Sub sections:
Words for concepts, concepts of words
Semester I 2005
Dr Helen Fraser
hfraser@une.edu.au
(Education 108, 14 March 2005, 12 noon)
Abstract
It is natural to think that words refer to things and events 'out there' in the world. However much evidence suggests this might not be quite accurate. This paper starts from the widely accepted premise that our experience of reality is mediated by concepts, and that words refer to those concepts, rather than directly to reality. After exploring this idea briefly discussion turns to metalanguage: what if we use words to describe words themselves? Here too the meaning is not the word itself, but a concept of the word. Similarly, words for parts of words, such as syllable, phoneme, /t/, stress, and so on, are themselves words, and refer to concepts, not directly to the sounds themselves.
Following this approach we can build up a framework for understanding phonology which is different from traditional theories, but remarkably useful in a number of practical applications.