Re: [xmca] Re: Word Meaning and Action: What' Plausible branch?

[Martin Packer <packer@duq.edu>]

On Jun 17, 2011, at 10:45 AM, Andy Blunden wrote:

> Listening to the word in context evokes certain feelings and ideas in you. 

This is the account of word meaning that Joseph Gilbert was proposing, no?


> Communication by means of a word generally means that both parties have participated in situations and projects where the word has been used in the way it is used in the immediate situation. This vests the word with meaning, "constitutes" it /as a word/. There is really nothing in the physical properties of the word that does anything more than smooth the path of meaning-making. There is no chemical formula for meaning. :)

There is no essential difference between a word and a spade, then. You and I use a spade together to dig the garden, plant some tomatoes. The spade takes on a special significance for us. 

I don't buy it! But then, apparently I'm in the wrong thread. I thought that your statement about word-meaning was intended to be an interpretation of T&S. I can't even herd myself, apparently, let alone you other cats.

Martin

__________________________________________
_____
xmca mailing list
xmca@weber.ucsd.edu
http://dss.ucsd.edu/mailman/listinfo/xmca