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and cannot be said in that language. The strong form of this idea is the Sapir-Whorf
hypothesis, which states it is impossible to conceptualise something in the absence of
the appropriate linguistic constructs, and that genuinely new ideas are therefore depend-
ent for their adoption and survival on the progressive extension of the language (Aronoff
and Rees-Miller, 2003, p. 99). This extreme view still has support from some philosophers
and linguists, but even those who do not accept it in totality concede that the idea con-
tains a critical insight - that possibilities of social interaction are constrained by the
language available to the parties concerned (Pinker, 1994).
The ISBL shows this with unusual clarity in that the underlying content reflects both a
very specific way of doing business, and a very restricted conceptual universe. It is
important to note that a key distinction is drawn between the 'content' and 'expression'
planes of a language (Eco, 1997), and that discussion in this paper is limited to the content
plane. ISBL expression, which can involve combinations of mouse clicks, key presses,
symbols and verbal statements, has some extremely interesting implications, particularly
from the perspective of the social disadvantages for people who are unable to 'speak'
the language, but these are left for subsequent investigation.
In basic terms, ISBL content is conceptualised as comprising a set of data, process and
object definitions that:
1. enable communication between systems and people;
2. enable reference to basic business concepts;
3. enable meanings to be attributed to actions occurring in business transactions;
4. represent the rationalisation and standardisation of business terminology relevant
to defined types of business transactions.
In effect, the ISBL is a language that mediates conversations at the electronic frontier;
that is to say, at the point of intersection between people and automated systems. The
terminology for use is strictly controlled. To take a specific example, the concept 'cus-
tomer' may be instantiated in the ISBL as an entity characterised by a set of mandatory
attributes including a name, address, and telephone number, and associated with a re-
corded history of one or more purchases from a relevant organisation. In a new transaction
entered into by the customer and an IS, both implicitly agree to the use of ISBL termin-
ology and concepts. The system presents itself at a venue at which interactions can occur,
the putative customer identifies him- or herself, the system enquires as to the nature
and scope of the transaction envisaged, the customer provides this additional information,
the system responds, and so on through to an exchange of values and transactional
closure. Communication has occurred, and has been mediated through a closely defined
language.
Generally speaking the ISBL deals with concepts for which there are approximately
equivalent expressions in natural languages. In English, these would include 'customer',
'product', 'service', 'account', 'asset', and 'invoice' among many others. The formality
and rigour of ISBL definitions suggest that, while it might be a pidgin language at the
moment, it could also be seen as a prototypical 'perfect language' (Eco, 1997) of business.
As indicated earlier, there are fundamental differences between the ISBL and English,
despite the superficial similarities, and these are summarised in TableĀ 15.1.
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