Editing Hypertext (section)

==Etymology==

{{Blockquote | "(...)'Hypertext' is a recent coinage. 'Hyper-' is used in the mathematical sense of extension and generality (as in 'hyperspace,' 'hypercube') rather than the medical sense of 'excessive' ('hyperactivity'). There is no implication about <u>size</u>— a hypertext could contain only 500 words or so. 'Hyper-' refers to structure and not size." | [[Ted Nelson|Theodor H. Nelson]], ''[https://archive.org/details/SelectedPapers1977 Brief Words on the Hypertext]'', 23 January 1967}}

The English prefix "hyper-" comes from the [[Greek language|Greek]] prefix "ὑπερ-" and means "over" or "beyond"; it has a common origin with the prefix "super-" which comes from Latin. It signifies the overcoming of the previous linear constraints of written text.

The term "hypertext" is often used where the term "[[hypermedia]]" might seem appropriate.

In 1992, author [[Ted Nelson]]&nbsp;– who coined both terms in 1963&nbsp;<ref>http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=806036 Complex information processing: a file structure for the complex, the changing and the indeterminate</ref><ref name="Rettberg">{{cite web|url=http://elmcip.net/node/7367|title=Complex Information Processing: A File Structure for the Complex, the Changing, and the Indeterminate|publisher=Electronic Literature as a Model of Creativity and Innovation in Practice|first=Jill Walker|last=Rettberg}}</ref>– wrote:
{{Blockquote | By now the word "hypertext" has become generally accepted for branching and responding text, but the corresponding word "hypermedia", meaning complexes of branching and responding graphics, movies and sound&nbsp;– as well as text&nbsp;– is much less used. Instead they use the strange term "interactive multimedia": this is four syllables longer, and does not express the idea of extending hypertext. | [[Ted Nelson|Nelson]], ''[[Literary Machines]]'', 1992}}