Entry #4: Semantics: The Meaning of 'meaning'

What does it mean for a word to "mean" something? How does the human brain associate the phonetic string /pudəlz/ with small fluffy dogs? How concrete is that association? Does the phonetic string have any instrinsic value? The answers to these questions, and more, in today's post.

We will start with my favorite Meaning Man, Paul Grice. He felt that "meaning" had two possible definitions. 1) Cause and Effect, e.g. Smoke means fire. 2)Communication, which is much more complicated and, er, meaningful. Grice called (1) Natural Meaning, and (2) Non-natural meaning.

Grice felt that Non-natural meaning is governed by four conversational maxims, the details of which I will not go into here. He felt that utterances hold no meaning unless the utterer is has an audience, and he is trying to convey something to that audience. (Later, people will debate what constitutes an 'audience'; some argue that one's audience can be one's self.)

This seems intuitive and true - that words hold no meaning unless someone tries to use them to say something. For example, the word "poodle" means absolutely nothing if no one uses the word. Words cannot sit on a shelf, gathering dust; they need humans in order to have value.

So, now we know how words get "meaning," but what is this thing called "meaning?" How does our brain connect /pudəlz/ with little furry dogs? Perhaps the phonetic strings link to things, objects in the real world. This would explain the poodle example, but what about words that describe things we've never seen - such as Love or Peace or Balance or Unicorns or Lions? I've never seen any of those things, yet the words surely have meaning.

Maybe the phonetic strings link to images in our heads; not necessarily real things, but anything we can conceive of. I've seen pictures of Unicorns, and movies of lions. But where did the words come from in the first place? If no one has ever seen a unicorn (yes, this is debateable, but that is an equine of a tangential hue), then what does the word "mean?" Also, how does this explain Love, Peace, and Balance? Many words denote abstract concepts, so how can a theory of images explain their meaning?

...and where is all this stored? In our brains, probably, but how? Do we have small men with dictionaries up there, furiously working to find the entry for each word we hear?

This post has already gotten away from me. More on this subject next time.

The Wait is Over

Yes, you read that title correctly. The Wait for a new post here at the Mad Rant is over; new posts will be forthcoming. I apologize for the delay, but different issues steamrolled, and time management is not my forte.

Please check back soon for more Fun with Linguistics!