Agreed. One could argue that modern "design thinking" involves the creation and extension of non-alphabetic, visual language. Someone unfamiliar with modern logos (e.g. share icons) and UI conventions (e.g. "hamburger" icon) may view these symbols like they would view Egyptian hieroglyphics.

2nd-order cybernetics is about observing the observer, which includes observing the limitations of communication. Studying different languages helps identify the limitations of each, i.e the untranslateables. There's a great book on this topic (we need an equivalent for software), a 1300 page "Dictionary of Untranslateables".

http://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2014/07/16/h...

"This depends on what one means by “untranslatable.” Cassin and her team believe that an “untranslatable” word is not one that cannot be translated, but rather a word we can’t stop trying to translate, aware always that we haven’t quite hit it, that it isn’t right."