Oral histories underpin codices. They are dependent on one another for transferring and translating stories from generation to generation. Traditionally, the process of passing on an oral history entails spoken word. Which, in turn, creates an opportunity for the creator of a codex to not only translate the story into the codex, but also consider the storytellers' voice, choice of words, tones, and subtle inflections.

Spoken word, or using ones voice to communicate, is a symbolic mode. Thus, spoken world and the impact it has on storytelling is often reflected in codices, whether it be the person who shared the story is depicted or another connotation related to the mode of spoken world.

Music is the cousin of spoken world. In this context, the verb "spoken" can be defined as the act of speech vis a vis a human's audible voice. This definition invites us to frame music as another form of spoken word. In lieu of a single human voice, music uses melodies, lyrics, and instruments to articulate a story. In some cases, this could leverage the human voice. In turn, music can articulate an oral history, and as a symbol reflected in an eCodex, the dynamic dimensions of this symbolic mode stands to be reflected in the same way that an individual engaging in spoken word might be translated as a symbol in a more traditional and two-dimensional codex. Music has the capacity to capture trans-culturation phenomena beyond the essential purpose of conveying a story. The choice of instruments, and the history of the music-makers themselves, are performative acts that propose a simultaneous process of creation while also conveying a story. This process is shaped by its setting and environment, meaning where the music is played and how it is played enables the ongoing trans-culturation process.

By the same token, the second word in spoken word offers up another dynamic symbol for consideration. "Word" can be defined as the language or choice of words, even letters, employed to convey the oral history. In the context of an eCodex, prose is a symbolic choice. Prose in this context can be defined as the everyday or ordinary language of a person or people. Through the lens of trans-culturation, prose is ever-adapting to the influences and impact of multiple cultures. Examples of how this materializes in communities like Los Angeles’s Westlake, a community bound up in Latin American diaspora, the indigenous diaspora, and the United State's history of British colonialism, could include the choice of Spanish and English to speak about a common experience as each language offers a different purpose for emoting. Prose and choice of prose becomes a necessary symbol for the eCodex, for the choice of words, regardless of how they are strewn together, capture the experience of one's mind and body moving through and adapting to a multi-cultural environment.