Lemma | meaning |
---|---|
Categoria grammaticale | N |
Lingua | inglese |
Sigla | Bloomfield (1935) |
Titolo | Language |
Sinonimi | |
Rinvii | |
Traduzioni | |
Citazioni | [...] the meaning constists of the important things with which the speech-utterance (B) is connected, namely the practical events (A and C). We have defined the 'meaning' of a linguistic form as the situation in which the speaker utters it and the response which it calls forth in the hearer. The statement of meaning is therefore the weak point in language-study, and will remain so until human knowledge advances very far beyond its present state. In practice, we define the meaning of a linguistic form, wherever we can, in terms of some other science. The mentalist, therefore, can define the meaning of a linguistic form as the characteristic mental event which occurs in every speaker and hearer in connection with the utterance or hearing of the linguistic form. So long as the analysis of meaning remains outside the powers of science, the analysis and recordings of languages will remain an art or practical skill. The meaning of a form for any one speaker is nothing more than a result of the situations in which he has heard this form. Our fundamental assumption implies that each linguistic form has a constant and specific meaning. |