolution, especially when the term
covers a wide expanse of contexts as in the case of ‘exchange’. ‘An act of giving one thing and receiving another (especially of the same
kind) in return.’
This definition appears to be explicit, lucid, crystalline but quite dull. At times, concepts can be so elementary and easy
to understand that, paradoxically, finding the proper words to fix their meanings becomes an onerous task; any attempt to provide
descriptions of them ends in lack of precision and an excess of tedious phrasing. In fact, as John Locke pointed out three centuries ago
the simplest ideas are often the hardest to define. Without going as far as the philosopher, it is reasonable to say that ‘exchange’ stands
for a simple action, opening up myriad circumstances and countless correlations which are not conveyed by its dictionary definition. In
particular, the quotation above lacks the sense of irreversibility and the ceaseless transference that ‘exchange’ can imply. In other
words, its meaning evokes the idea of separate elements meeting at a halfway point and embracing some kind of transformation –
potentially creating an endless stream of connections. Where the dictionary definition is not exhaustive, a series of exchanges between
various disciplines, from etymology to medicine, creates a more extensive glossary.
‘Ex’, a prefix from Latin, meets the term ‘cambiare’
(barter) in the late Roman era and becomes excambiare (exchange). Passing through France, it arrives in England at the end of the
fourteenth century. From then onwards, ‘ex’ and ‘cambiare’ will evolve both separately and as a unit.
© 2014 Giulia Damiani
