|
|
Article: Do words have inherent meaning?(Report)
- Article from:
- ETC.: A Review of General Semantics
- Article date:
- April 1, 2008
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2008 Institute of General Semantics. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
IN AUGUST 2007, PARTICIPANTS on the Institute of General Semantics Forum discussed the frequently quoted statement "words don't mean, people mean," and the question of whether or not words have inherent meaning in a thread that shares its title with this article. (1)
Before proceeding, I feel that it is necessary to lay out my understanding of the subject by giving definitions of the major words in the title.
word
a single unit of language that has meaning and can be spoken or written The word "environment" means different things to different people. She spoke so fast 1 couldn 't understand a word (= anything she said).
meaning
...